11/11/2018 2 Comments Arbonne First Impression - SkincareAbout a month ago, I went to the Salon de l’Entrainement Physique et du Sport, here in Montreal (if you haven’t read my post about it yet, find it here). Among the companies that impressed me the most, there was Arbonne, a company that started in Switzerland 35 years ago. Arbonne does skincare, beauty and nutrition products, all from botanically based ingredients. Their products are certified zero waste, carbon neutral, and are not tested on animals. I was pretty impressed when I met them at the exhibition, which is why I was super excited when they reached out to me and asked if I would like to try out some of their products. Of course, I said yes, and I am here to spill the details. Because they were extra nice and gave me lot of products to try, this series will be divided into three posts: 1) skincare 2) body, hair and makeup, and 3) nutrition products. Before I jump into the products themselves, I want to emphasize how nice the people at Arbonne were. You can tell they all love what they do and strongly believe in the company. They sale more than products; it’s a whole lifestyle, where health and good vibes flow. I also have to mention the try-out system they have in place, which I think is genius and proves their devotion to the environment. When offering products to try, instead of giving you a thousand little individual sample sizes, they give you the actual full size product (I know, right? How cool is that?!). That way, you can bring it home, use whatever amount you need to form an opinion, and then return the bottle. I thought that made the whole experience very homey, like a friend was lending me some of her favorite products. And it reduces waste! The product’s information sheets were also sent to me via email, instead of handing out a pile of papers. I definitely was impressed by their eco-friendly initiative. Of course some of the products were given to me in sample sizes, like makeup items and nutrition products, for sanitary reasons. Now on to the good stuff! Since this post contains a lot of information, I’ve divided the products by collection, to make things simpler. All the products mentioned in this post are vegan, dermatologically tested and fit for every skin type. Clear Future Soothing Overnight Mask I have to admit I wasn’t overly impressed by that mask. It feels like jelly and provokes a slight tingling sensation upon application (which always scares me). You don’t need a lot to cover your entire face, which is a plus. You apply it on clean skin, forget it, go to bed. During the night, your skin absorbs the product, so much so that when you wake up, you can’t really feel it on your skin anymore. You just have to rinse it off and proceed as usual with your daily skincare routine. While the mask was very gentle and fresh, I didn’t really see any noticeable difference. Arbonne had recommended using it before trying out any of the other products, to clear the skin from any products that I was using before. I did, but it’s hard to tell whether it really helped or not. Calm Gentle Daily Cleanser This is a very basic, simple face cleanser. It has the texture of egg whites and leaves the skin feeling clean, soft and unstripped. I would recommend this cleanser if you have extra sensitive skin that tends to react to most products; the simple ingredients in this one make it super gentle, as the name suggests. Calm Gentle Daily Moisturizer I’m pretty picky when it comes to moisturizers. I don’t like a heavy moisturizer nor one that will cover my face in a greasy film. This one is very light, not greasy at all and has a slight smell of herbs that I find to be quite calming. It can be used either in the day or at night, which I appreciate (a moisturizer that can only be used at night = grease alert). I think the Calm collection honors its name, as the products feel very soothing and are super mild. RE9 Advanced Prepwork Cleansing Polish This is a gentle face scrub. It gently exfoliates and removes makeup, oil and dirt, leaving your skin clean and fresh. As you probably all know by now, I am a massive fan of the Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub (read more about it in my Secret Weapons for Radiant Skin post), so I was pretty skeptical about this product, thinking that nothing could ever surpass my trusty holy-grail. I was half wrong. While I don’t think I would trade my pink grapefruit scrub for the Arbonne one, I do think this product has a lot of benefits. First of all, it is made with all good things, which means no microbeads that ruin the environment, and no harsh chemicals on your face. The grit of the scrub is also super fine, which makes the product extra gentle on your skin; it is safe to use it morning and night, as opposed to most face scrubs out there, which you can only use once or twice a week. After using the Cleansing Polish, my face felt clean, but not stripped, which I really appreciate. The only downside is that it kind of smelled like olive bread to me… But that might just be me. Most Arbonne products have a very delicate and natural smell (if they have any smell at all). RE9 Advanced Prepwork Soft Focus Veil Broad Spectrum This is a two-in-one: it is a tinted moisturizer and an SPF moisturizer. It hydrates the skin, blurs imperfections and protects from the harmful UV rays of the sun. I first tried this product on top of a daily moisturizer, because I wasn’t sure it would provide enough moisture by itself. However, I quickly realized that it was more than moisturizing enough! This little guy is fierce and mighty; it protects, hydrates and evens out the skin tone. I feel like it’s kind of what the Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Correct and Cover Pink Grapefruit Moisturizer is supposed to be, only better. It goes on super smoothly, doesn’t leave any weird residue on your skin and deeply moisturizes. The whole works! RE9 Advanced Prepwork Hydrating Dew Cream I am seriously in love with that product! It is the perfect moisturizer: it is light, it goes on smoothly, has no greasy film, and is richer than the Calm Gentle Daily Moisturizer that I talked about earlier. It completely gets absorbed by the skin, which means that it works great under makeup. But my favorite feature is that it truly illuminates the skin. A lot of moisturizers claim to do just that, but only a few actually do it. This one does. RE9 Advanced Prepwork Gel Eye Masks I’ve heard about eye masks before (who hasn’t?!) but I had yet to try them. Let me tell you, now I can see what the hype is all about. It feels AMAZING! I first tried these babies in the morning, after popping the container in the fridge for a few minutes. It felt like applying a cooling lotion on a scorching sunburn. I just stood there in front of the mirror, amazed at the sensation. It felt cooling, calming, moisturizing and awakening, all at the same time. It also helped to reduce puffiness from sleeping. I also tried it at night, not chilled, and while it wasn’t as intense, I thoroughly enjoyed it none the less. It comes in a little container with a double lid, which keeps the moisture locked in and keeps the product from drying out. It also comes with a tiny spatula that you can use to separate the patches from one another. The masks themselves feel like jelly and are pretty fragile, so you need to be careful when manipulating them. After 10-15 minutes, you can peel them off and continue with your normal skincare routine. They leave no residue behind, and your under eye area feels extra moisturized. I think I might plan a lifetime supply of these eye masks, because they are tiny lifesavers. Out of the three collections above, the RE9 Advanced Prepwork is by far my favorite. I really feel like it did illuminate my skin and all the products were super-duper moisturizing, without being heavy. Also, the packaging is bright and cheerful, which is something I always look for in products that I use in the morning. I think it is a very beautiful collection. That is all for today’s post! I also got the chance to try some bath products, hair products and a few products out of the Arbonne Essentials line, which I’ll talk about in future blog posts. Overall, I was impressed by several aspects of the company and I did find some gems that I totally see myself using in the future. If you have tried any of their products, let me know, I’m really curious to hear what your impressions were! Lastly, thank you so much to Arbonne for letting me try some of their amazing products. Check out their website and their Instagram! Until next time. Much love,
-TM-
2 Comments
11/11/2018 01:08:31 pm
Thank you Isabelle, for all your great comments, you do write beautifully! I really appreciated you gave me your input regarding our products! Talk to you soon! 😉
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