Would you pay $40 for a teeny 0.5 oz bottle? How about $80 for 1.18 oz?
Shockingly, I would.
The Sunday Riley C.E.O. Glow Face Oil sells for that price. It might sound like an exorbitantly high price, but hear me out. It’s got great brightening benefits and moisturizes well without feeling heavy.
What I Like About This Facial Oil
I would say this is one of the expensive products in my routine that is worth the money. Here are some of the top reasons why I like it:
Super Lightweight
I’ve tried the gamut of facial oils from things that feel like water to thick occlusive oils. For me (with combo/oily skin), I am most attracted to lightweight oils during the nighttime. I’ll skip oils during my morning routine because I already get pretty dewy from my serum/moisturizer/sunscreen routine.
I use about 5 drop of this Sunday Riley oil after applying my nighttime moisturizer. If I use an overnight mask though, I’ll skip the facial oil. But the nights I am not, I’ll apply this oil to help lock in the hydration and moisture through the night.
Brightening without Irritation
If you’re looking for a more even, radiant complexion, vitamin c is that ingredient you want. CEO Glow has a derivatized form (tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate), which is more stable than traditional ascorbic acid. It’s also more well tolerated for sensitive skin users.
Beyond vitamin c, there’s also ginger, turmeric, and pomegranate seed oil—which all help bring antioxidants and brightening benefits.
Incredible Scent
One thing about me is I love it when skincare smells good. And yes, I do know there are camps of people who hate fragrance. But if it isn’t irritating your skin and you like it, why not treat yourself?
The ingredient list of this product doesn’t list a parfum/fragrance component, so I do think the way it smells is just from the ingredients themselves. However, there are fragrant oils in it like the bitter orange flower oil and rosemary leaf extract. And if you’ve ever used orange blossom water (like the Chantecaille Orange Flower Water, $75 at Bluemercury), it smells JUST like that.
But I low key am obsessed with the way the oil smells. So much so that when Sunday Riley launched the Afterglow Moisturizer ($65 for 50 ml, Sephora), I had to get it as well—simply because it had the same neroli fragrance. And yes, it does make the perfect daytime moisturizer (review).
What I Didn’t Like About It
It’s obvious that this is one of my favorite facial oils… But everything has a downside!
Price
Yeah, let’s address the elephant in the room. The price is a little outrageous. So let’s compare it to other popular facial oils at Sephora:
The most expensive is the Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil. As somebody who worked for Biossance’s company, I am much more inclined to purchase the Sunday Riley CEO Glow Face Oil over the Biossance one for multiple reasons:
It’s cheaper (albeit slightly)
There are more active ingredients
The packaging works better for me—I’ve had Biossance Rose Oils where the dropper does not align to the neck and won’t screw back on. Yikes for something that costs $74.
And for what it’s worth, the cream versions of the oils are pretty similar. One smells like rose, the other smells like neroli. But they are both great gel creams—I would say the Biossance Rose Cream ($56 for 50 ml, Sephora) is slightly thicker and heavier though.
Clear-ish Packaging
When it comes to vitamin c products, I prefer them to exist in an amber or opaque packaging because I am highly fearful of oxidized vitamin c (aka I just don’t want things to go to waste before I can use them). The bottle is am ombre from clear to orange, which is a step up from clear. But it still does let light in.
And yes, I also know the THDA is going to be more stable than your traditional vitamin c. But my intrusive thoughts tell me it’s slowly oxidizing from the light.
I say all of that, but I still continue to use the product because I truly am such a fan… But it definitely is sitting in the back of my mind.
White Pillowcase’s Worst Nightmare
As an avid nighttime facial oil user, I constantly am staining my pillowcases (rip). The biggest perpetrator of this staining, in my experience, has been the True Botanicals Pure Radiance Oil in Renew ($110 for 30 mL). But sadly, the Sunday Riley one is a close runner-up.
The only solution that has worked for me (as someone who likes a white linen aesthetic) is to only apply the oil to my face and the front of my neck. Sorry, back of my neck… And then I try to sleep on my back and not move around too much in my sleep! It’s a struggle and certainly not a perfect solution. But it works for now!
Final Thoughts on Sunday Riley’s Facial Oil
I’m working on my second bottle of this oil, and I can confidently say I would repurchase this again. It’s got such a great experience using it, from the fragrance to the lightweight feel. The upsides definitely outweigh the downsides for me.
It is the perfect final step in my nighttime routine and helps me get ready for bed. I wake up with happily moisturized skin, and (in combination with my serums and moisturizers) I have maintained much more even skin tone.
Are you going to pick up a bottle?
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