As self care continues to rise in popularity and importance, it is increasingly easy to get your hands on high-quality skincare. But the kicker is finding products that work without breaking the bank or relying on nasty chemicals and fillers. Bliss, a long-standing skincare and spa company, has been making natural, cruelty-free offerings for years, so we decided to test out some of its top sellers to find just how well these budget-friendly, natural skincare products work.
We received six items: That’s Incredi-peel (glycolic resurfacing pads); Eye Got This (foil eye masks); Eye Do All Things (hydrating eye gel); Drench & Quench (cream-to-water hydrator); Ex-Glow-Sion (super-rich moisturizer); and Lemon & Sage Body Butter. Inhabitat editors Gaby, who has combination skin that can get oily throughout the day, and Paige, whose skin is drier than the Sahara Desert, tested and evaluated each item for packaging, ingredients, effectiveness and cost.
That’s Incredi-Peel
First, we tested the resurfacing pads, which promise to “smooth and brighten” skin after swiping the pad across your face. This treatment works best before bed, as it does leave a sort of filmy feel on the face as the product works to improve the texture of skin. Overall, the product didn’t burn or cause any redness, even on sensitive, dry skin. The box, which retails for $22, contains 15 single-use pads that are meant to be used nightly; for a month’s worth of this product, you’d be spending about $44. We enjoyed how That’s Incredi-peel initially felt on our skin and how soft it left our faces in the morning, but we aren’t in love with the disposable nature of the pads. Each single-use wipe is wrapped in foil, also single-use, which comes in a recyclable box.
Eye Do All Things
Eye Do All Things was quite the eye-opener (pun intended). This eye gel is applied with a metal roller ball that you swipe along the soft, delicate under eye area. This creates a cooling sensation that softened our dark circles and truthfully just helped wake us up each morning. Although Bliss recommends this for day or night use, we preferred it as a morning wake-up call. Again, we are coming across a plastic tube that isn’t reusable, although it could be recycled through a program like TerraCycle. The tube costs $22, and we imagine it lasts well over a month with daily use, because just the smallest amount is needed for each eye.
Eye Got This
Perhaps because we are all just running on fumes and walking around exhausted, we tested yet another under eye treatment: eye masks. Eye Got This is a box of five iridescent, star-patterned eye masks that is priced at $15, or $3 per mask. These eye masks were the ultimate definition of a guilty pleasure — we loved how refreshing and relaxing they felt, but we were saddened by the disposability after 15 minutes of pure joy. The single-use items include two small masks, one for each eye, in a packet — all of which goes straight to the trash can after use. The cardboard exterior packaging is recyclable.
Drench & Quench
This cream-to-water hydrator is a shocking blue gel that you massage into your face day or night for a boost of moisture. The product moisturizes without leaving skin oily and seeps into the skin quickly, but the added fragrance in the product did cause some redness and tingling on extra-dry and sensitive skin. Some of the more impressive ingredients include vitamin C, chamomile, purified micro algae and passion fruit seed oil. A 1.7 ounce jar, which will last several weeks with twice-a-day use, is sold for $20. The plastic jar can be recycled, or you could repurpose it to hold DIY skincare concoctions, earrings or other random trinkets.
Ex-Glow-Tion
We loved Ex-Glow-Tion, a deeply hydrating and thick moisturizer free of nasty chemicals. There’s no added fragrance here, plus the added shea butter and cucumber and pear extracts keep skin from drying out or flaking. Just a small amount is needed for a huge boost of moisture. For dry skin, this cream works well day and night. For normal to combination skin, we would recommend this as a night cream as it is a heavier lotion. Like the Drench & Quench, a 1.7 ounce jar sells for $20, and the plastic jar can be reusedor recycled.
Find Bliss in this natural, cruelty-free and affordable skincare [New Atlas]