Skin Care: The Basics - Esse

Apparently, the first step to recovery is acknowledging you have a problem:

 I like to experiment with face and skin products.

I like foundations, and BB Creams (ok that's a bit obvious, considering my posting history), I like concealers and highlighters, I like contouring, I like makeup and masks. However, between my trying out new products, the stress of work and family life, and a few hormonal ups and downs, I managed to do my skin some damage. 

Growing up, I didn't have that many skin issues, a few acne breakouts which were often stress related, or linked to my menstrual cycle. For the most part, all I needed was a little concealer here and there, and the strength to fight off the temptation to pop Mount Etna as it emerged on my face.

After I started working, however, the breakouts became much more regular. I was almost constantly having a breakout of some kind, and, is common with breakouts, one pimple became the source for a second pimple, and the cycle continued. As these pimples were invariably becoming aggressive white heads, I wasn't comfortable covering them up with makeup in case this aggravated them. I was now getting some rather nasty hyper pigmentation left behind after the pimple had long gone.

I tried a number of products, from what I used in high school (sebamed), to organic skin care products and the high end stuff (Clinique, Clarins, Elizabeth Arden). The best among them would stop the breakouts from becoming worse, and stop the spread of the breakout, but they weren't doing anything to calm the existing pimples, or stopping future breakouts. I also tried out a few products to help with the hyper pigmentation, to no avail.

On the advice of a friend, I went to get a facial and some advice. The beauty therapist suggested I try a trial kit from Esse Organic Skin Care.This is how I was introduced to Esse Organic Skin Care.

Esse Organic Skin Care describe themselves providing:

"...cutting-edge, certified organic products for the professional skincare market. The brand is focused on efficacy. Both clients and therapists expect results. We don’t see any need to use chemicals to improve skin condition – nature offers us all the actives that we need.

Esse is driven to find ways to provide maximum benefit to the communities that source our raw materials from the African bushveld. The success of these community projects will continue to provide us with the incredible actives that make our products unique. It will also provide income to communities that desperately need it. Esse is for people that want effective, healthy and natural products that protect their skin as much as their environment."

(From the About Us section of their website, here)

Personally, I think Esse needs to rewrite their About Us section, because I don't think this particular description does them justice. Esse produce organic products, in some cases with well over 90% of the ingredients being from natural sources. Their products produce results and are real value for money. These for me, are the facts, without any marketing fluff.

I have oily to combination skin, for the most part. I started off with the oily/combination trial pack. The trial pack contains:

• 10ml Gel Cleanser;
  
• 10ml Cream Cleanser;
• 10ml Toner;
• 10ml Cocoa Exfoliator; and,
• 10ml Deep Moisturiser.

The products come in a wooden box, and provide roughly 2 weeks to a month's worth of the complete treatment range.

By the time I had finished the pack, my skin had calmed down considerably. It stopped the breakouts from spreading, and the existing pimples started to dry out and calm down.

I'm now into my third month of using the Esse products, and in that time, I've only had one pimple make its way to white head stage. The breakouts were my major concern, all I was really looking for was something to get rid of the pimples, but I've also noticed that my skin generally looks better.

My skin is brighter, less irritated, I used to occasionally get red patches on my cheeks, nothing to give me cause for concern, but those patches have calmed down, and the breakouts have all but stopped. People also notice that my skin looks considerably better.

I won't say it's a miracle cure, but, it has given me the results I wanted. I had to stick with the product, but, by the time I had finished the trial pack alone, I could already see results:

• The cleansers don't feel harsh, or feel as if the skin is being stripped of any oils. There was no tightness or any uncomfortable feeling having cleansed. On the advice of my beauty therapist, I used the cream cleanser like a face wash, as opposed to using it with cotton wool, which has been known to irritate my skin when cleansing.
  
• The moisturiser doesn't feel sticky or heavy; though, I will admit it took some time for me to get used to the smell and feel of it. The deep moisturiser is quite thick compared to daily moisturisers I've used in the past, it's more like a body butter. I can turn the tub upside down, and it won't drip out. The same moisturiser is used both during the day and at night.
• The exfoliator initially worried me, because I've had bad results with exfoliators spreading breakouts. However, this one hasn't spread any breakouts. 99% of the ingredients are organic. My favorite thing about this exfoliator is that the particles dissolve, so I know to stop and rinse when all the particles dissolve.
• The toner doesn't feel harsh or leave my skin feeling tight or with a mild burning sensation, which I have noticed with other toners in the past. Their toner contains rooibos extracts and olive leaf extract, which protect against environmental damage and pollution.

Price wise, Esse Organic Skin Care products aren't cheap, but, they aren't very expensive either. At the end of the day, my skin matters a lot to me, and I am willing to pay a little more to make sure it is taken care of. It is considerably cheaper than Clinique, which is a skin-treatment brand I hold in high esteem. The normal sized Esse gel cleanser and moisturiser, which last for about 3 months, cost the same as one Clinique moisturizer.

It does seem like this product is more commonly available in South Africa and surrounding countries, but it is available in other countries, if you check out their stockists list on their website.

BB Cream: The Body Shop Vitamin E Cool BB Cream

As I mentioned in the review of The Body Shop All-In-One BB Cream, The Body Shop advertised a second BB Cream offering, their Vitamin E Cool BB Cream, which at the time, hadn't hit stores here. Vitamin E is marketed as a powerful antioxident that neutralizes the oxident effect of free radicals. The effect of free radicals can include fine lines, wrinkles and skin dryness. For a full article on Vitamin E and how it benefits the skin, try out Discovery Health's article.

This particular BB Cream only comes in one cool shade. This is a bit of a let down, considering that we don't all come in one cool shade. The Body Shop markets the BB Cream as providing the following:

• Hydrates to protect

• Evens tone

• Fresh-looking skin

• One cool shade

The BB Cream comes in a 50ml.1.69 US FL OZ, plastic tube with a snap shut lid. It smells a little bit like aqueous cream, which isn't bad - it is mild and unoffensive.

It has the consistency of a moisturizer, and applies smoothly without any of the botchy effects of The Body Shop's last offering. It is hydrating, and I don't notice any tightness or dryness during the day. It provides light coverage and to that extent gives an even skin tone. Like almost all BB Creams, it gives a fresh, natural and dewy finish.

I tend to use this particular product as a primer for foundation, or alone at night if I want a fresh faced look, don't need to wear sunblock, and am a little too lazy to apply a full face of war paint. It is, in its own right, a decent BB Cream; it applies easily, it doesn't smell bad, it provides mild coverage, and it isn't bad. It is, hands down, an improvement on the All-In-One BB Cream. 

The major reason I am disappointed with this BB Cream is, like the All-In-One BB Cream, this contains no sunblock. I maintain that BB Creams should do more than even out skin tone and moisturize, they should contain some skincare benefits, the least of which should be sunblock. I appreciate that Vitamin E is good for skin, and I hear it is great for younger skin in protecting against the early signs of aging and environmental stresses, but is it enough to justify this being a BB Cream? I am personally not convinced.

Unfortunately, and I don't know if this is true the world over, this product is still a little pricey, and considering how little it does, I can't see why I should spend more money on this particular product, when there are other cheaper, and more protective products on the market.

In case you're interested, here's another article, from the Huffington Post, this time, on why you should be cautious when applying Vitamin E to your body.

Have you tried the Vitamin E Cool BB Cream? What are your thoughts?