One of my best friends, Ann Marie, had recently starting selling Arbonne products and she invited a bunch of us to a party to try out the products and tell us more. I am not an expert on anything beauty and I am always happy to receive recommendations and try new products because I haven’t found products that work perfectly for my skin, which tends to be on the oily side.
I hadn’t ever heard of Arbonne so I had no pre-conceptions. Ann-Marie explained that the products were made from 100% natural ingredients, with no nasty chemicals or artificial ingredients. This sounded good to me as I have recently started using natural products on my fro (coconut oil, Jamaican castor oil…etc) and I am starting to feel the benefits.
Anyway, we started off by going to the bathroom to use the Gentle Daily Cleanser to remove our makeup. We then got to try out a series of creams, lotions and potions as well as makeup bits. Gentle Daily Cleanser (£18) was one of my favs as I only needed to use a little, which then lathered up and my makeup came clean off without leaving my face feeling dry. As I have just bought the Clinique cleansing balm which will last me more than a few months this purchase will have to wait.
Overall I wasn’t convinced by the makeup, although the prices weren’t too far away from the prices I would pay at somewhere like MAC and it is all natural, I felt the shades of some of the products weren’t particularly suitable for my skin tone. However I absolutely loved the Makeup brush set (£30). The brush set contained 6 brushes (Liquid Foundation, Powder, All Over Eye, Shading, Slant and Cheek) and the brushes felt full, soft and luxurious. I usually buy my brushes from E.L.F cosmetics (which sadly seems to have taken a hiatus from selling in the UK) and Real Techniques and I find it quite hard to find brushes that are as affordable, lasting and as good as these ranges so definitely going to try these out despite the higher price point.
I had a great night drinking rose and trying out everything. I haven’t purchased anything yet but lucky for me Ann-Marie gave me a package of Arbonne products for my birthday! Yay!! She gave me some soothing eye gel, invigorating body cleanser and Ultra hydrating hand crème. I believe all 3 products are part of the FC5 range.
I have waited a few months so I can give my honest thoughts on all 3 products after using them. Please note, the sizes I received were gifts, so they are smaller than the sizes on the website.
All the products had a similar scent. They smelt how I would expect natural products to smell; light, fresh, fruity and earthy. I usually like strong scented vanilla, coconut or tea tree type scents so it wasn’t typically what I go for, but this scent is very light so I can’t see anyone not liking this.
I will be honest I don’t usually use eye gel and I didn’t use this one lots. It is described on the packaging as cooling and it did feel cold when I put it under my eyes but I didn’t see any benefits, but this might be because I don’t particularly suffer from puffy eyes or dark circles so it’s not something I would use anyway.
I do wash regularly however, despite the recent stories in the media that say we should only wash 2-3 times a week (insane!!). Anyway, the Invigorating body cleanser left my skin feeling smooth, probably smoother than my usual body wash. It lathers well so you only need a small amount, my small tube has really lasted me and I would consider buying the full size amount which is about £22. However, as mentioned before I love strong scents and as this was a little on the light side for me, I will probably stick to my shower gel which costs less than a fiver and smells coconuty and yummy.
Out of the Arbonne products I tried a definite purchase would be the Ultra hydrating hand crème. I am constantly using anti-bac and hand cream and not only was it the perfect size, but it moisturised my hands without being oily or sticky. My only complaint would be, I would want to repurchase the one that I got as a present (60ml) but having looked on the website there doesn’t seem to one of a similar bag friendly size.
To conclude, I would definitely purchase from the Arbonne range, and recommend some of the products that I have tried to my friends. I am lucky as I don’t suffer too much with any skin ailments or allergies so I can use and try cheaper products, which are probably full of all sorts of suspicious chemicals (but smell so good). I can imagine for anyone with sensitive skin or anyone conscious about what ingredients are used in their cosmetics this would be a god send. You can also get a 20% discount off all orders, if you sign up as a preferred client (£18 per year), which works out cheaper in the long run.
If you are interested here is Ann-Marie’s website ( http://Ann-MarieSmith.arbonne.com ) and I hope she doesn’t mind but here is a picture of her (nice to put a face to a name)!
