Be happy you are not my mom... the only thing that really works for her is this Perricone cream that costs like $100/jar! She tried many other things as well... Origins makes a product she'll use in a pinch, and will always try to budget to accomodate it... but the Dr Perricone stuff really really works, practically the only stuff I've ever seen to charge outrageous prices and make fairly strong claims about effectiveness... and actually be able to deliver on at least most of the claims. She had an area of really bad sun damage that one of the products actually healed and markedly improved in appearance, in just a couple of months.

We even tried Creme de la Mer at one point. It's very moisturizing - almost suffocatingly so - but not really any more special than, say, Vaseline. Bag Balm is a fine substitute that costs like 5% as much.

The stuff I wish I could afford is Clinique's RepairWear night cream ($45). And since I'm GETTING OLD DAMMIT I need to find a decent eyecream again. In the interim I just use Curel.