Real Heartleaf Soothing Cream

The good: I love the smell of this, it's a very faint herbal planty smell rather than a fragrance that overpowers. I like the texture and the lightness, it doesn't feel heavy or sticky. I feel like a small amount delivers a good amount of moisture and thus makes this product a good value.

The bad: I've been breaking out around my hairline and on my forehead and cheeks since switching from my previous moisturizer to this. I make sure to only change one thing at a time in my skincare routine and to give my skin at least a week if not a month to get used to new products and this one is the only change I've made before breaking out. I have pretty sensitive combination skin that's prone to small acne (not cystic) so I think this just isnt for my skin type. I'll be going back to using some by mi's aha-bha 30-day line.

I love this moisturizer! I use it after my toner (drug store witch hazel) and serum (niacinamide 15% from Neogen). Sometimes I seal it off with Klairs Rich Moist Soothing Cream if my skin feels extra dry and sometimes I just do two layers of this! It is lightweight, refreshing, and seems to be helping my skin from getting greasy by the end of the day (though the serum is likely helping too!). Fits in great with my budget and routine.

I really wanted to love this product, but unfortunately it’s just not a good match for me. I have combo skin, so I normally prefer a gel or light cream to keep hydrated without a heavy feeling. I thought this would be perfect, and I really did enjoy aspects of using it. The texture is unique and lovely to apply, and the frosted glass jar feels luxurious. I loved the idea that first ingredient is water from heartleaf rather than a regular water base, but the high percentage results in more of an occlusive feeling than a typical gel cream. I tried experimenting with different amounts of cream, and including or excluding other steps in my routine to see if I could find a way to make the is product work for me, but it never seems to fully absorb no matter how I use it. There is always a feeling of product left on the skin, even by the following morning. Despite this, I’ve actually started to develop a few small dry patches on my cheeks, which is very rare for me as my combo skin tends more towards oily than dry. With that said, I haven’t had any adverse reactions or breakouts - this is especially great considering I missed olive oil in the ingredients list which ALWAYS breaks me out. All in all it seems like a nice product, my skin just doesn’t love it. I think it’s too late to return, so I’ve been using it as a hand cream instead.