Back in December, I was contacted to try a skincare line called Cosmetic Surgeon In A Jar. I, like you just now, rolled my eyes at the name, but figured I’d visit the website to investigate further before I replied. What I found was enough to intrigue me into agreeing to try the products, and share it all with you, my readers.

What interested me about the products is they contain the same anti-aging ingredients as premium brands, like peptides and vitamin a, as well as good moisturizers like sodium hyaluronate. Prices aren’t sky-high (Dr. Perricone, looking at you!) but aren’t super-cheap either. Buying the line as a set saves you a lot versus buying individual products. Leaving aside any “nip and tuck” silliness, what struck me the most was that the line addressed the basic concerns of aging – loss of firmness, fine lines and wrinkles, and skin tone.

So, what’s the scoop? Like any skincare line, there are pluses and minuses, and what follows is my take on Cosmetic Surgeon in a Jar.

A clean face is necessary for any good skin care regime, so there is a cleanser in the line – the Antioxidant Cleanser. Pros: gently cleanses the skin without harsh detergents, leaving it clean and soft. As such things go, it’s a very nice cleanser. The squeeze tube makes it easy to squeeze out what you need, and I like the gentle lather. It contains anti-oxidant vitamins and carrot extract for their anti-aging benefits. Price: $35. Unfortunately, I’m with Paula Begoun on the subject of expensive cleansers. All those nice anti-oxidants are on your skin for less than a minute and then go swirling down the drain. I’d buy the cleanser as part of the set, but probably not by itself, not because I didn’t like it, but because I’m cheap.

The next step in caring for your skin is the “rinse cycle” otherwise known as toning. The toner is one of my favorites of the line! Unlike cleansers, toners remain on your skin, so having lots of beneficial ingredients don’t go to waste. This one has vitamins e, c, and a, essential fatty acids, glycerin, and chamomile extract. It doesn’t contain alcohol. It’s soothing, refreshing, and leaves my face soft. Love it! Like the cleanser, it’s also $35, but I would order this on it’s own or in the set because of its beneficial ingredients.

Twice a week or so you should exfoliate your skin to remove surface dead skin cells – this helps your leave-on skincare products penetrate better. It can also help keep your pores clear. The exfoliator is another of my faves from this line. It uses aluminum oxide crystals to scrub, which feels amazing to my skin. The particles are fine enough that I don’t feel like I’m ripping my skin off, but also concentrated enough to feel really effective. I swear my pores look smaller after using it. LOVE IT! Nothing else I’ve used has felt as good (and as effective) as this scrub, swear to God! At $60 the price makes me cringe, but I would plunk down my money again for this product. Two thumbs up!

For daytime, there is the Face Lifter cream. This product has major peptide action, and the sodium hyaluronate to moisturize. The texture is light, it sinks in fast and isn’t heavy or greasy. I personally feel most skin types could use this cream, except perhaps really oily skin types. In the short time I’ve been using it (about a month), I do think the quality of my skin has improved. I really should have done a “before” picture, but it didn’t really occur to me (and I’m really not that scientific anyway). The most important thing to me is that it hasn’t given me pimples, like so many anti-aging products do. (Like Cosmedicine Mega-Dose, that Bliss eye cream, etc. Hmm, never reviewed Mega-Dose, so here’s my review: pimples.) I would buy this again – and at $70 it’s pricey, but not nearly as much as other premium anti-aging creams.

For night, there is Illuminator brightening cream. Here’s where things get a little redundant, in my opinion. Now, I’m not a cosmetic scientist, but I can read an ingredient label, and there seems to be a lot of overlap between this cream and the Face Lifter. Enough overlap, that to me, I wonder why a person would *really* need both. This one has a lot fewer plant oils, and it seems to me that it has less of a moisturizing effect. I could be wrong, but I also think the titanium dioxide listed is there to make your skin appear brighter, and that’s why it’s a “brightening” cream. Hmmm… At any rate, it still feels nice, light, not greasy, etc. and the absence of the plant oils may mean it’s friendlier for oilier skins. It’s also $5 less than the Face Lifter, at $65.

The hard truth for me is that I could probably only really afford to pick one of these products to use. Because I like how it feels and because it has those beneficial plant oils, I’d probably go with Face Lifter over Illuminator.

The only product I didn’t like was the Eye Serum – and it’s not the fault of the product itself, but rather the packaging. The serum itself is very nice – lightweight, not sticky, sinks in fast, has good ingredients, and comes in an airless pump. Two thumbs up there. The problem I have with it is the pump itself – it’s impossible to only pump out the tiny bit you need for both eyes. It only wants to pump out one BIG pump at a time, which is about four times as much product as you need, and is very wasteful for a $75 product. I’ve taken to pumping it onto the back of my hand, dabbing what I need under my eyes, and then rubbing the backs of my hands together. Incidentally, the skin on the backs of my hands looks great! *rolls eyes*

So there you have it. Personally, I would re-purchase the toner, the scrub, and the Face Lifter cream, and if they fix/improve the pump, the Eye Serum also. If you are feeling splurgey, buy the whole line and see what you think – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Then you can pick your favorites too.