Nature Essentials Elixir

I volunteered to do a review of Nature Essentials Elixir a month ago. In the interest of fairness, I will have to disclose that these products were given free of charge and specifically for this purpose but this review was not compensated for in any other way. While my blog niche is not that of a beauty blogger’s, my review will be based upon my experience as a potential consumer of this brand.

My regular brand of choice for skin care, as everyone who has ever browsed through this blog knows, requires a three-step skin care ritual which I have faithfully followed for many years. However, for this particular review, I stopped using all my regular cleansing products to allow my skin to reap the full benefits of this new brand. Before use, however, I did a patch test of each of these products in my arm. None of these products caused any visible adverse effect such as itching or redness.

I jumped into this review because I had started to notice small, very fine lines in my forehead in the last few months. My husband thinks I am exaggerating but I started seeing them more clearly after my dad passed away in July. Clearly, stress was a major factor in aging my skin. Then too, with the busy days and nights that went into Dad’s hospital stay and his wake, I was not as diligent as I should have been in taking care of my skin. Some days, I forgot my sunscreen; other days, I was too tired to do anything than to wipe my make-up off with make-up cleansing tissues.

Nature Essentials boasts of their products as “nature’s answer to Botox,” recommending their products as an alternative to those costly injections of the Botulinum toxin which paralyze the activity of facial muscles that cause frown lines and wrinkles. Aside from its anti-aging claim, it is also said to possess whitening and regenerating properties. Intrigued by these, I volunteered to do this review, stretching the period to three-and-a-half weeks.

After a 48-hour rest from my regular products and with the patch test done and over with, I began to use Nature Essentials to replace the products I used daily. I began by using the Algae Elixir soap, which is sold as a small, translucent blue bar weighing 90grams. It is intended to cleanse your skin of make-up and other impurities, as well as aid in firming and tightening the skin.

The soap is rather easy to lather. It lasts quite long and the sample I received made it through more than three weeks of twice-daily washing. The soap isn’t granular so it is not harsh on the skin. It smells medicinal at first but the smell does not linger in the suds or on your face. To get a deeper cleanse especially on days when make-up was necessary, I massaged the lather and allowed it to stay on my face for a few minutes.

After a thorough rinsing with water, I followed it up with a layer of Elixir Mask. The mask comes in a dark blue flat jar with an inner cover. The smell is also faintly medicinal but not off-putting. The mask is a translucent light blue fluid with the consistency of liquid glue. It is thick and spreads with a little difficulty so a generous amount is needed to cover the entire face. To maximize use, however, I concentrated the mask on my forehead, making sure to cover the area well. The mask dries tight on the face but is easily removed by water. The recommended frequency of use is thrice a week but for this test, I used it every other day.

The Face Elixir is the last thing I put on at night. Compared to the mask, which is heavy and thick, the elixir serum is light, non-greasy, and gets absorbed quite readily so a little goes a long way. I did not notice a tingling or pricking sensation when I used it. I did notice that my face was oily when I woke up in the morning, but it also felt supple too.

I did not experience any breakouts during the more than three-week duration of product use. As mentioned above, there was a light oily sheen in the areas of concentrated use but there was no evidence of dryness or flaking even in the areas that are normally dry for me.

Visibly, however, I have to report that they did not seem to improve my wrinkles. Perhaps it is because it is not easy to undo weeks of damage, and if this is so, this hypothesis needs to be further tested and under better control conditions. But while I cannot prove or disprove these products’ anti-aging claims, I am quite happy with the way my skin feels, visible lines barring.

I am proud that a local product can replace more expensive, foreign imports when it comes to skin cleansing, allowing the local market more accessible options to choose from. For more on Nature Essentials, please visit their Facebook page here. Their products are available for purchase online and also in selected bazaars this season.