The good thing about going on a year-long beauty no-buy/low-buy is that it gives me time to clear out my overflowing cupboard (and drawer, and bankers box!) of beauty products. And after my love-affair with Sephora this fall I definitely have alot of unused stuff that's just dying to get on my face. Case in point? Sephora's Exclusive Origins Bestsellers Kit which was a steal, even for a value pack, and sold out in no time at all.
I've had my eye on Origins for awhile now, and have occasionally tried a product or two, but this was my first time with a full set to test out. I was looking forward to giving this brand a full whirl though and no, not just because they are environmentally friendly and all natural ingredients and eschew mineral oil, paraffin, parabens and animal products. But I've mainly had my eye on them because their products SMELL SO GOOD. ;)
Origins High Potency Night A Mins
Case in point, the Origin's High Potency Night-A-Min is a luxuriously rich evening moisturizer infused with vitamin C, E & H that has the added bonus of smelling like a high-end creamsicle! I started using this night cream right before we dipped into our bleak, cold January and I've been using this nightly all throughout this horrid record-breaking weather Toronto has been having in February, and despite all the weather chaos, my skin has never been softer. It's an absolute keeper in my opinion.
And to compliment that cream? Origin's GinZing Energy Boosting Moisturizer is another great formula packed with skin-enrichening nutrients that also has an amazing citral zing! It says it can be a day or night cream, but I really recommend using this for a morning wake-up call for your skin. It's lightweight but gives enough heft to moisturize and act as a good base under your primer.
A minty wake-up call
Upon first glance this is just another cleanser, but to my surprise Checks and Balances is optimized for those of us with combination dry and oily skin. I do find that frothy cleansers can sometimess be drying (like a certain Ole Henriksen I'm testing out right now), but this one is refreshing with spearmint and lavender, making it a great asset to a morning skincare routine. The price is a touch steep however ($25.50 at Sephora) but I'm sure the 5oz product will last a full year so it's not SOOOO bad. At least that's what I'm telling myself ;)
GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream
As a lifelong sufferer of PES (Puffy Eye Syndrome) I'm always on the hunt for my Holy Grail depuffing cream. (Don't tell me to hydrate more, or get more sleep, it's been like this since I was little, it's in my blood!) A friend of mine swears by this product so I was most looking forward to trying this little gem in my kit, but unfortunately that excitement was short-lived. GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream is a nice addition to a morning beauty routine, I find myself putting it on after cleaning my face and before putting on any make-up, but it's not a miracle worker, at least not for me.
Plantscription Youth Renewing Face Oil
Ohhhh, face oils. I have a love-hate relationship with these things. I've made my own with essential oils and bases like apricot kernal oil and jojoba, and as pricey as those are, I always cringe when I see the prices of face oils that skincare companies sell them for. THAT SAID, this Plantscription Face Oil isn't bad. Whether it's 'Youth-renewing' or not, I'll never know (I don't believe any of that stuff) but it really does the trick smoothing and softening the skin, especially in this awful dry cold. My only complaint is that it smells heavily of argan oil, so much so that I can't detect the other aromas in this mix. I personally wouldn't buy it on it's own, but I'd recommend getting a small sample if you're partial to it.
Now there's one product in this package I haven't featured yet, and that's the Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask which will be featured mighty soon!
Get it for yourself
This package isn't available from Sephora any more (where I purchased it for a steal at only $46 with over $110 of products in it!) But Sephora has a GinZing Extra-Zing Energizing Kit on sale right now for only $27.50 that I can't recommend more.