Essence Launch Affordable Skincare… and it’s really good!

When you think of Essence cosmetics, you think of affordable yet excellent performance, right? Wouldn’t think twice about slicking one of their lipsticks on. But when it comes to skincare, people are a bit weird, often falling prey to the fallacy that more expensive means better performing. Let me tell you, there’s only so much over the counter skincare can do for you, and most of this can be done much more cheaply than you think. Enter Essence’s new Pure Skin range, absolutely affordable skincare aimed at oily, acne prone skin. But does it work? Read on to find out!

So, the cornerstone of Essence Pure Skin is the “Clearderm” complex. Another marketing buzzword, this one means “antibacterial formulas, effective ingredients against spots and blackheads, gentle on your skin”. Sounds good, we’ve all probably used an anti-acne product at some point which stripped the bejaysus out of our skin. Counterintuitive, as healthy, hydrated skin itself is the best barrier against infection and inflammation. Do the products hold up to this gentle yet effective promise?

Essence 4 in 1 Anti Spot Cream Wash is billed as a multipurpose cleanser/mask offering a number of benefits: deeply cleansing, antibacteial, mattifying, pore refining, yet also gentle. The ingredients hold up to scrutiny in this regard, with oil absorbing kaolin and bentonite clays at the top of the list, along with jojoba esters and carrageenan seaweed extract to hydrate and condition skin against overdrying. It has a minimal amount of detergent, so foams just enough to cleanse, but not strip. In practice this is really a great wash/mask, much better than most of the Clearasil, Clean and Clear, or Neutrogena stuff out there. One notable absence is an exfoliating agent like glycolic/salicylic acid (a MUST in anti-acne skincare), but I believe there’s a serum available in the range which contains this, which I don’t have.

Does anyone remember the Ponds and Biore days, with ads on the telly showing women ripping off their pore strips and grimacing at the aftermath? Yeah. We’ve all tried pore strips at one point or another. I’m a little conflicted about them to be honest. Sure, they’re a quick way to get a result – clear pores. But I think they’re a bit too aggravating. And the empty, stretched out pores left behind are almost as bad visually as the clogged ones. There are some internet people who think that pore strips actually damage skin. I’m not convinced they’re that bad, but either way proceed with caution. Maybe keep them as a novelty item to whip out during girly sleepovers (for the teens) or wineovers (for the nearly 30 year olds like me who still have blackheads *sigh*).

Ah yes, where would we be without a BB Cream in a new skincare launch. You can sense my sarcasm, but this is one range where a BB Cream is well placed, given the original Asian “blemish balm” intention. I was really quite impressed by the coverage offered by this BB cream. Enlarge the pic above and look at the lump on the bridge of my nose, near my eye. That’s one mahoosive, red, throbbing spot. And that’s without concealer. Essence Anti-Spot BB Cream covered it. Impressive. The ingredients list also tells a convincing story. With glycerin high up the list this formula is actively hydrating. Salicylic acid and zinc are also included and are well known antibacterial and anti-irritant agents.

While I gladly received the above products for review, there’s actually much more to the range, including: pore-refining serum, moisturiser, anti-spot gel, SOS spot killer, and concealer and foundation. If the quality of the products I’ve tested extends to the rest of the range, I highly recommend it for oily/acne prone skin of any age, not just teenagers. And with prices starting at €1.89, sure where would ya be goin’?!

 
So tell me ladies, are you still troubled with spots and blackheads despite being outside the target market of most clear skin products? What are your tried and tested spot busters? Let me know in the comments!