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 : REN Omega 3 Optimum Skin Serum Oil

For the past six weeks or so I've been trialling REN's Omega 3 Optimum Skin Serum Oil and ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser. Today's review is about the Omega 3 serum and tomorrows will be about the clay cleanser.

A few words about the brand:

I rarely mention (or care) about a brand's "ethos" but I'm making an exception for REN because it's pretty much free of BS that you should hear it. REN is about "clean" skincare (no synthetic fragrances, mineral oil, silicones and parabens) but they don't spin the usual "natural skincare is better than yours" line. Their view is that: "It's very difficult to be entirely precise when it comes to words like “natural” and "chemical". Every ingredient in every cosmetic product is a chemical in the sense that it consists of molecules made up of atoms of chemical elements. In addition, many natural (ie not synthetically derived) compounds are poisons (eg arsenic) and so to use the term "natural" is also meaningless without further explanation." WELL SAID REN. I'll  probably end up plagiarising this at some stage. (Ignore the "chemical-free skincare" description on M&S' website)

Also:

-Their products are not tested on animals.

-Full list of ingredients on website!! *Throws confetti*Skips towards the rainbow*

Right then, about the product. I'm pleased to report that this doesn't stink of fish oil. (Though oddly enough, the Omega 3/fish connotation is what piqued my interest) It has a deliciously sweet fruity smell which makes it a joy to apply. The consistency is quite runny, so you have to be careful that it doesn't trickle off your fingers. It comes in a plastic pump bottle and it's easy to control the amount that's dispensed, ensuring no product wastage. I thought it might not absorb well because of the slippery texture, but it absorbs perfectly. I sometimes layer it with other oils and there's no greasiness, thanks to its light consistency.

{ The Ingredients - "Bio Actives" in bold }

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Camelina Sativa Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Phaeodactylum Tricornotum Extract, Bisabolol, Parfum (Fragrance), Linalool, Limonene, Tocopherol.

Translation?

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride: an emollient

Wheat Germ Oil: "nourishes and provides essential vitamins to protect the skin from oxidative damage"

Camelina Sativa Oil: AKA "gold of pleasure" oil (*snicker*) is rich in Omega 3. "Promotes cell renewal and optimum moisture levels to restore firmness and elasticity"

Rosa Canina Fruit Oil (Rosehip Oil): "rich in Vitamin A. Stimulates the natural metabolism of skin cells". That doesn't mean an awful thing beginning with C, it means healing and repairing the skin (scarring, sunburn) and reducing fine lines. It also rehydrates the skin.

Phaeodactylum Tricornotum Extract: seaweed

Bisabolol: anti-inflammatory (found in Chamomile)

Linalool, Limonene: fragrance ingredients

Tocopherol: anti-oxidant

"Clean" skincare is all well and good, but does it work?

It shure does. My skin is usually "normal", but come January my make-up didn't sit well and the only explanation I could think of was that my skin was dry. With less than a week of use, my skin was back to normal and I could use face powders without looking all gross and flaky.

It's good to use as a main oil to hydrate the skin but also light enough to use as a "booster" layered with other oils to give your skin a bit more love when it's feeling sad and dry. I prefer to use different oils to beef up my skincare routine, rather than changing moisturisers, because I find oils to be much more effective in treating the skin. (Plus, it means that the old moisturiser won't be left to languish at the back of the skincare drawer.)

It can be expensive to have a bunch of face oils on rotation, but this is very reasonably priced at £23 for a 30ml bottle.* It works out as £76.67/100ml, which sounds quite expensive but a 30ml bottle lasts AGES. £23 is very reasonable, especially compared to other oils aimed for dry skin, e.g.:

-Aromatherapy Associates Intensive Skin Treatment Oil - £44/15ml

-Decleor Neroli Serum, £44/15ml

-Sunday Riley Isis Face Oil, £98/30ml

Trilogy's Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+ Oil (£26.50/30ml) is another great product, but I don't find it to be as hydrating.

Would I recommend it? 

It's a good serum to use, whether you have dry skin or not. (Keeping your skin hydrated is vital for keeping fine lines and wrinkles at bay - so don't wait for the signs of dryness before getting yourself an oil!) However, I'm not sure this worked for me - tomorrow's post will explain.

Celine

*You'll receive 10% off your first order at renskincare.com :)