A capite ad calcem.: Review and ingredients: REN Clean Skincare Radiance products

After mentioning this REN Clean Skincare gift set in my holiday 2013 guide, I of course had to pick it up. REN gets so many good reviews (this Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask in particular) so I was really excited to try this. If you're not familiar with the brand, REN avoids using the usual nasties we tend to find in skincare. I love natural products that still perform.

Unfortunately, the main star of the kit and the most overhyped, the mask, didn't really do it for me.

What I do like about the product is definitely the packaging. I like the type of pump that allows you to get every drop of product, and the little cap covering the nozzle that protects the product inside is genius. The product itself does do what it says on the box, which is nice of course. I do find my skin a lot brighter after using this. The texture, which Jessica Beautician perfectly describes as marmalade, is weird, thick, and doesn't dry, but it doesn't bother me, that said.

My gripes, however, lie with the denatured alcohol (alcohol denat/rubbing alcohol) this contains that makes the product pretty drying and the unnecessarily heavy fragrance that actually kind of bothers me the whole ten minutes I have this on.

Also, something I expected when buying this is that it's only an AHA mask. AHAs only exfoliate the surface of the skin. As an oilier skinned gal, I do tend to find myself more drawn to BHAs (salicylic acid) which not only exfoliate the surface of the skin, but clean out the actual pores as well. It's an ingredient that the blemish-proned want to see in their products. This mask, for me, didn't really help at all with breakouts.

I think you would like this mask if heavy fragrance doesn't bother you and you don't get blemishes and just want to brighten the skin overall or diminish some dark marks.

Otherwise I highly recommend for everyone and like the Tata Harper mask way better. Not only does it contain no harsh ingredients, it doesn't smell strongly (it's fragrance free; its scent coming only from the beautiful plant ingredients it contains), it works on the brightening and pore clearing front (it has enzymes and BHAs that work wonders on the skin), and you can even use it as a spot treatment for blemishes. Not to mention you need less product, and since the price is similar, it's going to last you a lot longer.

So as far as the mask goes, no, for me it's not worth the hype.

The REN kit also contained a few other products, a serum and a cleanser. I actually quite like the micro polish cleanser. The fragrance isn't as heavy as the mask, and although I usually don't go for cleansers with the exfoliating seeds, these ones didn't bother me too much. My skin after using this felt soft and refreshed but still not stripped. I wouldn't use this everyday (it would be way too rough), and it's not going to be a good one for removing makeup, but this is a good perk-up cleanser for every once in a while.

The serum isn't horrible either. If it weren't for the fragrance I might actually even like it. It has an interesting texture; when you apply it to the skin, it's almost like you're applying a foaming gel cleanser to the skin without water (I hope that makes sense). It just kinds of emulsifies before completely diminishing into the skin. I find that in combination with the cleanser and the mask, my skin does look nicer the morning after using it. I wouldn't use it during the day though, as I find it does tend to make my skin a bit more greasy than usual.

I haven't had the chance to try the Resurfacing AHA Concentrate yet because it always is kind of a pain in the butt to bust open the foil packages, but when I do use it and finish the packets, you'll hear about it in an empties post.

Have you tried REN Skincare? What products do you like/not like from the brand?

Ingredients: