I Borrowed This $12 Face Lotion From My Boyfriend, and Now I Can't Live Without It

I'm Victoria Messina, and I fell victim to splurging on trendy, made-for-Instagram skincare products. Ideally, this would be the part where other millennials respond "Hi, Victoria" in unison while sitting in a circle gathered at a Trendy Skincare Packaging-aholics Anonymous meeting, but alas, that group unfortunately doesn't exist (not yet at least), and I'm just sitting here at my desk, prepared to spill the details on the lotion that saved me from overspending on beauty products simply because they're aesthetically pleasing.

About a year ago, I was blissfully obsessed with a daily facial serum by a certain popular brand I'll refrain from naming. It was super hydrating, the adorable bottle made my makeup collection look 10 times more chic, and my skin drank up the moisture every morning. The only problem? Said serum cost $28 for a mere 0.5 fluid ounces of product, which, as you can guess, ran out pretty quickly — along with the funds I was willing to dish out on such products. I could practically hear my budget-conscious wallet begging for mercy each time I applied the serum in the morning and repurchased it.

*Cue dramatic parting of the big red curtain* Enter: Cetaphil's Daily Hydrating Lotion With Hyaluronic Acid. I originally encouraged my boyfriend to test out this drugstore moisturizer because his Winter skin needed some serious hydration and he had no clue where to start with picking a brand. Plus, it's affordable, so if he decided that daily lotion wasn't his thing after all, he wouldn't be losing out on too much dough. About a week after he bought it (and barely used a drop of it), I gave the product a go myself, and holy sh*t, I was instantly hooked. It felt even more moisturizing than the serum I used before and absorbed into my skin even quicker.

As you might have guessed, I bought Cetaphil's (much larger container of) hyaluronic acid face lotion as soon as I finished the last drop of that pricey serum — for less than half the price — and haven't looked back since. If you're looking for a new facial moisturizer that's easy on the wallet, read on for more details about this one, and you just might be convinced to make the switch, too.