Review: Juice Beauty Organics to Clear Skin Set

 

Ever since I stopped taking birth control over 3 years ago, my skin has gone from being normal to dry to extremely oily, and as a result, quite acne prone. On top of that, I've always had sensitive skin that was easily rubbed the wrong way (no pun intended!) by harsh facial or skincare products. With those things in mind and my desire to only use organic skincare, I decided to pick up the Juice Beauty Organics to Clear Skin try-me set to see if it could work magic on my face. I purchased my kit from ULTA, but I believe it's also sold at Sephora and Bloom.com, among other retailers.

The kit runs for almost $40 but it contains fairly large size products, especially compared to other try-me type kits (it says on the packaging that the products are sized as shown, which is also nice since so many companies show big sizes on the front and then you open the box to find they are a LOT smaller than you thought). Inside you get a face wash/cleanser, a blemish clearing serum, an oil-free moisturizer, a peel for sensitive skin and a little soft sham. You also get a nice, detailed instruction page that shows you how often and when to use each of the products. Essentially, the recommendation is that you wash your face twice as day, along with applying the serum and moisturizer. The peel is meant to be used once a week.

I'll start by saying that I thought the cleanser was really wonderful. It has a very light, subtle citrus scent and lathers just enough. It rinses clean, removed all specks of makeup and didn't make my skin feel tight, rough or stripped (a big pet peeve!). It also only took one pump of product for me to wash my face, so the trial size product I received in the kit wound up lasting me two months instead of 30 days (which is the promise).

The blemish clearing serum also really impressed me. It says you can spot treat, but my skin was so bad at the time that I just applied a light layer all over my face. The serum had a light tightening effect as it sank into my skin, so I would let it sit for about 10 minutes until I felt the tightness and then I'd go back to apply the moisturizer. The serum definitely makes a difference! Although I don't think it did as much for me in the realm of preventing new pimples, it most certainly helped existing pimples heal much more quickly. My only complaint is that I couldn't use it twice a day because it didn't sit well with my foundation and would cause my face makeup to speckle all over my face rather than sinking in. I've read some other reviews of this kit and some folks have said it works great under their makeup, so if you buy it, give it a try on the weekend when you have time to go back and wash your face again if it doesn't work well with your foundation. :)

The oil-free moisturizer I could give or take. I found that it could be a bit splotchy, so I'd rub the product between my hands for a few seconds to warm it up before applying it and that helped. It also sinks in really quickly and doesn't leave a greasy feeling on your skin (probably because it's oil-free), so that was nice. Unfortunately it doesn't have SPF, so you'll want to make sure your foundation does, or you'll want to apply a sunscreen separately. Personally, I just enjoy a bit more luxurious of a face cream -- something that feels nourishing to apply -- so this thinner formula didn't strike my fancy as much.

The only product in the kit that I really felt was wasted on me was the green apple peel. Now, granted it's made for sensitive skin, so it may just be that it was too sensitive for me, although given my history with skincare products that seems to be a bit of a stretch. The instructions say to apply a thin layer on your skin and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before rinsing. It hardens on your face as most masks do, but it's clear in color so you don't actually notice any product on your face. Apparently it's supposed to peel off the top layer of your skin to reveal the glowing skin underneath and help heal acne scars, but I really didn't notice any difference, even after using the peel once a week, as recommended, for a full two months.

At the end of the day, the Juice Beauty kit never 100% cleared my skin, especially around that time of the month, but I DO think that it made a pretty dramatic difference and would recommend it to anyone struggling with mild to moderate acne. I've actually gone ahead and purchased the full sizes of the cleanser and blemish clearing serum and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I've also stocked up on a few other Juice Beauty products to try, including their Perfecting Foundation, so stay tuned for a review on those products soon!

Have you tried the Juice Beauty kit? Did it work for you?