Review: Kosmea Replenishing Moisture Cream

I’m awaiting the day (with a fully prepped beach bag) when my skin will reject the idea of anything heavier than a light fluid as daily moisturiser of choice. Until then, I’m loving Kosmea‘s Replenishing Moisture Cream.

Kosmea are the Australian made and owned wonder-folk that not only have their signature product, the fabulous Organic Rose Hip Oil but a whole range of rose hip oil based skin care targeted for different needs. I’ve posted before of the wonderful time I spent with the Kosmea Clarifying Facial Wash before it got all empty on me and we had to break up. Tear.

The Replenishing Moisture Cream, funnily enough, is just that – replenishing. I favour this cream for night, as the super hydrating nature and lack of SPF protection (Kosmea do have a SPF 30+ day cream) lend to such a decision. I have used it during the day however, and the result was just as great – no shine, oily skin, and no (extra) breakouts.

The perfect texture between too thick and well, too thin, it’s rapidly absorbed and instantly turns skin into a velvety bed of softness, with no greasy residue. After waking, my skin was plump, glowing and incredibly hydrated. Best! Even better when plied on after a good exfoliation. Wish I had of included this in my in-flight beauty artillery!

If winter is kicking the glow out of your skin, I would definitely recommend trying this beauty out to set your skin on the right track for spring.

Tried and love Kosmea?
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Review: Kosmea Clarifying Facial Wash

I do apologise if you are one of the (fortunate or unfortunate, depending on how annoying you find my rantings) people that I have spoken to about rosehip oil lately. I just lurve the stuff. But let’s not get into the glowing appraisals of the super potent little bottle of the oil itself. No.

I’m here to write/preach about my current love of Kosmea Clarifying Facial Wash. If you think of rosehip oil itself as a little seed, or a tree, the branches are products that are based around the goodness of the oil. And this is the good type of oil people, no need to be alarmed by that word. It won’t make you skin oily/oilier. Collective sigh of relief – heard and noted. In fact it may help that problem by giving your skin the moisture it was lacking, hence the reason it was producing extra oil!

This cleanser is a cream (albeit one that isn’t too thick, I would say more of a cream-gel hybrid), which I normally avoid using as I have combination/pimple-prone skin in my T-zone, and the basic rules of cleanser-to-skin-type states dry skins suit creamier cleansers for their hydrating properties.

Well this cleanser is breaking all those rules, being the far-out little rebel that it is. I still get the squeaky clean just-washed feel, only without the squeak. (The ‘squeak’ being the tight, over-stripped feeling your skin can get when you use a cleanser that is too harsh and stripping for your skin.) Instead, my skin feels plump, super smooth, fresh and most importantly – clean. My skin also sports that tell-tale rosehip oil glow, and I haven’t even moisturised yet!

The non-stripping quality may be attributed to the sodium lauryl sulphate-free (the ingredient that causes cleanser formula’s to foam) formula. The cream still slightly foams, helping to cleanse, but doesn’t use this sometimes critiqued ingredient.

The boyfriend’s crows feet were once again hauled in to be the benchmark for a product’s effect on fine lines and post-cleanse of Kosmea, his fine lines were more filled out and plumper – another rosehip win.

While the packaging says suits all skin types, I wouldn’t recommend if you have hard-to-budge acne, as the active ingredients to fight it just aren’t there. But I can attest that this cleanser has not worsened my skin, or stimulated oil flow. Everyone else, normal, combination – go for it!

I’m loving my so-soft, glowing, hydrated and clean skin that adds a booster to my nightly rosehip oil routine.

Review: Grown Vanilla & Orange Peel Hand Cream

Since the cold snap shimmied its way into Melbourne, I have been loving hand cream sick. As soon as that tight, dry feeling starts to sneak its way across the back of my hands and down my drier-than-a day-old-fish-finger digits – I’m on it. So I was clearly delighted when I came across Grown‘s Vanilla & Orange Peel Hand Cream.

Source: Grown

The formula is fantastic; completely non-greasy and really rapidly absorbed for such a hydrating cream. No marks on my computer! Orange dominates the vanilla in the battle of the scents, but overall it’s subtle. I would prefer vanilla to wear the pants in this relationship; the orange reminds me a little of orange chocolate, of which I’m not a fan. It’s definitely growing (ha!) on me though, and it clearly hasn’t been an offensive enough of a scent/taste connection to discourage me from repeatedly applying this skin-loving cream.

Grown is an organic beauty range providing products for the face, body and hair. The star Bio Active ingredients in this black metal tube (loving the sexy packaging by the way – yes, packaging can be sexy – to me at least) are the antioxidants from grape seed, wheatgerm and rosehip oil. Antioxidants are the guys that fight free radicals – nasties that can damage your skin, basically. The moisturising properties come from rosehip (once again, that hero ingredient) and camellia seed oil.Well done guys, you do an amazing job!

I’ve got 65ml’s to last me, but at the rate of current use, it will be a sad day when my Grown hand cream has to leave me.

Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil

Where has this been all my life?!

Image courtesy of Trilogy

“This lightweight, non-greasy, golden oil contains Omega 3, 6 & 9, essential fatty acids and antioxidants to restore optimum skin health.” – Trilogy

I’ve only got myself to blame, I was a bit slow on the uptake. It’s not like there was a shortage of glowing reviews for me to absorb. I read them often, but they never drove me to action, and I’m not sure why. Did I think that a 100% natural, organic product wouldn’t be as effective as the chemical-laden products were are accustomed to? Maybe.

Woah-ho-ho I am wrong. I love this stuff. I mean, really truly love. I spout it’s merits to anyone who will listen, and also those who won’t.

I apply 3-4 drops into my finger tips at nighttime and massage into my skin. Using that much does make your skin look and feel oily, but I love the richness for nighttime. It does absorb fully after a while, so don’t be too concerned. In the mornings I add a drop to my SPF daily moisturiser. It blends seamlessly and adds an extra kick of life to the appearance of my skin. And some mornings I really need that!

I wasn’t planning on writing about this until at least 2 months of use, but I couldn’t wait that long!

The main deserves-a-medal points:

-It fades red marks left by old blemishs mega/really/super FAST. A particularly nasty red spot on my cheek has nearly disappeared, and I’m amazed.

-It makes your skin glow like nothing else. Truly radiant and I find myself using half the illuminator I used to.

-My skin is so so plump after it has been absorbed. As bouncy as a jumping castle.

-I rubbed it in to my boyfriends fine line around his eyes, and they disappeared for two days. Two.

–It’s only $20 dollars. Yeah.

If you are a fence-sitter like I was, I seriously suggest you get your hands on a sample or pinch some from a friend. It’s improved the condition of my skin greatly, and I’d love to gain members to the ‘I Love Rosehip Oil’ club. (We meet Tuesdays, but I’m totally flexible as I am currently the only member…I know of)

Warning: I got a friend to try my rosehip oil the other night, after rattling off all the benefits as above, and she totally agreed and loved it for the first 12 hours… and then broke out in a rash. Shit. Didn’t expect that! So do a test patch on a thinner patch of skin (eg. underside of arm) first before applying to whole face to check for any allergic reactions. As we all should before starting any new product I suppose, but it’s one that slips the mind.

UPDATE: A few days later, I remembered I had put a second product (Natio’s GLOW face cream) on my friends face the morning of the mysterious rash breakout. This was welcome news to my friend, who after having the glowing results for a few hours before the rash popped up, was a little bit shattered her skin wouldn’t get to experience the benefits of rosehip again.

So, we did a patch test with the two products on the inside of each arm, and a day later, it turned out the Natio cream was what she was allergic to! Huzzah!

But still, do a patch test before using, as a red rash isn’t welcomed by most.

Beauty Rituals

I thought of the idea for this post while preparing for a relaxing evening on the couch with my computer, tap-tapping away.

“Wuuuhhh? Preparing?” you say. Yes, preparing.

While I do regular full body beauty rituals (hair, face, body, nails, skin, feet), usually on a Sunday afternoon/evening, (whenever I get the chance really…or remember) sometimes an urge hits to have a proper relax. Sometimes, my should-have-been-washed-a-few-weeks-ago Bonds sloppy Joe and whatever trackpants I can find just don’t cut it. So tonight, I prepared a little.

Which included;

-A double face cleanse, using Nude Oil Cleanser, followed by my regular cleanser. (Hint: if you wear primer/sunscreens regularly, double cleansing is great)

Image courtesy of Nude Skincare website

-Massaging in my new Trilogy Organic Rosehip Oil (FYI: Day #2 and my skin is so smooth!) Followed by a light application of moisturiser.

Image courtesy of Trilogy

-Applying Jurlique’s Herbal Recovery Eye Gel to tighten and moisturise the eye area. (I also have the gel for the face – such a great product)

Image courtesy of Jurlique website

-An exfoliation and quick tan using Swissper’s Tanning and Exfoliation Wipes

-Finally, a few spritzes of Victoria’s Secret Cashmere perfume which comes boxed in a gorgeous little cream cashmere (faux?) bag. The vanilla and jasmine scent is perfect for a luxurious relax session.

I completed the ‘ritual’ by donning the nicest (if you could even call them that, I need new ‘lounge wear’!) trackpants I own, and a sheer, oh-so-soft cotton top I bought while in Paris.

I’m relaxed, and loving the clean and prepared feeling that follows a routine like this.

Do you have your own ‘beauty ritual’? Weekly? Sporadically ?

Do you ever prepare to relax, or have a scent dedicated to relaxing?

Or do I sound crazy and this was a whole waste of time?