Drunk Elephant Review

I know there's a million Drunk Elephant reviews out there but I thought I'd do one anyway as they're such popular products. Drunk Elephant are a skincare brand famed for their strict ethos - all their products are free from what they call "the suspicious 6". The suspicious 6 are SLS, essential oils, drying alcohols, silicones, chemical screens and fragrance / dyes. Tiffany Masterson, the brand founder, had skin issues and cut out the suspicious 6 ingredients from her skincare routine and found that this sorted out her skin. Personally I don't mind essential oils and silicones in my skincare, as long as they're used correctly. I've got some amazing products that contain those ingredients. However I do understand that they can certainly be triggers for some peoples skin issues. We're all different though and as I always like to say - what works for one, doesn't always work for another! That's MY ethos anyway. 

My Drunk Elephant journey started with The Littles Kit 2.0 which cost £71. This set contained minis of the majority of their range - Beste No9 cleanser, B-Hydra serum, C-Firma serum, TLC Framboos serum, Shaba eye serum, Lala Retro moisturiser and Marula oil. This is the UK version, which doesn't include their SPF as it's not been released here yet. 

The Littles set has since been upgraded to version 3.0 - they've swapped Shaba for C-Tango and Lala for Protini! It's still £71 and is available from Space NK and Cult Beauty. Personally I much prefer 3.0 - you'll see why soon! 

Now onto the reviews...

Beste No9 Jelly Cleanser (£27 for 150ml from Space NK & Cult Beauty) - The first time I tried this, I was really underwhelmed. It's unscented which I find boring. I like my cleanser to be a sensory experience so fragrance free does put me off. I know it's a plus for most people, that's just my personal preference. However I loved the jelly consistency and how is lathered nicely. It leaves skin beautifully soft and clean, not stripped. I found myself reaching for it more and more and now I love it! It was definitely a grower for me. The performance definitely outweighs the lack of scent for me. I wouldn't use this to remove makeup, I don't think it would work particularly well for that. It makes a perfect morning or second cleanse.

B-Hydra Intense Hydration Serum (£44 for 50ml from Space NK & Cult Beauty) - This is one of the best hydrating serums that I've tried. It's a beautiful gel consistency that melts into skin, feeling like a glass of water for your face. It's perfect to use both AM and PM. It works with everything - no pilling at all. It contains Vitamin B5 and Niacinamide which are both amazing ingredients to hydrate and strengthen skin.

C-Firma Day Serum (£67 for 30ml from Space NK & Cult Beauty) - This was the Drunk Elephant product that I was looking forward to trying the most. It's a vitamin C serum - the type of Vitamin C is Ascorbic acid which is one of the most effective but most unstable, making it prone to oxidization. It also contains ferulic acid. Sadly I didn't like this serum. My main and only issue with this serum, is the consistency. It's thick and gloopy and just left my skin feeling sticky and unpleasant. Now I can get past the odd smell that most Vitamin C serums have but the tackiness was a deal breaker for me as it doesn't create a good base for makeup. I've had people recommend that I mix it with B-Hydra to counteract the stickiness. Drunk Elephant also recommend that all their products can be mixed together as a skincare cocktail. I'm not keen on the idea of mixing serums as it could water down the efficiency. I don't mind mixing oils into creams but I don't think you should need to mix a serum to make it useable. As for the performance - it worked well to brighten my skin tone which made it even more of a shame that I wasn't keen on it! Obviously my issue is just personal preference, others don't mind the texture of it or mind mixing it. 

T.L.C Framboos Glycolic Night Serum (£76 for 30ml or £113 for 50ml from Space NK and Cult Beauty) - This serum is definitely one of my favourites! It's a similar consistency to B-Hydra - a brilliant non-sticky clear gel. It not only contains Glycolic acid, it has Salicylic acid too which makes it great for my acne-prone skin. It's 12% acid strength so it's fairly strong - you can certainly feel it tingle when applied. If you're not used to using acids, go steady with this and build up usage. After use, skin is left incredibly soft and smooth whilst still hydrated. It doesn't dry skin out. I loved this so much that I went on to buy one of the Drunk Elephant Christmas gift sets which included a full sized bottle of this and minis of B-Hydra, Beste No9, Lala and C-Tango.

Shaba Complex Eye Serum (£50 for 15ml from Space NK & Cult Beauty) - This is a really light, thin serum. It's hydrating and absorbs well which I love. I tend to prefer lighter eye products that sink in well, rather than heavier products that feel like they sit on the skin. I have found that this can sometimes sting my eye area, especially if I've been using retinol or acids. It's like it highlights any sensitivity. Performance wise it's hydrating and that it for me. I don't feel it does anything for dark circles or fine lines.

Lala Retro Whipped Cream (£50 for 50ml from Space NK & Cult Beauty) - I was initially worried about trying this cream because it's sold as the richer of the two Drunk Elephant creams and I thought it might be a bit much for my acne. Luckily I was worrying over nothing! This was the one Drunk Elephant product that I didn't expect to like and I ended up loving it. It's such a beautiful texture - it's as it's name suggests - whipped and almost mousse like. Although it's rich, it's not heavy or suffocating to skin. It's got what I can only describe as a creamy scent to it - I find it pleasant. It's such a pleasure to apply - you can just feel it nourishing your skin. For me, it's a perfect night cream, especially if you're using retinol or acids. It helps to counteract any dryness or sensitivity. 

Virgin Marula Luxury Facial Oil (£34 for 15ml or £61 for 30ml from Space NK & Cult Beauty) - This is probably one of Drunk Elephant's most famous products and for good reason! It's a stunning, light silky oil. It's not heavy or greasy. Skin seems to soak it up so you're not left with it sat on your skin which is great as it makes it suitable to use in the day if you want. It's also perfect to mix in with your moisturiser too. I prefer it on it's own, as it's just so light! I've not tried Marula oil from any other brands so I can't compare it in that way. I can compare it to loads of other oils that I've tried and can easily say, it's one of the best! For me, it's worth the money. 

As I've mentioned above, I went on to buy a Drunk Elephant gift set which included C-Tango. I've also since tried Protini, A-Passioni, Baby Facial, Pekee and Juju.

C-Tango Multivitamin Eye Cream (£54 for 15ml from Space NK & Cult Beauty) - Now I've already reviewed C-Tango as part of my "Best Products to Get Rid of Dark Circles" blog post which can be found HERE. But just to re-cap - this is my holy grail day eye cream. It was literally love at first use! It's the most amazing consistency that just smooths out your under eye area and it really improves my dark circles. It's magical stuff!

T.L.C Sukari Babyfacial - This is sadly unavailable to buy in the UK due to the strength of the acids it contains. Luckily for me @peels_masks_and_scrubs got some from America for me and then I won a competition hosted by @lbnunezpa which included Babyfacial, A-Passioni and other things too! Babyfacial is a 25% AHA and 2% BHA exfoliating mask. It's a slightly textured paste consistency. Now this stuff is STRONG!! I have a high tolerance to acids and even I find strong. I only use this once a week or once every 2 weeks, depending what other acid and retinol products I'm using at the time. It's super effective and really does leave you with baby soft, smooth skin. 

A-Passioni Retinol Cream (£62 for 30ml from Space NK & Cult Beauty) - This is one of Drunk Elephants latest products and is a 1% Retinol cream. As with Babyfacial - this serum is strong! I went from using Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol, which is considered strong to using this. I used to use PC every night, along with acids with no sensitivity or peeling at all. As both serums are 1% Retinol, I though they'd be the same strength. Boy was I wrong! This serum is massively stronger, which I found out the hard way. I used A-Passioni two nights running and had really bad sensitivity and sore patches. Completely my own fault! So at the moment I'm still taking it easy with my usage of this, especially as I use acids to help control my acne. So far I'm using it 2-3 times a week. I'm really impressed with this serum. It's a cream consistency that has the traditional retinol scent and colour (yellow). You don't need much at all to cover your face. It absorbs really well too. I know some people have had issues with the packaging - I've not had a problems personally. I'm really loving this serum but I would certainly use this caution even if you're an experienced retinol user. If you're new to retinol, I'd avoid until you have a tolerance. 

Protini Polypeptide Cream (£57 for 50ml from Space NK & Cult Beauty) - I've only tried samples of this cream but it's on my wishlist to buy! It's a gorgeous gel / cream texture that plumps skin beautifully. It's perfect for oily skin like mine. 

Pekee and Juju (120g for £24 from Space NK & Cult Beauty, also available along with Juju in Baby Bar Travel Duo with travel case for £19 which is what I bought) - I bought this travel set for two reasons - one, because I was dubious about using a bar cleanser and two, because it's super cute! As much as I love DE - I was worried to buy these in full size, so this set was a great option. Both of these bar cleansers (not a soap) are wonderful. They lather gently when rubbed between damp hands. They're so creamy and gentle. Juju is slightly gritty so gives a bit of exfoliation. It's very fine bamboo powder though so isn't harsh on skin. Juju is aimed more for oily skin types - it contains thermal mud to clarify skin and help reduce sebum. They both leave skin super soft and clean, not stripped. Definitely a pleasant surprise. 

D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops (30ml for £30 from Space NK and Cult Beauty) - This is my most recent DE product. This is basically a liquid bronzer with antioxidants, so it helps protect skin from pollution and other environmental stressors. I was a little nervous to try these as I'm very pale complexion wise. The drops are designed to be added and mixed in to any of the other DE products to give skin a healthy glow. I need the tiniest amount of product so this will last ages! It's nice to know I'm getting an added bit of protection. I know there's a bit of debate around adding these to SPF - personally I won't do this, just in case but to be fair as the amount I use is so small, I doubt it would water down the SPF's efficiency that much. But better safe than sorry, I'll stick to adding it to my moisturiser. I've also been applying a small amount of this as bronzer. It works well this way too!

So that's it for my Drunk Elephant reviews! I hope you've found them useful. As always, all products are linked to make things easier if you decide to purchase them.