Elemis Skincare Review

Another Influenster VoxBox arrived!

I've been testing these for over a month now and feel like I can finally write a review about them. I was gifted two items from the Elemis Skincare line, the Superfood Vital Veggie Mask and the Superfood BlackCurrant Jelly Exfoliator. I am a skincare junkie so I was super excited about receiving these and testing them, lets jump in! First I'm going to break down the brand and the packaging. Elemis is a natural line of advanced skincare products based in London. Their slogan is "defined by nature, led by science" and they detail each key ingredient on the boxes of their products for what it does and how it will make your skin better in the long run. They have a seal on their boxes detailing what they leave out of their products, artificial colors, parabens, SLS, SLES, DEA, and mineral oils. I really like how the entire line is plant based as it diminishes the chance of having a bad reaction to anything. The packaging is very sleek and minimal, the two tubes I received are green with white lettering. Very simple and expensive looking. Which leads us to pricing, Elemis isn't cheap. Prices range from $30 to $335 and up, so needless to say the products better have results.

Let's start with the Superfood Vital Veggie Mask. This mask retails for $35,so it's on the lower end of their offerings. It contains superfood extracts like avocado, broccoli, and kale. Avocado and broccoli oils are rich in omega fatty acids which replenish and nourish your skin's moisture barrier. It also has vitamin C and passion fruit acids that brighten skin. I really enjoyed this product. I am a huge believer in face masking to help better your skin, so this one really spoke to me. It has a rather strong scent, almost like Vicks Vapor Rub, which doesn't bother me but may bother others. I checked the ingredients list and saw no perfumes or added fragrances so I'm guessing it's just from the multitude of plant and fruit extracts it contains. As for results, I found that after rinsing it off my skin did look more hydrated, dewier, and brighter. After using it for a month my skin is better looking, it even helped calm my cystic acne and ever so slightly faded some of my persistent acne scars. The directions suggested use is twice weekly, the ingredients are pretty strong and it contains exfoliating acids so I'd follow that suggestion to avoid over doing exfoliation. I honestly loved this mask and would suggest it to anyone. At $35 dollars it is a bit steep, I see you fellow struggling college students, but after a month of use I'm not even halfway through the tube yet. You get a pretty generous 75ml (2.5 US fl.oz) for the price point, and the Elemis website does seems to offer a 15% discount for firstime customers.

On to the Superfood BlackCurrant Jelly Exfoliator. I'm going to be upfront and say I did not like this. I really wanted to because natural physical exfoliants are exponentially better for our environment and I know from other products I've used that grape seed oil is a fantastic skincare ingredient. This exfoliator includes blackcurrant, grape seed, and black tea. All of these are anti-oxidants and nourishing for your skin. The color of the product may be intimidating, from the tube it is pitch black from the all natural colors of it's ingredients. The box does warn that this could stain fabrics. The exfoliation is very gentle, so if you have sensitive or reactive skin this would be a nice physical exfoliant for you. I prefer exfoliators that are a bit less gentle, I generally use ones like St. Ive's apricot scrub or Dr. Brandt's Microdermabrasion. I did notice that my skin felt softer after each use but I didn't feel it was exfoliating deeply enough for my preference. This product retails for $30 on the Elemis website.

I would highly recommend the Superfood Vital Veggie Mask for anyone. And for the Superfood BlackCurrant Jelly Exfoliator I would say it's worth checking out if you do have sensitive skin and want to try an exfoliator that isn't super harsh. The price point feels fair for both products and I really admire the brand's commitment to keeping harsh chemicals and parabens out of their line and being thoroughly cruelty free.

-Sam