Is AGELESS By Ramona Worth the $40 Price Tag?

I asked my beauty and skincare blogger friend Kim (@sortofscientific on Instagram) who has a background in biology what she thought of Ramona Singer from Real Housewives of New York City’s new AGELESS by Ramona serum and if it’s worth the price tag. Here’s what she said:

AGELESS by Ramona

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“I was actually surprised that that serum was only $40 lol but it’s a pretty basic formula, nothing groundbreaking. A bit high cost for the product, but when you factor in the production costs for a small brand it probably isn’t that overpriced either.”
Kim @sortofscientific on Instagram

Ageless By Ramona Skin Renewing Serum Photo: AgelessbyRamona.com

Is AGELESS By Ramona just The Ordinary “Buffet” Serum in a different bottle? What about the added fragrance?

I pressed her further asking is AGELESS by Ramona anti-aging serum was just Buffet by The Ordinary in a different bottle? And doesn’t it have added fragrance? She responded with:

“I mean, you could get extremely similar results from Buffet but Deciem also undercharges for The Ordinary products and makes up for it with their other lines and the volume they sell, so judging whether another brand is overpriced based off of them isn’t really fair. It is in a silicone base and Buffet is silicone free. This doesn’t really matter aside from this serum claiming to reduce pore size which it would do by filling them in.
It does have added fragrance, but that’s unfortunately kinda par for the course. It does have centella asiatica which is a cool anti-inflammatory. It certainly isn’t anything special, I wouldn’t buy it or recommend it to anyone, but I could see Olay or Neutrogena putting it out for $15-25 and they have the infrastructure to keep production costs low, so a $15 markup isn’t awful, but again I still don’t think it’s worth $40 or anything noteworthy. You could definitely get similar results (and without the fragrance and silicones) with Buffet.”
Kim @sortofscientific on Instagram

Fragrance in Skincare

Most people agree that adding fragrance to skincare causes damage to our skin, even if we can’t see or feel it happening and even in those who don’t have sensitive skin.

The problem is that consumers want their skincare products to smell good, and sometimes natural ingredients don’t smell all that great. The fragrance can make the experience of using the product much more enjoyable, but can also lead to long term damage.

Features of AGELESS By Ramona Serum

Infused with vitamins, minerals, peptides, and natural antioxidants
Hyaluronic Acid improves skin hydration for plumper looking skin
Matrixyl™ 3000 stimulates collagen production for skin elasticity
Youth 360 BCR helps skin rebuild collagen & delays visible signs of aging
Shields skin from pollution and impurities
Lightweight for daily use
No animal testing
Proudly made in the U.S.A.

Features of The Ordinary “Buffet” Serum

-Matrixyl 3000 and Matrixyl Synthe’6 Peptide Complexes: Help to reduce the look of lines, wrinkles, and surface irregularities.
-Hyaluronic Acid: Supports hydration and acts as a delivery system to enhance skin exposure to actives.
-Syn-Ake Peptide Complex: Improves the look of lines and wrinkles.
-Relistase Peptide Complex: Helps to improve the look of skin elasticity and firmness.
This formula combines a comprehensive array of studied technologies to target multiple signs of aging at once. The technologies are matrixyl 3,000 peptide complex, matrixyl synthe’6 peptide complex, syn-ake peptide complex, relistase peptide complex, argirelox peptide complex, probiotic complex in a base of 11 skin-friendly amino acids, and multiple hyaluronic acid complexes. The total concentration of these technologies in the formula by weight is 25.1 percent.
This product is vegan, cruelty-free, and formulated without alcohol, silicone, nuts, gluten, and fragrance.

Ingredients of AGELESS by Ramona $39.99 + ~ $9.99 Shipping vs. The Ordinary “Buffet” Serum $14.80

I went ahead and bolded the overlapping ingredients between the products.

Ingredients of AGELESS by Ramona

WATER/AQUA/EAU, DIMETHICONE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, GLYCERIN, HYDROGENATED POLYISOBUTENE, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, DIMETHICONE/PEG-10/15 CROSSPOLYMER, BETULA ALBA BARK EXTRACT, BOSWELLIA SERRATA EXTRACT, CARBOMER, CENTELLA ASIATICA EXTRACT, DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, FRAGRANCE OLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) LEAF EXTRACT, PALMITOYL TRIPEPTIDE-1, PALMITOYL TETRAPEPTIDE-7, PANTHENOL, PHENOXYETHANOL, POLYGONUM CUSPIDATUM ROOT EXTRACT, POLYSORBATE 20, POTASSIUM SORBATE, SODIUM BENZOATE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, SODIUM HYALURONATE, SODIUM LACTATE.

Ingredients of The Ordinary “Buffet” Serum

Water, Glycerin, Lactococcus Ferment Lysate, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Pentapeptide-18, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, Dipeptide Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate, Acetylarginyltryptophyl Diphenylglycine, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Sodium Hyaluronate, Allantoin, Glycine, Alanine, Serine, Valine, Isoleucine, Proline, Threonine, Histidine, Phenylalanine, Arginine, Aspartic Acid, Trehalose, Fructose, Glucose, Maltose, Urea, Sodium PCA, PCA, Sodium Lactate, Citric Acid, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Hydroxide, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Acacia Senegal Gum, Xanthan Gum, Carbomer, Polysorbate 20, PPG-26-Buteth-26, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Ethoxydiglycol, Sodium Benzoate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin.

Author: Lindsay

Lindsay is the creator of Blushing in Hollywood a beauty, dating, travel and lifestyle blog based in Los Angeles, California. View all posts by Lindsay