Throughout my career as a Beauty Editor, one of the questions I was often asked was ‘what skincare product should I spend my money on and what should I save my pennies on’? My answer is still the same which is, spend on serums and eye creams but save on cleansers and toners. So when I’m reviewing a ‘cleanser’ that costs £79 I need to find out why you, the consumer, should spend that money on essentially a product that you are just ‘washing off’.
Calendula is otherwise known as Marigold, and in skincare it acts as skin soothing ingredient, ideal for acne, eczema and inflamed skin conditions. It helps promote wound healing by increasing blood flow to the skin, it helps with hydration making skin appear plumper and retaining moisture. It also has strong anti-inflammatory benefits so ideal if you suffer with tight, itchy and irritated skin.
Other ingredients (note not in order), such as Lavendula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract, which is anti-bacterial and ideal if you have acne prone skin, as reduces swelling and redness, which also helps with psoriasis and dermatitis. It stimulates collagen so helps regeneration and cell renewal. It is often used in after-sun as helps alleviate itching and sunburn.
However, the special ingredient for me, personally is the Oryza Sativa (Rice) Powder. A finely milled powder which gently exfoliates the skin, leaving it feeling incredibly smooth and full of radiance. It sloughs away dead skin cells but without scratching the surface of the skin. Often in exfoliating products, ‘beads’ are used that are far too harsh for the face. However, Rice Powder is gentle enough to use on all skin types including sensitive.
Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Fruit Extract has many benefits for the skin including helping to lighten pigmentation and dark spots. Full of salicylic acid that helps to naturally refine skin tone with its astringent properties. The natural sugars also gently exfoliate the skin, reducing oil production and clearing pores.
Pyrus Malus (Apple) Seed Oil, again helps give the skin radiance with its natural sugar exfoliants. However, Apple has several vitamins such as A, C and K that help protect the skin from environmental pollution such as sun radiation, smoke and pollution.
Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract - Chamomile, soothing, wound healing and again used in many sunburn remedies. It can also help lighten blemishes and even out skin tone.
You only need a very small amount as the product gently emulsifies. The Rice Powder gives almost an micro-dermabrasion effect without the harshness of a full on dermabrasion. Work it into the face and, as it’s so gentle into the neck, concentrating on areas where you may have large pores such as nose and chin.
Having reviewed this cleanser, it cannot be categorised as just a ‘cleanser’ more of a skin treatment, which brings me back to my original quest. Why should you spend £79 on a cleanser? That is because it is not. It’s also vegan and most of the ingredients are from organic farming, with 100% of ingredients are from natural origin.
If you go on to the Space NK Website by clicking the link HERE you will see the hundreds of five star reviews from happy customers.
