Murad Oil-control Mattifier SPF 15 Pa++ - 1.7 Oz

***update 10/11/13 - 5 stars still on the original product I purchased. I bought the second bottle from one of the Amazon partners at a discount and received a product that looked similar to the first bottle, but had a different shape and completely different consistency. I do not believe it was the same product, and may have been a knockoff. I can't take away any stars because the original product worked great, and it's not Murad's fault I got duped. It's not worth the discount, **PAY FULL PRICE** to be sure you are receiving what you should. (the cap on the bottle should look like the picture)I have sensitive combo/oily skin that starts off the day all fresh and matte, and usually ends it pretty greasy. I have always had oily skin, and it's been better in my late 20s and now 30 - but I'm tired of either reapplying powder through the day, or trying not to care. After researching some oil-control products, this one seemed the least likely to make me break out, and is also not tested on animals (which is a huge plus). This morning (7am), I put the Murad Oil-Control Mattifier on the left side of my face only. It's now 3:30pm, and there is a noticeable difference in shininess. I can actually tell that the makup on the other side of my face is a smidge darker from mixing with the oil, and my eyeliner is a bit smudgy (just on the non-Murad side). It doesn't eliminate oil completely, but it definitely does help.*** in addition ***After about a week of using this product - I've figured out that I don't need to use any moisturizer underneath in the morning. It works best alone - keeping shine away the entire work day. After working outdoors and sweating a bit the other day, my boyfriend actually said to me (in the totally unromantic flourescent lighting of Lowe's) - "you look good... your skin looks really good" .. with NO prompting. This stuff is good.

My skin is sooo oily you can easilly cook a grilled cheese on my forhead without buttering the bread! After reading all the great reviews, I decided to check out some reviews on U-Tube. I found one review of a woman who said this product worked OK at first, and then she tried this product with "Mac Prep & Prime" base facial primer, and she could not believe the results she got from it! She said she can go the entier day without blotting, sooooo... I decided to order a sample of this off of another site to try first (along with a sample of Mac Prep & Prim), and all I gotta say is I am speechless at the way this handles my incredibly oily skin! Usually, I put on my foundation and only after an hour at work my face is a monster pile of grease, I'm not joking when I say my entier forhead looks like a mirror! After applying this along with the Mac Prep & Prim, my face is silky smooth, my foundation goes on beautiful (NO MORE STREAKING!!), and 3 hours into my work day my face looks the same as it has when I first applied my make-up. I still need to blot maybe about 4 hours in, but it is a tiny bit of oil on my forhead, nothing like what I was use to be. Another thing I noticed is my acne has litterally STOPPED completely! I have such bad acne problems, my face looks like the moon from all the scarring over the years, and only 2 week into using this product I have not had one pimple, not one whitehead, NOTHING!!! My face is smoother, no flaking, none of the usual! I have never went a week without atleast 1 pimple forming, this product along with Mac Prep & Prime truly changed my life, I cannot thank these company's enough!Just get IT!!!

Summer '14 was the summer I spent deciding on a new mattifier. Maybe I could have made better use of my time, but at least I didn't spend the summer following my fave band (One Direction) around the globe muttering the words, "I'm with the band," in hopes of occupying a space in their bus, plane or hotel. Nor did I let a fella get me into the family way. Which would have really been a surprise because I don't have ovaries.I purchased 3 products. Mary Kay came in second place. I love the consistency of Mary Kay over Murad - which I found to be greasy during application and the first 5 minutes after application. I hate applying Murad because it takes longer to rub the greasy stuff in and it seems counter-productive to the task at hand. Still, Murad placed first.Humans are all the same, yet there are subtle differences in each chemical makeup that cause products to react differently. I initially thought this to be the reason for some reviews to be on opposing ends of the spectrum. I have identified another cause."oil-control" is a misnomer for which I have no alternative. None of these products "reduces", "eases", "gets rid of" or "remedies" oily skin. What do they do? Through the magic of science, they matte the sh*t out of your face so you don't appear to be oily. But, Honeychild, you still gots oily skin. Murad seems the best at removing that windex shine for the entire day.Arrive to work at 7am. 9am is my mid-morning face wash. This was my routine for years. With Murad, I can skip the mid-morning wash. Although I don't skip the mid-morning wash because I have mild OCD - so I pretty much have to wash my face. And I can feel oil on my face without actually touching it. But here's the thing: I don't look oily at all. If I touch my face, I find it feels alarmingly oily. Perhaps even as oily as it's ever been. FYI - washing does not effect the product.I could have written Murad off with an irate one star review, but then I looked into a mirror. Really looked into it. I looked past the handsome man with the defined jaw line staring back at me. I could no longer see because I was no longer looking. And what I saw was a product that wasn't removing oil or changing my skin type. What it was doing was mattifying the sh*t out of my face.Manage your expectations because no product is ever going to change your skin. On the plus side, if you're anything like me (and why wouldn't you be), you're aging ridiculously well with nature's free, built-in moisturizer. Yaaaay.BTW, I'm willing to pay almost any price to be rid of the windex shine. After reading some reviews, others don't feel the same as I. Dinner for two at a cheap restaurant is about what you need to spend a month on a mattifier. Mary Kay is $15 and lasted me a month. Murad is $25 and it looks like it will last just over two months. I can't speak for all mattifiers, but they aren't trying to rip you off. It's common sense. The smaller package/price usually says "use sparingly". The larger package/price usually says "use liberally". It all seems to balance out.I hope this helps.

To start off let me just quickly add...I'm picky, im very opinionated and I believe that you should get exactly what you pay for. No questions asked.I never knew just how oily my tzone was until it was captured in a photo. I tried multiple cheaper fixes. All epicly failed. I'm frugal, so I got some samples at sephora. The sample pot alone lasted almost 2 months bc I only used it on my nose, a tiny bit on space between nose and cheek bones and space between my eyebrows and forehead. To say this has been life changing is an understatement. Not only has it 100% surpassed its job as a mattifier but it is also REPAIRING that area!! You see, I have to the names eye clear skin, but up close my pores are grosse and I've been "blessed" with black heads instead of red pimples if you will...this is actually shrinking my pores, therefore reducing said black heads! So grateful to have found this product!! And definately not the #1 reason for using but an added bonus...I wear glasses. An oily tzone and frames is a bad combo! I was constantly pushing them up like a big giant nerd! I really am a bit OCD about my glasses being close to my face...I haven't tried any other murad items, but I plan to soon as I'm sure it'll fix any other problem I may have! I hope this product works as well for you as it has myself!Side note...in hot summer days, this usually lasts from 0600 to about 16-1800. Depending on how hot and muggy the weather may be. But I don't count that as a problem considering its a just a lotion, not a guaranteed fix!

I have VERY oily skin, especially on my face. I could not even make it half-way through a day without my face getting super shiny and my make-up getting smudged because of all of the oil build-up. I tried many different face washes and moisturizers that were supposed to reduce oil on my face and nothing has ever worked. After reading reviews on this product, I decided to give it a try. I usually would never spend this much money on such a product, but I was desperate. Well, this little tube is a miracle worker. The oil production on my face SIGNIFICANTLY decreases when I use this and my make-up stays fresh and smudge-free all day! My face still does get a little bit of a shine to it throughout the day, but not enough for it to be bothersome or uncomfortable. I HIGHLY recommend this product to anyone who battles oily skin because it definitely works!How to use it:I find it works best on clean skin, so put it on immediately after you wash your face. A little bit goes a long way so be conservative with it. Some reviews recommend that you first moisturize and then apply the mattifier, but I tried this and it did not work--I still got very oily skin. So I recommend that you do not moisturize when using this product (save moisturizing your face for right before you go to bed at night). For a fresh, even look, apply a foundation afterwards. I recommend the Neutrogena Translucent Oil-Control Powder for further oil control.Using this product has also significantly decreased my acne. I never had a lot to begin with, but my skin is virtually pimple-free now. If you decide to try this product out, I hope it works as well for you as it does for me!