Review: Fresh Seaberry Moisturizing Face Oil

So I am a face oil newbie. I thought I would just get that out of the way, so you get an idea of what place this review is coming from. I never have been particularly drawn to oils in my skincare routine. Maybe partly due to its slippery texture and strong scent. However, since I have been seeing beautiful facial oils popping up everywhere the last few years, I was curious to try them out myself.

Claims

Packed full of amazing oils, like seaberry, cranberry seed, camellia seed, grapeseed, and sweet almond, this facial oil will help maintain a youthful appearance. Seaberry, cranberry seed, and camellia seed oils contain omegas that protect the skin from free radicals, moisturize, and help your skin feel smooth and maintain its elasticity. To see the full breakdown of their ingredients, you can check out their website.

Ingredients

One reason I was so attracted to facial oils was their shorter ingredients list. Indeed, most of the ingredients in this product are oils. It is interesting to note that even though this products is named the Seaberry Moisturizing oil, which is another name for sea buckthorn oil, it is only the fourth ingredient in their ingredients list. If you are into green/clean beauty, there are a few ingredients, like BHT, that rate in the moderate hazard realm. There are also a few sensitizing ingredients, like fragrance, Linalool and Limonene.

Application

One of the great benefits of using facial oils, either than the ingredients, is that you can also use them for a great facial massage. Fresh claims that this oil absorbs quickly, but I found it took a minute or two to completely absorb. As this is my first face oil, I’m not sure if that is quick. However, those few minutes of absorption time do allow me to complete my facial massage. It does feel a bit tacky even after it has absorbed though.

The directions say to use 1 to 2 drops. I feel I need 3-4 drops to cover my whole face and neck. I must admit, it took a while to get used to the texture, but I really enjoy it now. My one con with this product is the smell. I prefer scentless products, but I can tolerate it if the product is good. However, I would say that the scent of this oil is strong! It really bothered me at first, but now I have gotten used to it.

Results

Overall, I really enjoyed my first facial oil experience. It is on the pricier side at $52 USD. However, it lasted me a good six months using it in my morning and nighttime routines. I found that it did make my skin softer and smoother. It did moisturize my skin and give it a beautiful glow during application. However, I did found that it didn’t provide enough moisture on its own during the dry, winter months for me. I still needed to apply moisturizer after it to stop my skin from getting dry and flaky in certain areas. It did really help with fine lines though in the sense that I got more motivated to do facial massage twice a day.

VERDICT: A solid facial oil. Might need to top off with another moisturizer if you have really dry skin.

Smudge of Life #2: Life is Like a Rollercoaster

So you might have wondered why I named my blog “Smudges” (or not). I actually named it for my biggest beauty dilemma, which was and still is, smudging eyeliner. I also liked the idea that the word “smudge” meant to smear, rub, and blur (this is all from the Webster Dictionary). Most recently, I was reminded that “smudging” is a technique originating from indigenous people to spiritually cleanse oneself. It suddenly occurred to me the word “smudge” would be perfect for some posts I want to do about thoughts that have made me feel mentally lighter.

Sometimes, you never know when an “aha moment” will happen or when a moment will bring some solace to your soul. Last week, I was listening to one of my husband’s friends talk about his divorce. It is obviously a devastating and sad thing to go through, especially since he had children. I realize it can be a very challenging time in someone’s life, but it also made me think about how life can be quite unpredictable. To him, it might be a down time in his life, but maybe if he stepped back and looked at the big picture in the future, it might be just a small ripple in his life’s timeline.

We always hear that life is like a roller coaster. There are ups and downs. However, no one can fortune-tell what ups and downs they will encounter in the future. So even if you feel like you are hitting a major down in your life, you might actually be on the path to a super high time in your life. You just don’t know it at the time. I find this thought super comforting somehow. There is always hope and sometimes the downturns in your life can be just a break to let you reroute for amazing things to come. And maybe the dips are what make you stronger so you can make the next climb easier. Although, once in a while, it would also be nice to go a train instead and enjoy the scenery.