Unboxing Beauty

I am cheating here a bit ~ I received the original Benton Tea Tree Mist ~ called Benton Honest TT Mist back in November 2015 and reviewed here with positives!!  It really has been a lifesaver for me during flu season and I have purchased it several times over.  The Honest TT Mist does have one huge drawback ~ the spray nozzle was temperamental and it could either be a fine mist or drench you with a water.   Benton replaced the Honest TT Mist and renamed it Tea Tree Mist and Benton sent me this product for review purposes. 

Skin Type/Concerns: Oily, blemish prone, pores, aging concerns with fine lines/wrinkles and hyper-pigmentation

I received these products complementary to review and was not paid.  All reviews are my own honest opinion and  I never have been asked to write copy for a brand.  This blog post might contain promo codes, affiliate and referral links, which using my links will help generate a small commission that helps support my blog at no extra cost to you.

The ingredients are the same, but there was a little bit of rearranging.  It wasn’t a major change, so I do think that the formula is close enough for rock n roll.  Unlike the Honest TT Mist, Benton doesn’t give us a breakdown of the percentages ~ the old formula had 75% tea tree and 7% sodium hyaluronate.  This mixture, regardless of the percentages, does ensure that the oil and moisture levels are balanced in your skin.   The Tea Tree Mist is for those who need soothing skin care, preventing skin damage, oily skin, unbalanced skin, sensitive skin, dry and dehydrated skin and those wanting to improve the health of their skin. 

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Benton uses locally produced tea tree leaf water, which is water infused with tea tree extracts.  It is still water, imho, but it is more than just plain water as it now contains the benefits of tea tree extract, soothing dry, irritated skin. Tea tree extract  is known for its topical antiseptic and anti-fungal properties and help target and treat blemish-prone skin. It also reduces oil and sebum production on your skin, while not disrupting the moisture level.  Sodium hyaluronate  is an intensive moisturizing ingredient which bonds water to keep skin hydrated.  It helps bind moisture to your skin, while attracting it. 

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This has the same natural herbal and moisturizing ingredients:  aloe, glycerin, polyglutamic acid, beta-glucan and rooibos  ~ if you scroll down to my original review, you can see the properties for those ingredients.  All in all, this is a hydrating, healing, soothing product.  Not only can this be used as a mist, but as a toner as well.   

The pH level also remained the same for me ~ it is closer to a 7 than a 6 on my pH strips.  It is still very hydrating on my skin as well, with a refreshing, cooling sensation as it quickly dries down and is absorbed into my skin without a tacky or sticky residue.   

All in all, this product is pretty much the same except the packaging.  And that begs the question… has it improved?  Yes and no.  I loved the Honest TT Mist soft tube packaging.  I thought that was one of the biggest selling points and it was easy to carry around.  It was much smaller at 40 mL for a mist spray, however.  The spray nozzle was picky ~ my very first Honest TT Mist performed nicely, but other that I purchased did not.  It would either squirt out the spray in a thin stream of liquid, drip downwards or actually provide a decent misting.  

The new packaging is larger at 80 mL but I do not find this size to be convenient for traveling.  It now comes in a hard plastic bottle with a pump applicator that looks almost like an aerosol spray ~ but it isn’t. It is a pump applicator. The hard plastic bottle means that it could crack and it is BIGGER so it means it will take up more room in your purse or bag.  The bigger bottle, however, means that you can use it more liberally and all over your body. This sealed vacuum bottle is difficult to disassemble by hand, so no premature oxidization will occur and the spray nozzle is supposed to be an even application that is fine and not temperamental.  This mist can be carried onto aircraft cabins, as it doesn’t contain any inflammable gases such as LPG.  

I will admit, after testing it out a few times, it does spray much more finer and more evenly…. BUT… it still is quite forceful and wet.  The new spray mist is a huge improvement over the old version yet it still could use some more improvements ~ back to the drawing board, Benton!

Ingredients: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Water, Water, Butylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Althaea Rosea Root Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Beta-Glucan, Polyglutamic Acid, Aspalathus Linearis (rooibos) Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract, Zanthoxylum Piperitum (Japanese pepper) Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract  cosDNA  

Where to Purchase

If you click on the store name, it will bring you to the product directly.  You can purchase this new packaged spray at a few places right now and the price range is under $16.00 for an 80 mL bottle.

• YesStyle  International Shipping, Free USA with $35.00 or over 
• Benton eBay Store International Free Shipping, Free Samples
• StyleKorean  International Shipping

This is a fairly new product so I am sure once it has been out for longer, you will be able to find it at more K-Beauty online shops.  As far as I can tell, the original TT Honest Mist is also currently available.  I do not know if Benton plans on retiring it or not. 

Original Review Published December 12, 2015

Last week, I was hit HARD.  Mid afternoon, I was on the phone with a co-worker, discussing work stuff, and I said, Dave, I have to go.  Now.  I feel horrible.  And sure enough, as I packed up my laptop and bag, my teeth started to chatter.  And would.not.stop.  I was freezing and it wasn’t that cold outside.   I had the heat in my car full blast.  When I got home, I got into the shower and took a 40 minute long, HOT STEAMING shower and had the heat up to 83ºF.  Yeah, I was that cold.  I went to bed and the next morning, dragged myself to the Urgent Care Center, where I was diagnosed with the flu.  Despite the fact I had a flu shot last month.

I was pretty much bedridden for several days, and to add insult to injury, I had to go back to the doctor’s when my head decided to explode in pain ~ I had a sinus infection!  So, as you could probably guess, I didn’t do much those days in regards to my “skincare” ~ which to a beauty blogger is one of the worst things you can do!! haha.  What does me being sick have to do with a review for Benton Honest TT Mist?  Well,  if you follow me on IG, you would have seen a couple of posts that dealt with coping with being sick and not caring about your skincare routine too much.    

And guess what product was featured in my survival kit?  Yep, Benton Honest TT Mist.  I have had this product for a few weeks by the time I was stricken, but I didn’t really realize what a great product this little facial mist is until I was stuck in bed, with a fever and with my oily skin.  

A little background on this sponsorship process:  RoseRoseShop had been looking for bloggers to review the new Benton product and as I am already a huge fan of Benton’s Snail-Bee line, I was very interested in reviewing this item.  I knew a little bit about the product, such as the ingredients, so I knew that it would be a good fit for my skin type.   I never request a product if I feel it is unacceptable for my skin type.  RoseRoseShop graciously sent me Benton Honest TT Mist for review purposes and all of my opinions are my own and are unbiased.   I just happen to really like this product a lot!

 

The first thing I noticed with this facial mist is that the packaging is very different!   This doesn’t come in a hard bottle with a spray nozzle, but a soft tube, similar to a foam cleanser or BB cream tube, with a spray nozzle attached to it.  This is a vacuum tube so the product will not oxidize.   It is smaller than most spray facial mists at 40 mL, but this might be a benefit ~ with its soft narrow tube and smaller size, this makes this more portable than a 120 mL facial mist in a hard-case bottle.  It won’t be as easy to break if you drop it (cracks) or sit on your backpack or purse ~ I do this ALL the time!

 

The spray nozzle will dispense the mist via a pump action ~ just depress and one ultra-fine mist will be dispersed.   I usually need about 1 to 2 pumps to cover my face and it is not dripping wet, but a nice fine mist on my face.  I do hold it away from my face about 8 inches or so as if I were to put it right up to my face, my face would be soaked!  The mist is actually odorless, which for those who want to partake of the benefits of tea tree, but dislike the scent, will really enjoy this product.  I then pat it in or just let it absorb naturally ~ when I was sick, I let it absorb naturally, as I really enjoyed the cooling effect it had on my face.  According to Benton, there are 250 “sprays” in this product.  

Ingredients

The breakdown on this product is that it contains 85% tea tree and 7% sodium hyaluronate.  The mix of tea tree and sodium hyaluronate ensures that the oil and moisture level is balanced in your skin.

Tea Tree Leaf Water ~ 80%   This product doesn’t contain “water”, but it does contain tea tree leaf water, which means it is water infused with tea tree extracts.  It is still water, imho, but it is more than just plain water as it now contains the benefits of tea tree extract.

Tea Tree Extract ~ 5%  Tea Tree Extract is known for its topical antiseptic and anti-fungal properties and help target and treat blemish-prone skin. It also reduces oil and sebum production on your skin, while not disrupting the moisture level.

Sodium Hyaluronate~ 7%  Sodium Hyaluronate is an intensive moisturizing ingredient which bonds water to keep skin hydrated.   It is a natural substance found in the human body and it made up of amino and uronic acids, and helps retain 100 to 1,000 times its own water weight in our skin cells.

A variety of herbal and moisturizing ingredients are included as well

• Aloe Vera is a powerful moisturizer that doesn’t leave your skin feeling oily or greasy. It soothes, treats inflammation, helps speed up skin healing and also has a plethora of antioxidants ~ beta-carotene, Vitamin C and Vitamin E, which help improve your skin’s firmness and keeps your skin moist and hydrated. It also contains over 75 different nutritious ingredients, including minerals, enzymes, amino acids, salicylic acid and much more.
• Glycerin helps with healing of wounds, is an humectant, sealing in moisture, maintains the skin’s water balance on an intercellular level, which makes the skin look healthy, moist (not dry and scaly), soft to touch, and is also an emollient, leaving your skin looking radiant and supple
• Polyglutamic Acid is made from fermented soybeans (natto) and helps moisturize and exfoliate old skin cells.  It can penetrate to the deepest layers in your skin, locks in moisture and helps increase the production of NMF (Natural Moisturizing Factor)
• Beta-Glucan is a compound that is naturally derived from mushrooms, oats, yeast and grains.    It helps stimulate the production of collagen, speeds up wound healing, soothes and calms skin due to its anti-irritant and strong anti-inflammatory properties, moisturizes, locks in natural moisture, anti-aging and anti-wrinkle due to its anti-oxidant properties and also helps repair your moisture barrier.
• Aspalathus Linearis (rooibos)  helps with eczema, blemishes and other skin disorders which maybe due to the high concentration of flavonoids found in rooibos.    Rooibos is also an anti-aging ingredient, as it contains the enzyme superoxide dismutase, which aids in producing healthy skin cells as well as combating free radicals and neutralizing their damage.   Rooibos is also an anti-bacterial and that will help treat and heal blemishes.  It also contains minerals and vitamins, including zinc and vitamin D.  

Is it moisturizing?   When I used this on my face, I found that it increased the moisture level, on average, about 40%.  Does it help with oil?  Yes!  My face got so oily, due to my fever and sweating and the fact that I wasn’t washing my face all the time.  When I applied Benton’s Honest TT Mist to my face, it really helped “degrease” my face and I didn’t experience a spike in blemishes, which is normal for me when I get this ill and bed-ridden.   I honestly feel that this product, along with Melano CC Rohto Intensive facial sheet masks (masks in a tub! haha), helped keep my face blemish free and hydrated.

Ingredients: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Water (85%),  Sodium Hyaluronate (7%), Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Extract, Butylene Glycol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Glycerin, Althaea Rosea Root Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf  Extract, Beta-Glucan, Polyglutamic Acid, Aspalathus Linearis (rooibos) Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Psidium Guajava  (guava) Extract, Zanthoxylum Piperitum  (Japanese pepper) Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata (lichen) Extract  cosDNA.com analysis

 

pH Claim

Benton claims that its Honest TT Mist is a pH level of 6, so I took it to the test.  I spray a couple of strips completely with the mist and found that my results are different from what Benton claims.

My results were closer to 7 on the pH scale, which is still very acceptable for me.  I would be interested in seeing results from other beauty bloggers as it could be, due to the fact that Benton doesn’t use preservatives, that it might have been due to temperature changes, as that can affect pH levels. (source)  Also, based on the photo below, Benton is using a one shade pH strip, not the multiple box pH strips that I use.

 

Final Thoughts

When I received this product from RoseRoseShop, I wasn’t thinking much of it.  It is a facial mist and I do use mists, but they are pretty much interchangeable for me.  However, I never put one thru the paces like I did with Benton’s Honest TT Mist.  Because I was so sick and couldn’t keep up with my normal skin care routine, it became really apparent that this product was truly living up to its claims of hydration and also keeping the oil/moisture balance in my skin.   My face felt refreshed and clean after I used this and my face did feel less oily as well.  

Are there any con’s to this product?  Sure, a couple.  The pH level might be too high for some people, but for me, this was perfectly fine.   I also feel that the size of the product at 40 mL might be a bit too small, but because it doesn’t contain preservatives, I am sure the smaller size is on purpose.  You don’t want a huge bottle of facial mist to go bad ~ in fact, the expiration date is a hard 18 months after the manufacturer’s date, so no hoarding!!  Do not stockpile this product until you know you will use it quickly.

For me, I will make note of purchasing this product at the beginning of cold/flu season, as I found Benton Honest TT Mist to be a lifesaver when it came to my skin while I was too sick to do much of anything.  It did prevent my face from drying out and breaking out, which for oily skin types, is one of the worst things that can happen to your face! 

Have you tried Benton’s Honest TT Mist?  What do you think of it ~ did it work on your face as well as it did mine?  If you haven’t tried it, are you interested in purchasing it?  Love, Love Comments, so please leave them 🙂

Where To Purchase

RoseRoseShop carries Benton TT Honest Mist for under $7.00  and they ship internationally.

Disclaimer: I received products complementary for review purposes