Last month I received a sample in my
Birchbox from One Love Organics. It was their Skin Savior Waterless Beauty Balm.
I love the idea of a free-of-fillers, chemicals, synthetics, parabens, dyes,
fragrances; and natural/organic beauty products. However, they can be iffy at
times and I’m pretty peculiar about what I put on my body, especially my face,
considering that’s what people see all the time and my skin is also temperamental. It tends to be very dry in the winter and very oily during the summer and I'm very prone to breakouts two weeks out of the month.
Birchbox describes this as a “makeup
remover, cleanser, and head-to-toe moisturizer” all rolled into one. Okay,
tracking. One Love Organics describes being able to use it as “…head-to-toe
cleansing, moisturizing, conditioning, smoothing and massaging.” Even
better! But that’s where I got skeptical. It’s been my experience that with
these alleged all-in-one products, there is always something missing, making
them not so much “all-in-one”. Kind of like the one size does NOT fit all. I’ll
take you through my whole experience.
As you can see on the outside of their
container, two of the things stated are the fact that they handcraft all
products in small batches and they are cruelty free! Now, I know it has a pic
of the cute little bunny, but I can imagine it goes for all furry critters too J Both of these
facts are important to me. Small batches at a time cut down on excessiveness
and wasting. As for the cruelty-free aspect, I find it contradictory for an “organic”
line to test on animals. It makes me wonder what else they are contradictory
about, if that makes sense.
One of the things One LoveOrganics talked about was how a little goes a long way. My thought was "I
sure hope so!", considering it’s only half an ounce in the sample container. However,
these pics were taken today and I’ve been using this product almost every day
for the last 2 weeks and you can see how much I’ve used. I haven’t even touched
the bottom yet! The full-size product retails for 68.00 USD for 3.5 ounces, however, with the very small
amount needed when using this balm, I think it is well worth the money.
The first thing I noticed when I opened
the jar was the smell. It smells ah-mazing! It has a light, tropical-like scent
to it that I love. Secondly, when I ran the tip of my finger across the top, I found it
was in fact, quite “balmy” and rather stiff. I was skeptical once more. This could have went
wrong. Very wrong. First of all, I’m a fan of my cleanser creating a good
lather. You can just see the little bubbles getting into your pores, so I was
stand-offish for that reason. Second of all, considering the fact that it is “balmy”,
I was concerned about the possibility of greasiness. Come to find out, I didn’t have to be
concerned for too long. One Love
Organics nailed it! You can see below where I was able to “whip” it up
slightly. By adding just a little more pressure into the balm, the heat and
friction will break it down to a very spreadable consistency. Which is why you don't have to use much.
Now Birchbox and OLO both recommended
using the product as a cleanser with the OLO My BFF Shammy, which is
their microfiber cleansing cloth that is effective up to 200 washes and reduces the amount of cleanser you have to use (which, seriously, if I have to use any
less balm, I’m buying stock!). However, seeing as how Birchbox did not send me
one of these (come on, Birchbox!) then I had to make due with a regular ol’
washcloth L To use this product as a
cleanser, you take a little of the balm and massage it into your face. Seeing
as how you can’t exactly splash water to rinse it off, you have to use a warm
washcloth (or the BFF shammy) to wipe your face clean. I used a white washcloth
so I could really see what it was pulling away. I was very surprised. I wear
moderate makeup with heavier eye makeup and it took it all right off with no
problems. It leaves your face feeling very moisturized afterwards as well. So
unless you have very dry skin, I doubt you’d have to follow up with a
moisturizer. And if you do, here’s the beauty of it: just add a little more
balm to your face because it’s a moisturizer as well! This time of year, my face isn't either too dry or too oily, but I have been having some dryness between my eyebrows. So I did go back and spot moisturize with it a few times. Not greasy at all! It actually can be used
head-to-toe as a moisturizer, conditioner, or to massage with! On the One Love Organics website it even tells
you how you can use it with your favorite mineral powder to create a custom
treatment foundation or as a hair pomade. Very cool, if you ask me.
So all of this is great, but what is in
it is what makes it incredible. Because let’s face it, there are awesome
products out there, but at the end of the day, if you are smearing chemicals
all over yourself, then what’s it really worth to you then? This balm is made
with cold-pressed plant oils (like pure virgin coconut and sweet soy) to break
down and remove dirt and makeup, while the other plant-based oils, (like mango
butter seeds) boost the formula’s hydrating power. If it looks like I’m sold,
it’s because I am. J It's not just because it's been an incredible product, it's left my skin unbelievably soft, and it's so simple it looks hard; But also, after looking over this company
and reading their manifesto (Seriously, check this out!), they just may be my new beauty crush!! I highly
recommend checking this one out. If I end up trying more of their products,
I’ll definitely let you in on those as well!
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If you are interested in signing up for
Birchbox, which is a monthly beauty subscription of samples delivered to your door
for 10 dollars, then check them out here------->>>Birchbox.com
