Review - Grown Alchemist Gentle Gel Facial Cleanser-Geranium Leaf, Bergamot, and Rose Bud

Hello gorgeous!

Today I would like to share a little review of one of my favourite facial cleansers, Grown Alchemist Gentle Gel Facial Cleanser - Geranium Leaf, Bergamot, and Rose Bud. I already finished the whole bottle on May, but just got a chance to write about it now. So, let’s just start it shall we?

Grown Alchemist is an Australian skincare brand. It is an organic skincare so their products are free from toxins and harmful chemicals. The products also free from animal cruelty because it’s not tested on animals. I assume that Grown Alchemist is one of the premium brands in organic skincare by looking at its way presenting the products and from how they only using the best and environment friendly ingredients, for its content and packaging, which we all know that they ain’t cheap. The packaging somehow reminds me of Aesop, another skincare brand from Australia who is also advocate natural ingredients without any harmful chemicals. 

The gel cleanser is in a dark brown PET bottle (recyclable plastic) with a pump to dispense the gel out. I always like pumps because it can dispense out the right amount of product and also more hygienic, especially in a bathroom when usually you are wet and water is literally everywhere. I usually use one pump of it on a damp palm and then rub it together to emulsify the cleanser until it forms bubble lather. Then I massage it all over my face and neck. The texture is actually not gel-ish but instead more fluid and runny like liquid cleanser. It will not make a lot of foam or bubbles, so make sure you don’t rub your palm too long to create a lot of bubbles because you will just waste more cleanser down the gutter by doing that. I noticed that they give a warning not to rub it around or on the eyes, but I usually just lather it to every part of my face including my eyes because I want to clean any makeup left on it. My eyes seem to be just fine up until now.  

Let’s talk about the experience it brought me. Grown Alchemist Gentle Gel Facial Cleanser - Geranium Leaf, Bergamot, and Rose Bud has every ingredients that I love. It has Geranium, Bergamot, and Rose Bud, which makes this facial cleanser, smells heavenly. The cleanser promises to soothe and calm your skin (especially the sensitive ones). I found it indeed soothed my skin and definitely not leaving my skin feels tight afterwards. My skin still feels soft and has enough moisture after I cleanse it. I have to admit that since I started using this facial cleanser, washing my face is my most favourite thing to do in the bathroom. As you can see on the ingredients list, Grown Alchemist does not add any added perfume to the cleanser. The scent that you will smell from the product is truly coming from the natural ingredients. I’m so in love with the scent that I usually took a long deep breath several times while I’m massaging my face so I could inhale all the goodness that the cleanser has. It felt so refreshing yet calming and soothing. I’m utterly sad when I finally finished my last drop of cleanser. There goes my slice of heaven in the bathroom boo hoo hoo *crying on the corner

Unfortunately all finer things come with a price. Grown Alchemist Gentle Gel Facial Cleanser is the most expensive facial cleanser I ever had. I haven’t had the heart to scrape around 40 AUD out of my pocket for 200ml facial cleanser. I’m definitely lucky that I got the chance to try this lovely product for free because I got mine from winning an Instagram contest held by Benscrub on February. Thank you Benscrub for the prize! You can check their website for more skincare products from Grown Alchemist and other Australian brands. 

When you have a good experience with one product from one brand, you surely want to try another product from that brand. Looking my delightful experience with Grown Alchemist, I'm definitely up to try more of their products in the future. Have you tried any of Grown Alchemist products before? Which product that works well on you? Please share your experience on the comment below so it can help me decide which product that I need to try next :)

Cheers,

Stef

Review - Frank Body Coffee Scrub and Frank Body Body Cream

Hello gorgeous!

Today I’m going to welcome February with a dose of caffeine. Last month, Benscrub kindly send me two products to try and review. I was utterly excited as the beauty package arrived at my doorstep. Not only because it contained a wonderful product, but also because the loveliness of the package itself. 

I actually took some time in opening the package and adored it. I gotta say that this is the best beauty package I ever got from an online store. The goods are carefully put inside a shoebox with a girl’s face picture on it and has a mica sleeve with a mask, so that when we put the mica sleeve, the girl’s face will look like she’s wearing a facial mask. Talking about some creative idea! Benscrub even put that box inside another shoebox that I assumed specially made for this new year due to the 2016 drawing design. It has lovely pink pastel and gold color. Look at the pictures down below and you will understand why I need to dedicate one paragraph just to elaborate the packaging for you.

Now, let’s talk about the products. I got myself Frank Body Scrub in Original and Frank Body Cream. Both are essentials for a smooth and glowing skin. One is for buffing and the other for moisturizing. As usual, any skincare that I am going to review, I will need at least two weeks to one month of trial. Why? It’s to ensure that I really feels the difference between before and after on my skin. Skincare doesn’t work instantly, it takes time to show results.

The first one is Frank Body Scrub Original. How many of you have heard about it? The infamous ground coffee scrub that claims to be able to get rid of dry and flaky skin as well as targeting other bothersome skin condition such as eczema, psoriasis, cellulite, and stretchmarks. 

I heard about this famous scrub some time ago and was tempted to try one, but since I still have some (oh not many, only four tubs *guilty*) scrub products waiting to open, so I attempt on self control and restrain myself from buying it. But when it came on my doorstep, well I just have to try it! Stat!

The scrub is packaged inside a brown paperbag with foil on the inner side. A similar bag you get when you buy coffee beans or ground coffee at the coffee shop. No need to worry about to move it to other container (you can if you wanted) because the bag has a sealant like a ziplock. You just need to scoop the scrub out (2 full tablespoons are enough for my face and body), put it on a little dish, close the sealant, and you can start buffing. 

 

I consider the scrub is dry, which the ground coffee is mixed directly with the oil instead of other liquid (water). And because the main ingredient is ground coffee, it doesn’t melt when it contacted with water such as sugar or salt, allows you to polish your body as long as you want without spending too many products wasted down the gutter.

 

The ground coffee chocked full with caffeine stimulates the blood flow helping the skin to repair the skin problems such as eczema, psoriasis, cellulite, and stretchmarks.  Another ingredient is sweet almond oil (one of my favorite oils) which high in linoleum and oleic acids that promotes skin healing. It is also hydrates and nourishes the skin while reducing the appearance of pigmentation. A plus point is all Frank Body’s product is free from animal testing. 

The scrub is quite abrasive, and as such, you who have sensitive or thin skin will feel it’s a little bit rough on the skin. You might want to buff your skin gently at first to get used to the texture. I guarantee your skin will be as smooth as baby’s bum afterwards though. I like to shower myself with water first before I start polishing my face and body with the scrub, that way, the water can help the scrub slides better and will not feel too harsh on the skin. 

As for application tips, since the scrub is going to be literally everywhere and it can be a little bit messy, better to use it inside a shower box where the mess can be contained. I’m actually wondering whether the ground coffee will clog my gutter eventually due to it. Buff your body well from your face to your feet with a circling motion. Focus on your problematic areas or the areas that is extremely dry or flaky. If you have sensitive facial skin, you might want to test it out a bit before you scrub all of your face. As for me, I have been using it on my face for several times and all is well. Let the scrubs sit for 5-10 minutes. A little tip, before you start scrubbing, put on your hair mask and while you’re waiting for the scrub, you can massage your scalp to let the hair mask is well absorbed. Other thing that you can do while waiting is to polish the sole of your feet with a foot scrubber to remove the skin deadcells.

 

Buff your skin one more time before you rinse the scrub away and then lather on your favorite shower gel to clean your skin. You might want to wash your body really carefully because the scrub leaves brownish residue on your skin after you rinse them away. You don’t want to stain your towel brown, don’t you? 

My skin felt exceptionally smooth afterwards and even after washing it with soap, my skin did not feel dry. I supposed the sweet almond oil really work its charm. What’s great is my skin still feels smooth even after several days passed. Love love it!

As for its claim for reducing the appearances of cellulite and stretchmark, in my experience, it has not proven to be true, yet. Let’s just be realistic here, my stretch marks are 6 years old, which I supposed will not be gone within only 1 month usage of the scrub. And as for cellulites, the caffeine in the coffee will help the blood circulation better, but I still believe that clean eating and exercising regularly will do wonders in eliminating them (something that I have not done in a long time *guilty*). Will I continuously using Frank Body Scrub? Hell yeah, I will! Even though my main concern is not about my stretch marks (I already make peace with my stretch marks hehehe). I’m just amazed with how my skin feels with regularly scrubbing it with Frank Body Scrub. 

The next product is Frank Body Body Cream. Encased in a round wide short tub with the iconic brown font, this body cream is filled with a lot of moisturizing oils such as sweet almond oil, shea butter, and coconut oil. Frank also adds cacao butter and grape seed oil too in this cream, makes it a mean moisturizer for your body. 

The coffee scent is not too overwhelming and the texture is pretty lightweight for a body cream which makes it easy to absorb by the skin. If you are spending a lot of time in air conditioned room, then Frank Body Cream is perfect for you because it will help to keep your skin supple. I would not recommend it for you who have a lot of outdoor activity though, because the cream could melt and makes your skin feel greasy. 

I personally, love to apply it before bedtime to keep my skin smooth and supple while I’m sleeping. No more dry flaky skin when I wake up in the morning. Woo hoo!! My favorite bedtime body cream is Bliss Body Butter due to the coconut oil ingredient that is potent in keeping my skin moisturized, but the price is quite steep, so I’m glad I found Frank Body Body Cream to accompany my beauty sleep.

There you go.. my lengthy review on both products hahaha.. Hope you enjoy reading them and can help you to decide whether it is going to be a good product for you or not. Or have you tried Frank Body products before? Tell me what do you think about them on the comment section below, ok?

You could find these products at Benscrub, an online beauty shop that sells Australian beauty products. With their mission, to rethink beauty by presenting a line of essential that celebrate realness than to cover it up, Benscrub has stole many of Indonesian babes’ heart. You can find brands such as Aesop, Kora Organics, Sukin, Grown Alchemist, and etc there. Good service great product, I couldn’t ask for more. 

Check their products here:

Instagram : @benscrub

Website : www.benscrub.com

Facebook : www.facebook.com/benscrub

Until next time, gorgeous!! 

Cheers,

Stef