The products that I have been trialling from the Zelens range are the Radiance Luminous Facial Cleanser (£40), 3t Complex Essential Anti-Ageing Cream (£95) and Triple Action Advanced Eye Cream (£75). Something that struck me early on in testing all three products, was how nice the textures were to apply. They all feel really luxurious and have a delicate botanical fragrance and whilst you'd probably expect that from high end products, it isn't a given.
The Radiance Cleanser has been really enjoyable to use. It made me appreciate how much I favour milky cleansers over thicker balms. Most of the time my makeup is light enough not to require heavy duty, oil-based cleanser so this kind of texture works well for me. It does seem to have a touch of oil to it (maybe the Camelia Seed Oil), so that it cuts through makeup easily but still rinses away easily like a milk without leaving any residue. As always, I dispense cleanser into my hand, warm up between my palms before massaging all over the face and I remove using a warm, damp muslin cloth or flannel. The Radiance Cleanser will remove eye makeup but I prefer to do this with a separate eye makeup remover.
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| Radiance Cleanser Ingredients |
The 3t Complex Anti-Ageing Cream is a hydrating cream moisturiser which feels beautiful. Although it is quite rich, it glides on and doesn't feel greasy (the formula does contain silicone). When I was trialling it, I applied both morning and night. I felt that it really plumped out my skin, making my crinkles look less obvious. Unfortunately, it obviously was a little too rich for my combination skin, as I did experience some congestion on my chin. I wanted to believe it wasn't as a result of the cream but like a good scientist, I swapped the cream for the Emma Hardie Hydrating Lighter Lotion for a week and the congestion disappeared. Although I loved using it, I think this cream is probably best suited to drier skin types than mine.
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| 3t Complex Cream Ingredients |
The star of this trio for me is the Triple Action Advanced Eye Cream. The texture is really interesting and probably best described as a gel-cream hybrid. I really struggle with eye creams, I've tried quite a few now and many of them leave my eyes puffy in the morning if I apply them before bed. The Zelens cream doesn't make my eye puffy and I'm convinced it improved the appearance of my undereye area. Nothing is likely to eradicate all of the creases I have on the outer corners but the lines were definitely softened. It also provides a good base to apply concealer.
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| Triple Action Advanced Eye Cream |
One thing that I must mention about this Eye Cream is the unusual sensation when I apply it. I find that when I initially apply it to the skin, it stings a little. Of course, this freaked me out the first time having had reactions before, but I fought the urge to wash it off immediately. Fortunately, the sensation is fleeting. I also find that I don't feel it as much if I apply to damp skin, although I suppose I am diluting it when I do this. I am assuming this tingling sensation is down to an ingredient that is designed to plump out the skin, but I admit I can't immediately see anything on the ingredients list that I know would do that. I'd be really interested to hear from others that have used this eye cream and whether they have had the same experience. It is entirely possible that I am an oddity. No comments necessary!
I won't dance around the fact that these are expensive items. However, if they are within your skin care budget, I think the brand is definitely worth a look. Both the face and eye cream come in reasonably quantities (50ml and 15ml respectively) and based on the amounts I have used, applying morning and night for just over a month, I would expect the face cream to last 3-4 months and the eye cream to last around 6 months. Would I buy any of these products myself? I would definitely put my hands in my pocket for the Triple Action Eye Cream and have already recommended it to friends. I really like the cleanser too but I think it would be easy to use it up very quickly.
Zelens skin care products are available from SpaceNK and beautybay.com. You can find out more about the Zelens range, including detailed information about the active ingredients and a glossary of the plants used in the formulations, on Zelens.com
Disclosure: These items were sent to me without cost for review purposes.
