If you have sensitive skin, you may notice that sometimes perfumed body lotions, face washes, daily face moisturizers, or other skin care products may break you out. I’m here to share with you a line that is providing us with organic products to use on a daily basis for an affordable price.
Desert Essence Organics have a large variety of products that range from face washes to body lotions to shampoos, toothpaste — the list goes on. Today, I will share with you the products that I have had the opportunity to test out from Desert Essence.
According to the Desert Essence website, the desert is the source of their ingredients. They create high quality, natural products. They clearly label all ingredients on both the product and their website for your convenience. They do not test on animals. Their products have no parabens, artificial fragrances/dyes, petroleum and so on. They are: vegetarian/vegan, recyclable and biodegradable, contain soy, use renewable resources and are cruelty-free.
The first product I will be mentioning is the Desert Essence Daily Essential Defense Lotion SPF 15 for Normal Skin ($18.99). This lotion will protect skin against premature aging, penetrate to provide deep, long-lasting moisture and restore elasticity that your skin loses through environmental stress. It is made from a shrub in America’s Sonora Desert. It has jojoba oil in it, along with aloe vera and soybean oil to help skin’s natural radiance. Another key ingredient is millet oil, which contains essential fatty acids to help encourage skin renewal.
This lotion is geared towards individuals with normal skin types, so I was a little leery of using it underneath my foundation because of my own personal skin type; I do have combination to oily skin and I was able to use this as a daily moisturizer under my foundation and as a nightly moisturizer before going to bed. I did not experience this product causing my foundation to break down despite the fact that my skin gets oily in particular areas. It held up very well, having a very mild scent to it. The texture is nice and it does not leave your skin feeling oily or greasy. The SPF 15 is a plus as always. I can’t say that I really noticed any protection against premature aging because I am not currently experiencing any wrinkles and/or fine lines, but I’m all about using products to prevent that as everyone should be!
The Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Oil Control Lotion ($12.99) will hydrate oily/combination skin without clogging pores, help reduce oil and blemishes, and leave skin velvety smooth and shine-free. It has organic chamomile and lavender oil, as well as tea tree oil, which has natural antiseptic properties and helps to soothe and calm skin, while improving texture and clarity. It leaves skin with a matte appearance.
I absolutely love this product! This is one of my favorite products that I have tested out! I was a little leery about this because products like this usually don’t work for me. I have tried multiple primers as well and found that they don’t work and I still tend to get oily in my T-zone. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this product! I have been using it everyday under my foundation and will continue to use it as well. It leaves my skin matte, and for the most part, keeps me oil-free. I did notice that paired with different foundations sometimes oil will seep through, but I think a large majority of that depends on the particular foundation and whether or not it tends to break down. I thoroughly enjoyed this and can’t say it enough. You can pick up on the tea tree oil in this product as far as scent is concerned. Tea tree oil has a very strong scent but it’s not unbearable in this particular lotion.
The Desert Essence Gentle Nourishing Day Cream SPF 15 for Dry & Sensitive Skin ($18.99) will rehydrate dry and sensitive skin, protect against premature aging and leave skin feeling softer, smoother and more supple. It contains argan oil, aloe vera, and antioxidant-rich white tea extract to strengthen the skins natural moisture barrier and prevent free radical damage. I found that this product did not work for me. Again, the reasoning in my opinion is because I have oily/combination skin and this is formulated for dry/sensitive skin.
When used underneath foundation, I ended up being a greasy mess after approximately four to five hours. But, based on my own experiences, I can formulate an educated guess that this would work wonderfully for you if you do in fact have dry/sensitive skin. However, I would not recommend this to anyone with normal/combination to oily skin as it may be a little bit too moisturizing for you — and therefore give you an end result of oily skin. The scent is again very mild. This product did not irritate my skin whatsoever. It would be great to use as a night cream just for the moisturizing factor of it.
The Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash for Normal Skin ($9.29) will effectively clean without feeling harsh, provide skin with potent antioxidant protection and help improve skin’s texture and clarity through regular use. This uses exclusive Eco-Harvest Tea Tree Oil formulated with organic Echinacea and licorice root extract to soothe as it cleanses. Green and white tea extracts protect and mineral-rich sea kelp helps nourish skin to keep it looking vibrant and healthy.
I absolutely love this! This is a dead ringer tie with the Thoroughly Clean Face Lotion as far as favorites are concerned for me. This has helped with my residual acne breakouts so much! You won’t notice an overnight difference by using this but overtime it has helped. The scent of the tea tree oil is lingering but it’s not too strong to give you a headache or anything. It leaves my skin feeling very clean and very fresh. I use this alongside with my Clarisonic Mia 2 and find that I have awesome results. I can also say that I do notice my skin’s texture is a lot smoother since I have started using this. This should be paired with the Thoroughly Clean Face Lotion for best results (according to the packaging.) I didn’t find that this made a big difference being that it was formulated for normal skin and I have combination/oily skin. The texture of this product is rather thin, but it actually lathers up very nicely once on the skin, mixed with a little bit of water.
The Desert Essence Daily Essential De-Puffing Eye Cream ($15.99) revitalizes tired, puffy eyes, soothes delicate skin under eyes and refreshes as it smoothes your skin. It is a antioxidant-rich blend of hibiscus, lavender and pomegranate extracts to comfort fatigued eyes. It is also rich with vitamin C, jojoba oil, and vitamin E.
I don’t particularly suffer from puffy eyes. My eyes are slightly puffy for maybe about five minutes right when I first wake up but then they go down after only a few minutes of being awake. I, however, tried this product right when I woke up. I can’t say that I noticed a difference in the time that it took for my eyes to “de-puff” after waking up. The scent of this product is very light and fresh, just like all of the other products I have tested out. I can’t say that I know for a fact this product works because I don’t suffer from puffy eyes, but if it works as well as the other products I have tested for Desert Essence, then I am sure it would be worth the money.
The Desert Essence Gentle Nourishing Organic Cleanser for Dry and Sensitive Skin ($13.99) will provide effective cleansing gentle enough for dry/sensitive skin, leave skin feeling moisturized and remove makeup without irritating or stinging eyes. It has apple juice, aloe vera, chamomile, and cucumber extracts which moisturize dry/sensitive skin to leave you with a fresh glow.
I, again, have combination/oily skin and this product did not work for me. It simply provided too much moisture to my skin and I found that as a result, I ended up with oily skin faster than normal. Due to my experiences with this product, I would assume that this would definitely work for someone with dry/ sensitive skin. My boyfriend tested this product out as well, because he has just regular normal skin, and this issue did not occur for him. I think if you have normal to dry skin, you can get away with using this product. The texture is slightly thick as well, but the scent is very pleasant. I do wish the Thoroughly Clean Face Wash had this scent!
Another one of my favorites is the Desert Essence Nourishing Body Oil ($9.99). This product is supposed to leave skin feeling healthy and silky smooth, according to the website. It features a blend of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. It has a blend of ten super oils including safflower, jojoba, grape seed and soybean. It’s scented with cactus flower — and cab be used for aromatherapy and as a massage oil.
I love this stuff! I use it nightly as a moisturizer before I go to bed. Just like any other body oil, it kind of gives your skin this sheen, sort of like a glow. I absolutely love it! It leaves your skin feeling soft and smooth without being greasy. It actually absorbs into your skin very well. The scent is not nearly as floral as I had expected but there is an interesting note in this product that I can’t quite pick up on. Either way, the scent is lovely! I would definitely purchase this product. Unfortunately, this product had leaked all over the box by the time I opened it when it arrived. It wasn’t too much of a hassle to clean up, but just something to note. There is not a seal on this product so it may get messy when shipped.
Desert Essence Perfect Pistacho Foot Repair Cream ($8.99) is another one of my favorites. According to the website, this will provide intense moisture to restore softness to dry skin. It will smooth rough skin, and support skin repair. It has organic pistachio nut oil which will quickly absorb into the roughest skin, to soften the area. It also has shea butter to deeply hydrate skin, while macadamia seed oil begins the process of regeneration.
I love this product! I don’t suffer from extremely dry/cracked heels or feet, but I notice that in the summer when I wear sandals more my feet tend to get more dry. I do wear high heels a lot as well and notice that my skin on my feet can be a little rough in certain spots. I love to use this at night and put on a pair of socks before I go to bed because I find that it locks in the moisture, and when I wake up, they are as soft as a baby feet! I also use it in the morning as well. This cream is definitely another product that’s worth its weight in gold! The scent of this is absolutely amazing as well.
Another body cream I tried was the Desert Essence Natural Shea Butter Body Cream ($9.99). According to the website, this product claims to restore moisture and softness to the skin and smooth skin without leaving an oily residue. It contains shea butter, macadamia nut extract and cactus extract, along with vitamins A, B-complex, C, D, E and eighteen essential amino acids to keep skin healthy and strong.
I really like using this body cream as a daily cream after getting out of the shower in the morning. It has a light fresh fragrance that isn’t too overpowering and will not conflict with your perfume. It leaves skin feeling soft and smooth all day long. You have to use a little bit of effort to rub this into your skin but it is definitely worth it. This product also works awesome as a hand cream.
I also reviewed the Desert Essence Pumpkin Spice Hand Repair Cream ($8.99). According to the website, this will moisturize your skin, protect against daily environmental stress on the hands and help to even out your skin tone. It has a high concentration of organic oils and extracts such as jojoba oil, organic pumpkin seed oil, and licorice leaf extracts. It is rich with vitamins A, C, E and K, along with zinc.
This is an absolutely awesome product. I almost forgot to photograph this product because it has found a new home in my purse! I take this everywhere with me. The scent is absolutely amazing! It smells just like a pumpkin! It leaves my hands feeling soft and smooth as it should. I can’t comment on the claim of evening out your skin tone because I don’t find that my hands have an uneven skin tone to them. However, I absolutely adore this. It is a little hard to work into your skin, in my opinion, because it feels greasy for a few moments but once it absorbs into your hands, it leaves them soft and supple.
The last two products I am going to review together. They are the 100% Organic Tea Tree Oil ($9.49) and the Organic Lavender Tea Tree Oil ($8.99). The organic tea tree oil can effectively treat problem skin with regular use, deep clean pores and help relieve redness, and has other multiple uses around the household. The organic lavender tea tree oil can help soothe and calm problematic skin, offer relaxing aromatherapy, and can also be used to freshen laundry.
Tea tree oil has many antiseptic properties about it and can be used to treat acne. I find that you should dilute it with water first if you are unsure of how your skin will react. These work just as well as any other tea tree oil in this regard. I have not actually tried to use the lavender tea tree oil to freshen laundry so I can not comment on that. Tea tree oil has a very repulsive scent to me and sometimes I can’t even bare to smell it. It also leaves a lingering scent for hours after you use it. It’s not a very pleasant product to work with but it works and it lives up to its claims.
If you suffer from acne and have tried many other products, I would recommend giving tea tree oil a shot. I would recommend that you purchase the 100% tea tree oil as opposed to the one with lavender in it if you are planning to use it for that purpose. I have a bottle of tea tree oil already in my medicine cabinet and I find that these two products work just as well as the one that I already have that cost more than these two products.
Overall, my favorite products are the Thoroughly Clean Face Wash, the Thoroughly Clean Face Lotion, the Nourishing Body Oil with Cactus Flower, and the Perfect Pistachio Foot Repair Cream. I am absolutely in love with these products and they are all amazing. I think that in the bunch of products that I have reviewed, as far as the skincare products are concerned, there is something for everybody. Desert Essence seems to make it a point to aim products towards certain skin types, so if you are interested in these products, you should have no problem finding one to suit your specific skincare needs.
You can find the entire line of Desert Essence products on their website at www.desertessence.com
– Dawn Santamarina
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