Valentia Pure Glow Brightening Moisturizer

About a month ago BrandBacker sent me the Valentia Pure Glow Brightening Moisturizer and I couldn’t wait to jump into it. I had tried 1 product from Valentia before – their mask – and loved it so I expected quite a lot from this one. I ended up giving the clay mask to my mom who happens to like it too. Just for reference, my skin used to be quite oily but has changed over the past year to being combination/acne prone in the summer and dry in the winter. Due to the erratic weather we’ve had recently, I was able to try the moisturizer out in hot and cold weather. Moisturizers that I think are perfect for winter can get too heavy for me in hot weather.

Consistency:

It isn’t fluid or thin and pumps out like a thick cream rather than a watery lotion. once on the skin, it absorbs quickly and disappears within seconds so it doesn’t sit on the surface like a thick cream would.

Odor:

The clay mask I tried from Valentia had a very fruity and wonderful scent that I enjoyed so much. I really wish this moisturizer smelled similar to that because that would put me in cranberry scented paradise. Instead, I don’t think this has any scent or fragrance at all. If it does, it’s way too faint for me to smell.

Effects:

I like how comfortable this moisturizer feels on the skin. It doesn’t feel occlusive at all to me unless I start sweating as soon as I put it on, in which case I would be hopping into a wonderful cold shower instead of slathering moisturizer on mah face. As far as the glow and brightening go, I haven’t seen any at all. I guess that fact that it makes my skin look even instead of dry and dull is what Valentia meant by the glow. I don’t feel like my skin is any brighter after using it though and I’ve used it for a good month. I do however find that it really helps calm down any irritation and redness on my skin due to bad reactions to products or dryness.

Ingredients: (from the Valentia website)

Holy Ingredient Wizard’s Cow! This might be the longest list of ingredients I’ve ever seen on a product! I was in full panic mode when I saw this list but on a closer look, the ingredients sound rather delicious. Aloe Vera, the two different types of green tea (why?) and Ginseng got me really excited. They’re probably the calming ingredients which I think help calm down irritated skin. I was also looking forward to the Ginseng, which they claim contributes to the brightening and tightening of the skin, but I did not experience any tighter or firmer skin . I like the addition of Blueberry, Cranberry, Centella, Kojic Acid and Salicylic Acid because they’re all ingredients that help combat acne and brighten acne scars. While I didn’t see my acne miraculously disappearing, I experienced way less acne than I would have in a usual month so these ingredients work more towards prevention rather than getting rid of acne. My favorite part of the ingredients list is that almost every ingredient is naturally derived so rather than directly adding the chemicals, the product uses natural extracts that contain the ingredients. I have an obsession with extracts and oils (even though the definition of an extract is very blurry) because I have often found them to work better than their synthetic counterparts.

Pros:

The thick consistency makes it hydrating enough to eliminate the need to reapply but isn’t occlusive or heavy.
Absorbs quickly
Fragrance-free for anyone that is sensitive to scent and hates them.
Prevents/minimizes occurrence of acne, slightly lightens PIH
An incredibly delicious ingredient list

Cons:

It doesn’t smell like anything. To me, a nice scent is important because it brightens up my day.
The long list of ingredients is unnecessary. While I love it, I also think it reduces the % of each ingredient in the product. Certain extracts need a specific minimum % to be effective and this excessive dilution might be preventing them from working to their full potential. Consider the difference between a mist that has only 1/3 parts water, 1/3 parts green tea and 1/3 parts aloe. You’re much more likely to see the individual effects of each in this mixture than in something that includes 20 other ingredients and leaves you with 1/23 parts green tea. This excludes essential ingredients such as stabilizers, emollients, etc. but you get the idea.
No “glow”

Verdict:

I love a lot of things about this moisturizer and I’m definitely going to continue using the whole bottle and savoring it. I would buy another bottle of it whenever I ran out if it weren’t for the fact that I’m currently sitting with a stack of moisturizers to review. My curiosity keeps me from sticking to a holy grail product and repurchasing.

Rating: 4/5