Review (2/5): To much fragrance broke me out
I wanted to love this. I adore their lightening cream with mandelic and kojic acid. I adored the sample of their hyaluronic acid serum and lightening eye cream I received. In fact I'm going to order the serum. But this cream did not do it for me. It broke me out and not bc it was to rich. My face is dry. Crazy dry. I use a retinol cream bc of hormonal acne which increases the dryness. I can out some heavy stuff on my face. I wash my face with coconut oil and use a salve a friend makes that is beeswax,olive oil, calendula and herbal extracts that is as heavy as vasoline. That's after a Hyaluronic acid serum with glycerin, apricot oil and castor oil in it. Heavy creams of good quality don't break me out. What breaks me out are preservatives, caravans and fragrance. The problem with this cream was fragrance. I was worried when I first pumped it out. The smell was strong. And it smelled like the stuff they put in porta-potties to cover the stench. I loathe porta-potties. I don't do festivals and camping bc of them but that's totally off topic. I tried realty hard to get this cream to work bc I don't have much of a budget for products. After a few nights of waking up the next day with a new pimples or two I tried thining it out with an aha cream. Then I tried adding a bit of a salicylic acid cream but it only lessened the impact a tad bit. I even waited a week before retrying but again as soon as I used it I developed big crazy pimples. I'm pretty sure it's the fragrance. All the ingredients look great but it does say it had a blend of essential oils for a relaxing effect. Essential oils can be great if used in the right amounts for specific issues and not for fragrance. I'd rather a cream smell like butt and work then have the smell covered up by fragrance that kills my skin. I was really excited to use a product with cavier extract but I'm really disappointed in this cream. I've now got a nearly full $38 cream I can't use gathering dust on my shelf. I think I'm going to only buy the products I get samples of first from now on. Fortunately this company is awesome about sending samples. The serum they sent was gorgeous. It smelled lightly of chamomile and honey and absorbed perfectly into my skin. When I mixed it with my retinol cream it gave my cream a silky texture that left me feeling less dry then normal. I was so into it that my 12 yr old daughter promised to buy it for me for my birthday. Also I cannot say enough about the mandelic and kojic acid cream. I haven't noticed a lot of lightening and I know that takes time but in the mean time it's made my skin amazingly glowing and clear. It's not like this company makes bad products. And maybe if you're not sensitive to fragrance this cream would work for you. The texture is quite beautiful. But if fragrance bothers you stear clear.