Neutrogena Clinical Night: Review

It "visibly smoothes wrinkles and firms for a resilient, youthful look." I'm in - but can Neutrogena Clinical Night deliver on its promise?

Neutrogena Clinical Night: Not Cheap
Neutrogena Clinical Night doesn't come cheap: it's priced around $40 for one ounce of total product. But hey - if it really does smooth wrinkles and firm skin, that's a small price to pay.

I purchased the product at my local CVS and opened it up.

Neutrogena Clinical Night: Contents
The box contained two small bottles: First, a half-ounce tube of ion2 complex gel serum. This is to be applied first, in a dime-size portion to clean skin. The gray gel went on easily, and had the type of consistency I recognized from several other lotions I've used: immediately after application, it seemed to "melt" away, leaving a powdery type feel.

Next, I was to apply a dime-size portion of the night activating cream, which came in a half-ounce pump bottle. This cream was white and had the consistency of your basic cold cream. Apparently, having activated the gel serum, I was now ready to sit back and wait for results.

Neutrogena Clinical Night: Results
What results could I expect? Immediately, I was to notice that my skin felt softer and smoother. I felt my skin - it did feel soft and smooth, although after washing and putting any facial product on my skin, I'd expect that much.

The next, and more significant, benchmarks were to occur at the 4-week mark. At that time, Neutrogena Clinical promised to lift the look of sagging skin. I've gotta tell you, for years I never understood the whole "sagging skin" thing. But since age 40, I get it. My jaw area has taken on an strangely unattractively "jowl-y" look that I fear isn't going away. Did Neutrogena Clinical Night help? I must confess I noticed no difference whatsoever.

I also was promised that Neutrogena Clinical Night would "even skin tone and minimize the signs of discoloration." I suppose my skin tone is about like anyone else's in being uneven - nothing awful, but I usually wear foundation to even it out. Did I notice a difference after using Neutrogena Clinical Night? I looked at my face closely. Was the tone more even? Would I feel comfortable going out in public without foundation? Sadly, the answer to both questions was no.

Neutrogena Clinical Night also proposes to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Thankfully, I don't notice a whole lot of wrinkles on my face, but I do have some in the pesky "parentheses around my mouth" area, as well as at the outer corners of my eyes. Did I notice a difference in any of these? Nope.

Finally, Neutrogena Clinical Night claims to improve the look of facial contours and definition. What on earth does this mean? I don't even know. But, to reiterate, in looking closely at my face, I see no difference whatsoever, except perhaps a tinge of sadness around my eyes resulting from the knowledge that I spent $40 to try this supposedly miracle-working product.

Neutrogena Clinical Night: Conclusions
My conclusion: Neutrogena Clinical Night did nothing for my skin. It did feel clean and soft after application, but I imagine any cheap lotion could accomplish this. So, either my skin is that stubborn outlier that will not be smoothed and improved! by products such as this, or the product is for those who are hoping beyond hope for a miracle (and perhaps seeing results that don't exist just to justify their expenditure and effort?).