Review : REN ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser

REN reviews, deuxieme partie: ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser. This slightly absurdly named cleanser was another accidental find while I was looking for face oils for dry skin (see previous post). It contains clay, which you don't often find in cleansers. (There's Sunday Riley's Ceramic Slip Cleanser, but it's quite expensive at £35/125ml) At £18/200ml*, I thought it was a bargain and there was 20% off on top of that so I went ahead and bought it - but never before checking the ingredients!

{ Ingredients - "Bio-Extracts" in bold }

Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Flower Water, Kaolin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Cetearyl Glucoside, Glycerin, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Salix Nigra (Willow) Bark Extract, Benzyl Alcohol, Oryzanol, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Leptospermum Scoparium Oil, Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Flower Oil, Linalool, Limonene, Zinc Gluconate, Bisabolol, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Dehydroacetic Acid, Crataegus Oxyacantha Stem Extract, Glucose, Xanthan Gum, Lactic Acid, Tocopherol.

Ahh this is a long list to get through... 

Chamomile Flower Water - soothing and calms the skin 
Kaolin - AKA white clay. Anti-bacterial and detoxifying. Helps keep breakouts at bay.

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride - an emollient 

Cetearyl Alcohol - this is a "fatty" alcohol. We like them for moisturising, we do not like denatured alcohol which is drying 

Sesame Seed Oil - contains fatty acids which act as emollients

Cetearyl Glucoside - binding agent

Glycerin - an emollient

Sunflower Seed Oil - contains Vitamin E, helps skin retain moisture

Willow Bark Extract or Salicilin - provides mild exfoliation and has anti-bacterial properties

Benzyl Alcohol - I've noticed this ingredient in a lot of "natural" skincare ranges (eg. balance Me). I wax lyrical about avoiding alcohol in skincare but it's not always possible - products will go mouldy otherwise. Gotta live with it. Benzyl alcohol is plant-derived and supposedly less drying than denatured alcohol, and since it's a bit further down the list, I like to think it's a fairly small quantity. I hope.

Oryzanol - skin conditioner

Sage Oil - anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial

Lavender Oil - antiseptic. You may have read that lavender is cytotoxic on Beautypedia. I went into an OMF-PANIC but I looked up the relevant study, and it turns out that tests were in vitro. In other words, it won't kill you.  

Leptospermum Scoparium Oil - AKA Manuka Essential Oil. Anti-bacterial. Soothes and nourishes.

Chamomile Flower Oil - anti-inflammatory

Linalool, Limonene - fragrance ingredients

Zinc Gluconate - reduces production of sebum

Bisabolol - anti-inflammatory

Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract - AKA Pot Marigold. Soothing, anti-inflammatory

Dehydroacetic Acid - preservative

Crataegus Oxyacantha Stem Extract - AKA Hawthorwn or Mayblossom. Anti-microbial and "tones enlarged pores" (whatever that means)

Glucose - sugar?

Xanthan Gum - thickening agent

Lactic Acid - an AHA, which are excellent for exfoliating the skin. However, it's so low down on the list that I doubt it's in any useful quantity! 

Tocopherol - anti-oxidant

You skimmed right past that didn't you ;)

The instructions direct you to pump this on to slightly damp hands but I never bother and apply it straight. The product feels quite cool when applied to the skin and has a luxurious thick consistency, like a mix of three parts clay mask to one part cream cleanser. It feels lovely to massage over the skin (one pump is enough) and leaves it feeling refreshed after rinsing off.

So. Ingredients: check. Texture: check. No French clay pooey smells? Check. So far so good, but does it work? Quite honestly, I find it hard to tell. When it comes to removing make-up, I can tell whether a cleanser does its job by the state of my flannel afterwards - a yellowy residue spells no. This test doesn't work here because I only use it in the mornings for a detoxifying cleanse not for make-up & daily gunk cleansing.

It's almost like a clay mask, so you wouldn't expect to see an immediate result. It needs time to make a difference. Now that six weeks have passed, the question to ask is: has there been an improvement in my skin's condition? The answer to that is ... no. Since I started using these two products from REN, I've broken out in spots -.- And the problem with using new products is that I don't know which of the two is to blame!

With that in mind, I can't really recommend either product at this stage. All I can say is that:

-The Omega 3 serum works very well for dry skin

-The Clay Cleanser should work well for spot-prone skin (and others, there's no reason to restrict it to "blemish prone" skin)

-But one of them caused my skin to break out.

After my skin calms down, I'll start using them again to figure it out. Part troisieme coming soon I suppose.

Celine

*A lot of websites are still selling the old size (150ml) for the same price. Make sure you choose the "33% extra free" 200ml size.

Review : The Body Shop Seaweed Clay Mask

I wanted to hate this product. I really did. After opening the tub and smoothing the clay over my face, I was struck by the overwhelming smell of … sewage. Foul.

I left it on for around 10 minutes during which the mask hardens - to the point where your face might crack with the slightest facial expression. The mask's colour slowly changes from dark green to a lighter and trendier minty green, which is quite cool but doesn't change the fact that you look and smell like you've been wading through a smelly canal.

I washed it off using a face cloth, which was stained brown in the process ... (Could the clay be some form of recycled poo) Needless to say, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. I love using masks, but this - no. It stinks and I needed two flannels rinse it off.

And with that said, I'm almost disinclined to admit that I was quite impressed with the results. I had a sore, red bump (one of those spots that doesn’t quite know when/how it wants to maim your face) on my forehead and after applying the mask, it had completely gone down! O.O I've never had a such an obvious immediate result  after just one application!

It’s not all raptures and spangles though. The downside is that my skin felt a little dry and tight afterwards. Nothing that a nice hydrating mask and moisturiser can't sort out, but enough to limit use to once per week.

If you're quite chillax about what goes on your face, embracing mineral oil, parabens, home made lemon peels and the like then you go ahead and use it.  It costs £12/100ml and £6 for members of the Shop's loyalty scheme (here). But we should really care a bit more about what goes on our face. I have to be honest and admit (*inhale*) that I didn't read the label before purchasing. (*shriek*) (But only because the shop staff cast me an evil glare when I tried to peel the label off!)

Here is the full ingredients list (which is published online!! woopwoop!!)
Kaolin, Aqua, Heilmoor Clay, Glycerin, Alcohol Denat., Bentonite, Talc, Lithothamnium calcarum, Maris Limus Extract, Pentylene Glycol, Fucus Vesiculosus Extract, Polysorbate 20, Myristamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Bisabolol, Parfum, Butylene Glycol, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA, Zinc PCA, Linalool, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Salicylate, Laminaria Saccharina Extract, Denatonium Benzoate, Tocopherol, CI 77289, CI 42090.

When I read labels, I'm on the lookout for two things: mineral oil and alcohol.

Mineral oil is cheap crap that sits on your skin doing nottin. Alcohol can dry and irritate the skin, but is sometimes necessary, e.g. in suncreams to stabilise the product, and as a preservative - but only as one of the last ingredients. Where is alcohol on this list? TOP FIVE INGREDIENT FML. Why are so many products marketed towards acne/blemish prone skin or "clarifying" and "oil-minimising" solutions packed FULL of alcohol?! Like I'm really helping my skin by striping the mantle away and opening the gateway for yet more bacteria to breed there. No thank you.
Basically, while you might feel an immediate short-term improvement, you're exacerbating the problem in the long-term and damaging your skin's protective layers. The 'improvement' was probably the effect of alcohol burning skin alive and sending all bacteria to oblivion.

Will I use it again? Unlikely. Would I recommend it? No. You'll have dryness and premature ageing to deal with on top of spots and acne. And it smells rank.