Thoughts on [Huxley] Skincare

Monday, October 30, 2017

Every once in a while I do get swept up with the idea of products and let me tell you, it was all too easy to succumb to Huxley products. The line offered up a new ingredient I've never encountered (desert cactus, fancy) and SweetCorea had a really great price on the line. I ordered four items from the Huxely Secret of Sahara lineup without thinking too much about it.

Regret, folks. I feel it.

The four items I purchased were the Secret of Sahara Toner: Extract It, Essence: Brightly Ever After, Cream: Anti-Gravity, and Healing Mask: Keep Calm. Absolutely none of these products work for me.

Let's start out with what these products have in common. All four items I picked from the lineup contain the brand's signature scent, which is a sort of sweet grass/white floral smell. A lot of people really dig the fragrance, I'm not one of them. It's a huge turn off for me. I found that while testing out these products, I always paused a moment as my nostrils caught whiff of the perfume. My hands would stop just short of my face as for the briefest moment, as if they were protesting - "Do I really have to put this on my skin?"

Toner: Extract It

Aside from being very scented, I can't tell if this does anything. My face feels the same about five minutes after application as it did five minutes prior. I have many words to describe how my face feels after different toners; clean, refreshed, ready to absorb other products - unfortunately none of these words seem to apply to this toner. The only thing that looks different is that my brows are now furrowed from smelling the strong fragrance.

Ingredients:

Opuntia Ficus-Indica Stem Extract, Propanediol, Dipropylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Seed Oil, Lagerstroemia Indica Flower Extract, Rosa Centifolia Flower Extract, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Xanthan Gum, Butylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Water, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

Healing Mask: Keep Calm

I've applied this mask a few times. Afterwards, I see so much nothingness on my face that I always question why I used this mask in the first place. It reminds me of the hair gel I used in large quantities for practicing fingerwaves in cosmetology school.

Ingredients:

Opuntia Ficus-Indica Stem Extract, Glucose, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Sucrose, Sclerotium Gum, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Fruit Extract (Opuntia Ficus-Indica Seed Oil), Citrus Unshiu Peel Extract, Xanthan Gum, Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract , Melia Azadirachta Flower Extract , Coccinia Indica Fruit Extract, Solanum Melongena (Eggplant) Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Flower Extract, Lonicera Japonica (Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Platycodon Grandiflorum Root Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Forsythia Suspensa Fruit Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera Seed Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera Seed Extract, Anemarrhena Asphodeloides Root Extract, Propolis Extract, Ocimum Sanctum Leaf Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Curcuma Longa (Turmeric) Root Extract, Corallina Officinalis Extract, Propanediol, Water, Disodium EDTA, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, 1,2-Hexanediol, Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Fragrance

Cream: Anti-Gravity

This is the item that I would have liked the most. It's a stiff cream that melts really easily into the skin and gives it a really pleasant glowy finish. I wouldn't recommend it if your skin is oily, I had difficulties wearing it in the day on my oily areas, it just slipped and slid under my makeup. Unfortunately was the source of a ton of small bumps all over my face, really terrible looking skin texture.

Ingredients:

Opuntia Ficus-Indica Stem Extract, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Olive Oil Lauryl Esters, Squalene, Butylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Pentaerylthrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Diisostearyl Malate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Jojoba Esters, Water, Behenyl Alcohol, Clyceryl Stearate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Adenosine, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Seed Oil, Perilla Ocymoides Leaf Extract, Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Safe) Leaf Extract, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Flower Extract, Gardenia Florida Fruit Extract, Betula Platyphylla Japonica Juice, Sodium Hyaluronate, Beta-Glucan, Cyclopentasiloxane, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-100 Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Ceterayl Glucoside, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Propanediol, Carbomer, Ethylhexylglycerin, Polyglyceryl-10 Pentasterate, Alcohol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Dextrin, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Hydrogentated Lecithin, Caprylyl Glycol, Glyceryl Caprylate, Tromethamine, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

Essence: Brightly Ever After

My skin reacted pretty instantly to this essence, so we never really moved past the patch testing phase. A lot of redness, irritation, and like the cream, small bumps. It's a milky essence that is highly fragranced.

Ingredients:

Opuntia Ficus-Indica Stem Extract, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Squalane, Dimethicone, 1,2-Hexanediol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Glyceryl Stearate, Polyglyceryl-3 Dicitrate/Stearate, Hippophae Rhamnoides Oil, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Seed Oil, Morus Nigra Fruit Extract, Bisabolol, Glutathione, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Carbomer, Tromethamine, Trisiloxane, Cyclotetrasiloxane, Farnesol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Water, Fragrance, Citric Acid

In August I went on a two week trip and brought along a trimmed down set of products for my skincare routine. None of these Huxley items came with me. During this product diet, my skin looked so much better, no bumps. Everything returned to the normal I've come to experience in the last six months. I came home absolutely convinced that Huxley needed to get the boot, and I'm much better off for it.

So what now? Now I have four barely touched products that I'm trying to use up on my decolletage. I'm not having much luck because I'm really not crazy about the long lasting scent, so I only grab them out of guilt. Also, the cream and essence transfer onto my hair and makes it feel really greasy. Overall a blind buy failure!

[Huxley] skincare products can be purchased from various online stores.

Extract It Toner is $37 at Saks, $23 at YesStyle,
Healing Mask is $20 at YesStyle, $13 at SweetCorea
Anti-Gravity Cream $48 at Glow Recipe via Saks Fifth Avenue, $16 at Sweet Corea
Brightly Ever After Essence $30 at YesStyle, $20 at SweetCorea

What's been your biggest beauty failure lately?

Ingredients lists from GlowRecipe, Cosdna and Nordstrom website. Post contains affiliate links. Products purchased by me. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.