Unboxing Beauty

disclaimer: products received for review purpose.  all opinions my own & are honest.  blogpost contains affiliate links

Back in September, Memebox sent me some products from the TreeannSea line, which is a new brand that they are carrying.  TreeannSea is an eco-friendly beauty brand that uses ingredients from desert, the water and botanical ingredients to create their skincare products.  They use natural ingredients and try to have 80% of raw botanical ingredients in their products.  TreeannSea are made using the EWG Skin Deep environmental database as a guide and they use 0-2 grades only (low hazard ingredients).  They do not use any of the harmful chemicals: synthetic flavors, synthetic preservatives ~ phenoxyethanol, parabens series, synthetic pigments, synthetic surfactants ~ SLS/SLES and do not use animal testing.  All of their products bottles and packaging are completely recyclable.  TreeannSea believe in social responsibility and they participate in fair trade practices.

I have reviewed their Eskimo Mella Smoothing Cleansing Water and Fertile Soothing Toner (review here) and in this blog post, I will review Eskimo Mella Time Release Age Define Cream and Madagascar Tamanu Oil.  Both of these products are suitable for oily skin ~ in fact, the Madagascar line is a pore/blemish care line for oily skin.  I do feel that the Eskimo Mella can be used for all skin types and is considered a soothing care line.  Let’s see how they worked for my skin!

 

 

 

TreeannSea Eskimo Mella Time Release Age Define Cream  This cream is in a nice sturdy plastic bottle with a vacuum air pump applicator.  I might also add that all of the packaging for TreeannSea are substantial and sturdy.   I take this back.  When I wrote this sentence back in the initial impressions, I had just gotten the products.  I do not think this pump is sturdy at all.  More on that later.   This is full of antioxidant botanical ingredients as well as moisturizing shea butter and meadowfoam oil ~ meadowfoam oil has excellent anti-oxidant, containing tocopherols to prevent moisture loss, along with skin softening properties and benefits. It has rich texture that helps with your skin’s barrier and locks in your skin’s moisture, preventing dryness.

image credit from wikipedia

The star ingredient in the Eskimo Mella line is USDA Organic Tremella Fuciformis or Snow Fungus, which is pretty cooling looking mushroom ~ what is ironic is that it is a tropical mushroom, not an arctic one.  Tremella Fuciformis  (Snow Fungus) is a white gelatinous parasitic fungus that has been used in TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) for centuries, as well as for culinary dishes.   It draws water to the skin, just like hyaluronic acid, helping keep your skin hydrated and moist, plumping up fine lines and wrinkles. It is supposed to be 120% more efficient than HA, as its particles are smaller than hyaluronic acid ~ it penetrates your skin better and more easier.  Snow fungus is a natural organic alternative to hyaluronic acid.  It contains Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin ~  we need produce it when we get it thru exposure to the sun and also in foods and supplements.  Also, snow fungus is an antioxidant, helping combat and reserve free radical damage,  including lightening of hyper-pigmentation spots.

This also contains some great ingredients:  yeast derived adenosine, which is an anti-wrinkle and anti-inflammatory ingredient.  Allantoin moisturizes, exfoliates and softens skin, making it look smooth and refined, while reducing and relieving irritation.   Panthenol helps cellular renewal and is an effective moisturizer. It is derived from plants and this ingredient comes from Vitamin B5.  Panthenol is a natural humectant, which retains moisture and hydrates the skin. It also is a good lubricant on the skin, making skin look soft and smooth. It is also an anti-inflammatory.  TreeannSea also highlights the following ingredients:  Jeju water contains natural minerals, vanilla planifolia (vanilla) will help prevent irritation, ceratonia siliqua (carob) helps soften skin and helichrysum angustifolium (immortal/everlasting) is known for soothing skin irritations.

This cream is supposed to help not only with moisturizing but also will have skin brightening effects.  This cream is, well, creamy!  It is heavier than an emulsion so while the description claims it is a “moisture bomb” for your skin, I didn’t find it to be one as it was too thick;  however, don’t get me wrong, this is is more light weight than most traditional “creams” and it did increase my moisture level by 25%.

It is smooth and glides on easy, absorbs quickly into my skin.  It really doesn’t have a scent that I can tell and my skin does feel soft and smooth.  It doesn’t leave a sticky residue but if it is warm outside, it does feel a bit too much for my oily skin.  I’ve used it this during the day and night and I actually like this better at night time when it is warmer outside.  I didn’t notice any improvement in my hyper-pigmentation or wrinkles in the one month that I was testing this product out.  I was planning to use this when the weather became cooler, but …alas… the pump.

Now, I don’t know if this with every pump in this line or if I just got a defective one, but after a month of using this, the pump died.  I couldn’t pump out the product anymore and I thought, well, maybe I can decant it.  I couldn’t ~ the opening is too narrow to use a spatula and since the cream is thicker than an emulsion and not watery, an eyedropper applicator would not work that well.   It is a shame ~ as this cream does have a lot of potential and I was looking forward to using it during the cooler months.   I hope this was just a defective pump, as the formula is really nice for oily skin with aging concerns.  In fact, I would recommend that TreeannSea drop this particular pump design altogether as it is a bit flimsy and easy to break.   50 mL  RV $30.00 (on sale right now for $21.00)

Description: Reverse the hands of time with this age-defying cream. It’s flowing with Jeju Mineral Water and natural extracts like moisturizing Chrysanthemum Mushroom (aka Snow Fungus aka Tremella Fuciformis) and Meadowfoam Oil, a heaven-sent hybrid known as a “moisture bomb” that blasts away wrinkles and fine lines. Plus, this dream cream brightens and tightens, leaving you with ever so youthful skin you can see and feel.

Ingredients: Jeju mineral water, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, glycerin, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, tremella fuciformis (chrysanthemum mushroom) extract, vanilla planifolia fruit extract, ceratonia siliqua (carob) fruit extract, rubus fruticosus (blackberry) fruit extract, cetearyl olivate, sorbitan olivate, cetearyl alcohol, cetearyl glucoside, artemisia annua extract, calendula officinalis flower extract, symphytum officinale leaf extract, helichrysum angustifolium flower extract, azadirachta indica leaf extract, zanthoxylum piperitum fruit extract, pulsatilla koreana extract, usnea barbata (lichen) extract, adenosine, allantoin, panthenol, aronia melanocarpa fruit extract, olea europaea (olive) leaf extract, citrus junos fruit extract, paeonia albiflora root extract, inonotus obliquus (mushroom) extract, euterpe oleracea fruit extract, lepidium meyenii root extract, vaccinium myrtillus fruit extract, yucca vera extract, taraxacum officinale (dandelion) extract, sarcodon aspratus extract, aristotelia chilensis (maqui) fruit extract, asimina triloba fruit extract, morinda citrifolia extract, oenothera biennis (evening primrose) flower extract, vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry) fruit extract, punica granatum fruit extract, hexanediol, caprylyl glycol, citrus aurantium amara (bitter orange) flower oil  cosDNA analysis

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TreeannSea Madagascar Tamanu Oil  This oil is part of the pore and oily skin care line and one of the star ingredients is tamanu oil. The packaging is adorable with the beautiful lemur as the focal point of the design. I have to say this is one of the cutest designs I have seen ~ I love the artwork so much that I will keep the packaging.  We go from a lotion that has a slew of ingredients to an oil that is just… one ingredient.  This thick, dark yellowish-green oil is made of 100% certified Madagascan Tamanu oil. 

image credit from wikipedia

Tamanu Oil is extracted from the nuts of the tropical Southeast Asian Ati tree and has an aromatic, pungent scent.  The nuts are dried in the sun until the oil is produced, about 2 months.  This sticky, thick and rich oil will be cold-pressed for the final result ~ a dark greenish yellow oil.  It takes about 200 pounds of tamanu nuts, which is its yearly yield,  to produce 11 pounds of cold pressed oil. Tamanu is a powerful skin regenerator as it helps promote new tissue growth, which speeds up wound healing.  This oil is a powerhouse ~it contains fatty acids to help lock in moisture ~ oleic (Omega-9), palmitic, linoleic, linolenic and stearic. It is not only an anti-bacterial, it is an antioxidant, antibiotic (lactone compound)  and anti-inflammatory (calophyllolide and coumarin compounds).  These compounds make it a powerful healing oil.  It helps prevent UV sun damage to your skin as it can absorb UV rays.  You want to find Tamanu oil that is a green color and has been hand gathered, sun dried and cold pressed. Based on TreeannSea’s site, they have done all of the latter steps to produce a nice thick greenish oil.

It is housed in a dark amber bottle to help preserve the freshness of the oil and has an eye drop applicator ~ you only need one or two drops. This is a very strong, pungent herbaceous scent (okay, stinky) which I like (I must have been a spice merchant in a previous life), but if you do not care for stronger herbal scents, you might not care for the scent.  It takes about 5 to 10  minutes to absorb completely, but once it does, my skin doesn’t feel greasy or oily.

So, how did it work?  I posted this review on my Insta account the other day.

Even with trusty blemish fighting products, my skin kinda gets “bored” with them and they aren’t as effective. Maybe my skin wants to see other products for a while before letting me go back to my original product. I’ve noticed by giving my skin a break from my normal blemish products, they work again after that. Sooo, with that in mind, here are two of my favorite overnight treatments for blemishes.  This stuff is fantastic! I applied this into my T-zone and chin area. I then applied Innisfree Truecare CICA Intensive Balm, which is made with Centella Asiatica,  over the oil~ this is an overnight treatment only, as it contains retinol, which will really help with brightening and lighting spots. Now, I have been suffering with some zit breakouts the last few weeks ~ weather changes (from hot to cool to hot to cool), plus stress beyond belief and my cpap straps, I have been breaking out. I have noticed since I used this cocktail at night, my blemishes go away quickly. I had one the other day that was raising up and I could feel it was going to be a huge nasty sucker on my chin, so I put the oil & balm over it.

In the morning, that blemish had deflated and it doesn’t look as red as it did yesterday. I do not know if it is one product or a combo, but it is working nicely. The oil is very thick and I was afraid it would break me out, but it doesn’t. Warning ~ some pets might love the smell of your face after you put this on. My cat Obi was very interested in sniffing my face several times where I applied it!! haha!   30 mL RV $18.00 (on sale right now for $12.00)

Description: This facial oil is 100% extra virgin Madagascar Tamanu Oil, praised for its powers to nourish irritated and troubled skin back to radiant health. It prevents skin from dryness and dehydration by strengthening its layers and striking the perfect balance between moisture and oil. The result is non-sticky, softer, and smoother skin.

Ingredients: 100% Calophylium Inophylium (Tamanu) Seed Oil 

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Final Thoughts

Eskimo Mella Time Release Age Define Cream is not a bad facial lotion ~ I actually enjoyed using it when I could.  What turned me off was the packaging, how it broke after one month of use  and there wasn’t an easy way to decant the product.  It has a lot of great ingredients and didn’t cause any breakouts for me, leaving my skin smooth and soft.   Madagascar Tamanu Oil, however, is the clear winner with these two moisturizing products.  This oil really helped keep my blemishes at bay, while softening my skin.  I was so surprised that such a heavy, thick oil works so well on my oily skin. Most oils I use on my face are lightweight, so I went into using this oil very carefully ~ first just dabbing a little bit on my blemishes.  Now, I just put a couple of drops of this pungent oil in my hands and apply it all over my T-Zone, chin and anywhere else where I might have acne.  I am very generous with this oil on my skin!  Tamanu oil is one that I will purchase as it seems to really work well with my oily, blemish prone skin type. I hope to see some other benefits using this oil with longer use.  I would love to see more products in the Madagascar line ~ I am currently using their pore soap (review soon) and I am enjoying that soap as well.   Have  you tried any of the TreeannSea products?  Which ones and what did you think of them? 

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 disclaimer: products received for review purpose. all opinions my own & are honest. blogpost contains affiliate links