City Beauty was launched in 2002 by Victoria Renee after years of searching for a product to improve her thin lips. She wasn’t able to find a product that worked for her, so she set out to make her own. The result was City Lips, a lip plumping gloss that also hydrates the lips.
One product turned into an entire range of beauty products, from mascara to serums to eye creams and more. City Beauty products primarily target skin aging concerns — such as fine lines, wrinkles, and discoloration — but the collection includes products for all skin types and ages. City Lips remains one of its most popular products.
Our City Beauty review we’ll give you all the details on the brand’s best selling products. We’ll discuss the key ingredients in City Beauty products, including how they work and whether or not there’s any research to back up these ingredients. We’ll also share some City Beauty reviews so that you can get a better idea of what customers really think of these products.
What are the Best Skin Care Products of 2021?
What is The Concept Behind City Beauty?
According to City Beauty, the company’s mission is “functional beauty,” meaning all of the City Beauty products are designed to not only make you look beautiful while you wear them, but to provide deeper benefits. For example, each product is formulated to target specific concerns — whether it’s to volumize thinning lips, brighten dark spots, improve the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, or smooth skin texture.
What Are The Best Selling City Beauty Products?
City Beauty products include lip care, eye care, body care, and facial products. Let’s take a closer look at the best selling City Beauty products.
City Lips
- City Lips is a plumping lip gloss that provides both an immediate and long-term solution for your lips
- The formula is said to help restore the look of healthy lips by delivering deep hydration for instant plumping and long-lasting comfort, while smoothing out the appearance of lip lines and wrinkles
- Key ingredients include hyaluronic acid, oligopeptides, jojoba oil, and ylang ylang flower oil
- Available in high-shine clear and 13 colors
City Lips Matte
- An innovative matte formula that offers the same lip-rejuvenating benefits of classic City Lips, in a velvet-smooth matte finish
- Provides long-lasting color and an instant plumping effect
- Key ingredients include hyaluronic acid, oligopeptides, jojoba oil, and ylang ylang flower oil
- Available in 3 colors
City Beauty Sculpting Cream
- City Beauty Sculpting Cream is an anti-aging moisturizer designed to visibly restore skin’s elasticity by lifting, tightening, and firming the look of sagging skin
- The formula is said to nourish your skin with the vital building blocks that give young skin its taut, springy feel
- Key ingredients include caviar extract, peptides, hydrolyzed silk, aloe, oat kernel extract and green tea extract
- Contains a synthetic fragrance blend
City Beauty Illuminating Dark Spot Corrector
- Dark spot treatment that is said to minimize the look of discoloration and hyperpigmentation on the face, neck, and hands for a brighter, more even-toned complexion
- The formula is also designed to instantly disguise dark spots by reflecting light away from the skin
- Key ingredients include alpha arbutin, resveratrol, and an amino acid compound
- Contains a synthetic fragrance blend
City Beauty Intensive Night Serum
- Anti-aging night serum that is said to improve the look of fine lines, wrinkles, and loss of firmness by supporting cell turnover and collagen production
- Key ingredients include epidermal growth factor, goji berry, a peptide complex, and a hexapeptide blend
- Fragrance free
City Beauty Line Smoothing HydroMask
- Bio-cellulose sheet mask that is designed to support skin’s elasticity and reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles
- Key ingredients include humectants (butylene glycol, glycerin, trehalose, betaine, etc), hydroxyacetophenone (a synthetic antioxidant and skin-conditioning agent), and niacinamide
- Contains a synthetic fragrance blend
City Beauty InvisiCrepe Body Balm
- An anti-aging body balm that is designed to gradually erase the look of crepey skin anywhere on the body
- Said to be “more than just a moisturizer”. While it offers full hydration and support for your skin barrier, it also benefits your skin’s production of youthful levels of collagen and elastin to help smooth and plump the look of saggy, wrinkled skin
- Key ingredients include glycerin, emollients, silicones, niacinamide, barley extract, and ribose
- Contains a synthetic fragrance blend
City Beauty Youth Rejuvenating Cleanser
- A pH-balanced formula that is gentle enough to cleanse without over stripping and over drying the skin, so skin feels soft and supple after each wash
- The pineapple and papaya-derived enzymes gently remove dead skin cells while soothing dragon’s blood extract supports collagen production
- As a result, this cleanser is said to leave the skin feel refreshed and looking significantly more radiant, smoother, and younger
- Contains a synthetic fragrance blend
City Beauty Line Blurring Wrinkle Filler
- A spot treatment that is said to fill in creases and instantly blur the look of wrinkles
- Key ingredients include silicones, humectants, and apple fruit extract
- The high concentrations of humectants and silicones in this product fill in lines and wrinkles, but this effect is temporary and will disappear once you wash off the product
- The brand claims that peptides, ceramides, and diamond powder are key ingredients. However, all of these ingredients are used in concentrations of less than 1%
- Contains a synthetic fragrance blend
City Beauty UpLift Firming Serum
- Anti-aging serum that is said to help skin look firmer, smoother, and more lifted within 30 minutes
- Key ingredients include glycerin, bacillus ferment, sodium hyaluronate, goji fruit extract, algae extract, aloe vera, and turmeric root extract
- Fragrance free
What Are The Key Ingredients in City Beauty Products?
The City Beauty line is designed with skin-rejuvenating and collagen-supporting ingredients, such as sodium hyaluronate, oligopeptides, resveratrol, and vitamin C, just to name a few. The brand also incorporates supporting ingredients, like humectants and silicones, in many of the City Beauty products. Let’s take a closer look at these key ingredients and how they may benefit your skin.
You’ll find sodium hyaluronate in many of the City Beauty products — including the popular City Lips and City Beauty Sculpting Cream. Sodium hyaluronate is the sodium salt form of hyaluronic acid, a glycosaminoglycan (GAG) that is able to hold more water than any other natural substance—up to 1,000 times its weight in water! This is why using products with either hyaluronic acid or sodium hyaluronate can help to improve skin hydration.
In addition to improving skin hydration, sodium hyaluronate can also help to improve signs of aging. This is because youthful skin retains its turgor, resilience, and flexibility due to its high content of water. As the skin loses moisture due to both internal and external factors, it begins to show signs of aging, such as lines, wrinkles, sagging, and flaking skin.
Since hyaluronic acid is the key molecule involved with skin moisture, it’s clear that a strong relationship exists between skin aging and levels of hyaluronic acid. According to the scholarly journal DermatoEndocrinology, the most dramatic histochemical change observed in aging skin is the marked disappearance of hyaluronic acid in the epidermis (the top layer of skin).
Therefore, the City Beauty products that contain sodium hyaluronate may help naturally reduce signs of aging by decreasing epidermal water loss associated with sun exposure, low humidity, and other external factors associated with skin dryness. The result is smoother, softer skin with decreased wrinkles and a more plump appearance.
Many City Beauty products contain oligopeptides as key ingredients. For example, City Lips contains palmitoyl oligopeptide, which works by stimulating collagen production in fibroblasts. More collagen equals plumper, more youthful looking lips.
On the City Lips sales page, the brand cites that one study performed specifically on women with thin, dry lips showed that oligopeptides decreased lip wrinkles by 29% and increased lip volume by up to 40% in just 28 days!
Lastly, keep in mind that several City Beauty products contain high concentrations of humectants and silicones, and both of these types of ingredients can help to temporarily disguise wrinkles. Humectants draw moisture into the skin, and the extra hydration is extra volume, which effectively plumps out the skin and makes lines and wrinkles less noticeable. Silicones form a film on the surface of your skin, and this film helps to hide wrinkles.
You’ll notice that the City Beauty Line Blurring Wrinkle Filler contains high concentrations of both humectants and silicones, which is why this product can help to temporarily fill in lines and wrinkles.
How Much Do City Beauty Products Cost?
City Beauty is a luxury line and the products are priced accordingly, which is in line with department store brands. City Lips is $35, City Beauty Sculpting Cream is $67 for 1.69 fl oz, the Line Smoothing HydroMask is $60, and City Lash is $90 a tube. Under Eye Recovery Cream retails for $50 and the Line Blurring Wrinkle Filler is $79. Products are available for one time purchase or if customers sign up for auto shipments, they can receive discounts.
What is The City Beauty Return Policy?
City Beauty has a 60-Day Money Back Guarantee that states, “We want you to love your purchase. That’s why every product is covered by our 60 Day Money Back Guarantee. Try it for 60 days and if you’re not completely satisfied, for any reason, send it back and we’ll refund the full amount of your purchase, minus shipping.”
Is City Beauty Cruelty Free?
Yes, City Beauty is cruelty free.
Where to Buy City Beauty Products?
City Beauty products are sold directly to consumers from the brand’s website (citybeauty.com).
City Beauty Reviews
City Beauty reviews on the brand’s website are overall very positive. The product with the most reviews is City Lips, which has received over 700 5-star customer reviews. Many of the City Lips reviews mention that the customer was surprised at how well the product worked.
For example, one City Lips review says, “This works! I have never written a review before but I am so impressed by this product that I felt compelled to write. It does exactly what it says it will do and you end up with fuller plumper lips. I love it!”
Another City Lips review says, “I am tossing out all my other lip balm products. This is best. It keeps my lips hydrated for a long time. I can see a difference in my lip lines; no other product has helped.”
City Lips has also received plenty of press coverage. For example, Refinery29 said this about the City Lips, “First of all, it works. Secondly, it has the pretty shine of a gloss, but boasts the longevity of a liquid lipstick, too.”
Another product that has earned many 5-star reviews is the City Beauty Sculpting Cream. There are some City Beauty reviews for the Sculpting Cream from customers who noticed some impressive skin-tightening after using this product.
For example, one City Beauty review says, “I was skeptical when I first bought the sculpting cream, but I thought I’d try, since they had a money back guarantee. I couldn’t be more pleased! This stuff really works!! My sagging jawline was tightening up in a couple of weeks of use. I apply twice a day and the results are astonishing. I highly recommend this product to everyone.”
The website Your Tango included the City Beauty Sculpting Cream in a 2019 round up looking at 30 Best Night Creams To Reduce Aging, and the Line-Smoothing HydroMask was also included in a 2018 story in FabFitFun looking at “All the Best Beauty Products You May Have Missed in September.”
The vlogger Anne P Makeup and More reviewed the City Beauty Sculpting Cream in early 2019. She used the cream for a month, concentrating on her jowl area and under the neck. She said she didn’t feel that it had a tightening effect, but that people told her face “looked more toned.” When Anne compared before and after photos of herself after using the cream for a month, she said she didn’t see any difference. Her conclusion is that the cream did not help sculpt her neck and face, but she did say the cream worked well as a moisturizer.
Our Verdict
Overall, we think that the City Beauty products are formulated well with a combination of innovative ingredients and tried-and-true skin care ingredients.
Pros
- Products contain evidence-based ingredients (sodium hyaluronate, vitamin C, humectants, etc)
- Many positive City Beauty reviews
Cons
- Some products contain synthetic fragrance ingredients
- Mid-range price point (e.g. City Beauty Sculpting Cream is $67 for 1.69 fl oz)
- Delicate ingredients will degrade over time in products that are packaged in jars
What Are Some Alternatives to City Beauty?
City Beauty may not be for everyone, because of the price point or perhaps the products don’t react well with your skin. That’s why we’d like to recommend a couple alternatives for you to consider.
One brand we recommend is Formulyst because they believe in long term skin care treatments rather than short term cover-ups. The comprehensive line of products addresses everything from wrinkles to dark spots and dry skin.
If you like the feel of a lightweight moisturizer, try Formulyst Super Hyaluronic Water Moisturizer. Hyaluronic acid helps keep skin plumped, hydrated and dewy looking. This oil free formula is packed with multiple types of hyaluronic acid and it works as a moisture magnet by drawing water to the skin.
There’s no need to compromise when it comes to finding skincare that is effective and safe. Carrot & Stick takes a tough love approach to skincare, perfectly balancing the power of plants with cutting edge science. Not only is Carrot & Stick good for your skin, it is also good for the environment as the formulas skip harmful chemicals as well as the preservatives, emulsifiers and thickeners commonly found in skincare products.
References:
1. Dermatoendocrinol. 2012 Jul 1; 4(3): 253–258
TDR Original review: Mar 01, 2021.
Many of you are searching for city beauty sculpting cream reviews. This is the most heavily promoted product right now. Followed by the Illuminating Dark Spot Corrector and Uplift Firming Serum. Previously it was City Lips. Based on the number of position reviews, we note that most people have a positive experience with City Beauty. The company offers a money back guarantee plus solid customer support. So if you are unsatisfied with the product, it should not be a hassle to return. City Beauty products are not presently available through third party retailers. While you can find their products on Amazon, they are not an official retailers. We recommend purchasing directly through their website. However, if you’re expecting City Beauty to get rid of sagging jowls, then you are probably going to be dissatisfied. Expectations need to be realistic going into this.