Murad // Age Reform AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser Review

Murad // Age Reform AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser
RRP £38 for 200ml

This is the 200ml full size that I chose as part of my latest in beauty box in May 2019.

First Impressions:

This runny cream contains fine granules that gently exfoliate the skin but they do not dissolve. They are not microbeads but jojoba beads which take a while to dissolve in water. It slightly foams up but for the most part I did not find this to adequately remove makeup.

Usage
First use - September 2019
Last use - March 2020

This took me a long time to get through; mainly because it doesn't cleanse, it's just an exfoliator. This is the product that also caused me a trip to A&E in December as one of the jojoba beads got stuck in my eye. It was there for 2 weeks before I couldn't take it any longer and went to the hospital. They removed it by flipping my eyelid inside out and swabbing the area (and my eye) with a cotton wool bud. That was not a pleasant experience. It felt like someone was stabbing my eye with a tiny needle. Jojoba beads are marketed as"bio-degradable" so they're better for the environment but they appear to take a long time to degrade so are they really a better alternative?

Would I buy it: No.

Overall Impressions:

I'm a bit on/off with Murad. Some products I like, others just seem overpriced. This is one of them. I'd say my skin started to look better after I stopped using it. For AHA's I prefer using my Dr Nassif Detox pads (they work like a charm) and exfoliator wise; I tend to avoid them now as sugar scrubs can cause micro-tears in the skin and jojoba beads can get stuck in your eyes (it doesn't matter if you don't apply it near your eyes, they somehow still get in there). 

As a cleanser it's pretty much useless as well as it does not remove makeup adequately; I always had to use a second cleanser. 

Sand & Sky // Australian Pink Clay Flash Perfection Exfoliating Treatment Review

Sand & Sky // Australian Pink Clay Flash Perfection Exfoliating Treatment
RRP £36.90 for 100g

This is a 10g that I received in the Birchbox August 2019 box.

First Impressions

This has a nice almond/marzipan smell to mask the clay smell with a nitty gritty texture that isn't too rough on the skin. You can leave it on for a couple of minutes as a mask as well and then scrub and wash off.

Usage

This took me about 5 months to use up but only because I kept forgetting to use it. That said, I did get a good 10 uses out of it as I used it as a scrub instead of piling it on my face as a mask. It has extremely fine grains like caster sugar as well as some darker, chunkier ones.

Would I Buy It: Yes actually. I really enjoyed using it.

Overall Impressions

This has been added to my wishlist for when I get a higher disposable income as Sand & Sky products are quite pricy. That said, I do feel it is worth £37; this is not your basic exfoliator. The grains are super fine and it really feels like dirt and debris is being lifted away.

Sand & Sky do have some before and after photos on their website (which I've linked above) but they do look proper sketch though as they're very low quality and to be honest, the skin looks exactly the same but with a blur filter applied.

This product also contains AHAs so I think it is a good thing I didn't use it too often; I tend to only use products containing the chemical once/twice a week so 100g will go a long way. Because I used it so inconsistently I can't say definitively if it did anything for me but I enjoyed the sample so much I'm will to shill out £40 on the full size.

Origins // High-Potency Night-A-Mins Review

Origins // High-Potency Night-A-Mins
RRP £30 for 50ml

This is a 50ml jar I bought from Feel Unique in July 2019.

First Impressions

This is actually my 2nd jar of Night-A-Mins that I've finished now. It has a lovely citrus/orange peel scent that I just can't get enough of. It reminds me of the old Sunny Delight orange juice. It's quite a thick cream and you don't need much either and it spreads easily across the skin.

Usage

I started using this jar at the beginning of August 2019 and finished it mid December, so it can last a good 4 and half months of daily use. You don't need to use much but I always like to really coat my skin and night and let all that goodness sink in whilst I'm sleeping, so I tended to use a good scoop (about a 5 pence piece).

Would I Buy It: Yes, this was my second purchase.

Overall Impressions

I enjoy using this night cream; it's not my HG product. That belongs solely to the Guerlain Orchidee Imperial but I am nowhere near rich enough to afford that stuff on the regular...or even once every five years (a Guerlain sales assistant once gave me 2 5ml samples of the stuff...they were worth about £30 each).

I've tried both the old formula (that didn't have the AHAs) and I've found this cream to be exactly the same. I didn't notice any exfoliating or differences to my skin in a way that you get with an AHA exfoliator but then again this may have a weaker solution of AHAs.

This is the night cream I use when I'm between trying new products because it's reliable and doesn't cause any breakouts.