My first encounter with Elemental Herbology happened some years ago when I asked the manager of Space NK in Solihull to recommend a good face serum. He pointed to Elemental Herbology’s Cell Food and he couldn’t stop himself raving about it!
Cell Food is indeed a lovely radiance-boosting serum. It’s a brand best-seller too and a good place to start by way of introduction to Elemental Herbology, a British brand which uses a lot of naturals in its formulations including plant compounds, herbal extracts and botanical oils.
Cell Food is part of Elemental Herbology’s Radiance and Vitality range, but I’m not here to discuss it today. I’m here instead to talk about two brand new additions to the Radiance & Vitality ranks, Vital Cleanse and Vital Glow Overnight Resurfacing Cream.
Vital Cleanse
The ingredients’ list makes for ‘swoon’ reading if you like your naturals. It includes 10% Manuka honey (with naturally occurring malic acid), vitamin C, organic sea buckthorn, berry oil, apple serum, green tea, grapefruit, mandarin, seaweed and papaya extract. These combine to hydrate, brighten, exfoliate, protect, balance and stimulate the skin.
This cleanser is bright orange in colour (it’s the first orange-coloured cleanser I’ve ever used, I think), and it is quite similar in texture to a serum, ie it’s light. I wet my face and apply – four pumps gives me about the right amount for one cleanse.
You do get a really beautiful creamy lather if you massage the skin lightly as you work this in – hopefully you can see that in the pic above. It feels very soft under the fingers and removes mascara fairly easily if you massage gently over the lashes – don’t be afraid to do that as it doesn’t sting should you get some in your eyes!
Remove the cleanser with warm water (I like to wipe over with a muslin after too) and pat the skin dry. My face definitely feels deeply cleansed after I’ve used this – it tingles slightly but doesn’t feel the least bit tight.
Vital Cleanse can really shift makeup, so it would be perfect to use in the evenings. It also has an uplifting citrus fragrance, so if you’re the sleepy head type in the mornings then it could work well for you then too, though I find the aroma it a bit too zingy for my own liking.
Vital Glow Overnight Resurfacing Cream
This is my favourite of the two launches, primarily because whereas there are many great cleansers out there to choose from; good night creams are thin on the ground. Here ingredients include plant c-stem (I’m not entirely sure what this is – I’m guessing an extract from a plant stem), natural AHAs (from apples, sugar and milk), a non-irritating retinoid, kakadu plym (vit C), as well as sacha inchi and apricot oils. These combine to protect, exfoliate, stimulate, brighten and hydrate – there’s a theme running here!
I love the way this feels on my skin. It’s very rich, smooth and silky. The citrus fragrance is more subtle here, and more to my liking. It’s really quite gorgeous!
Overnight products are a big trend right now and one I welcome. Hey, it appeals to the lazy part of my character - I get to lie back and close my eyes while the work is all being done for me (what’s not to like?!). And work for me this does. My skin is feeling velvety soft in the mornings just now.
Vital Cleanse costs £29 for 100ml, and Vital Glow Overnight Resurfacing Cream £55 for 50ml. You can buy them both here.
PR Sample
