I rarely ever write a full review on a single skincare product, I usually always lump a few together in the one post or make some passing mention about something or other. I decided to finally attempt a full post, on a serum, no less. Serums have made quite the appearance in the skincare industry over the past year or so, and I never thought I'd ever fall into that trend.
That is until I saw the packaging for the SugarBaby serum. It appealed to me so much; the retro beachy theme with the gold embossed letters and the vivid pinks and greens.
SugarBaby is an Australian-owned beauty and lifestyle brand, owned by two sisters Nicci and Lizie Clifton. According to the website, the brand does not test on animals, though they are not certified by any cruelty-free organisations, nor do they feature any of the official bunny logos. I'll need to send them an email regarding their stance on animal testing, and whether they use animal-derived ingredients in their products. There's a statement on this bottle that says that the product is vegan, though that isn't indicative of the entire brand. An official statement on the website would be a great help!
Let's get onto the packaging! Well, aside from the beachy scene, I mean. The serum comes in a cardboard cylindrical box, featuring the same design as on the bottle itself. I actually love the design, but there's one thing that irks me, and that is the wastage of material. The bottle is basically half the size of the box, and quite thick and chunky. If it came in a regular prism-shaped cardboard box, I think you could probably save about 60% of the packaging material. Just my opinion, no? It's actually for this reason (and the cute design) why I'm keeping the box. It just seems super wasteful to toss it!
The bottle itself is super cute! The glass is frosted pink and cream in an ombré pattern, with the sunset label matching the pattern. So creative! The dropper is a little different to your standard glass droppers, it's bent at a little angle at the outlet. Not sure how I feel about this feature. The lid to the bottle is gorgeously coated in gold and has a white rubber thingy. It closes securely and I haven't found any issues with the bottle and dropper so far.
The consistency of this product is a bit weird, I'll tell you that. It really reminds me of when I use tylose to make edible glue for cake decorating, though it's cloudy and thinner in texture. It doesn't feel silicony, but it has this somewhat gel-like texture that sort of feels like liquid soap. I am horrible at describing texture!
The instructions says to massage a drop or two of this after cleansing and drying your face, but I find that this is really difficult to spread around while my face is dry, without adding more serum. It's quite tacky because of the glycerin, so I'm assuming that's why it's not easy to massage into the face. I apply this right after putting on my toner and it glides around easily as it mixes with the toner. Perhaps I should figure out a better way to use this?
This product is meant to, if used regularly, help firm and smooth fine lines to basically de-age skin, by injecting it with antioxidants, nutrition and hydration. It contains Kakadu Plum, Vitamins C and B3 and coconut water. I can tell you with absolute surety that this does actually help visibly reduce fine line and wrinkles. I'm seeing some difference in my forehead and under my eyes, as the creases are not as deep as they used to be, ever since I started using it a few weeks ago. This serum sinks in rapidly, though there's a touch of tackiness that remains for a little bit longer, most likely the glycerin. This glycerin aspect of the serum makes me think this would actually work as a primer, though I have yet to test this theory out.
Sean says that when he kisses me, he keeps smelling Thai curry, and that's because of the coconut juice and water in this serum, which is the main ingredient. For some reason, that dude just doesn't know how to place scents, so it's always 'that smells sweet' or 'I can smell something fruity.' Thai curry has to be his best one yet! I'm walking around with Thai curry on my face, ha!
Can you tell that I'm easily amused?
You can find this serum on the SugarBaby website or in Priceline stores retailing at $16.99 a pop, which isn't such a bad price for a great product! By the way, simply looking up "sugarbaby" on Google isn't going to yield better results than information about sugar babies and sugar daddies, just so you know. So, enter this www.sugarbaby.com.au in the URL to make life easier.
What other cruelty-free serums do you guys recommend? Will you try this one?
By the way, some of you were wondering about the truffle. Interestingly enough, by itself it tastes like mushrooms, but when it's combined with other ingredients, it absorbs and enhances the other flavours and makes them richer and more decadent. I can see why chefs like this ingredient, especially the ones that can't cook to save their life, ha!
This sounds interesting! Aside from how hard it is to spread, does it sink into the skin or kind of sit on top? I'm loving serums at the minute and am always looking for a new one to try! Great review. XO -Kim
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Thank you for reminding me to add that in the post, I was sure I was missing something! It sinks in on the skin quickly, in about a few minutes, though the glycerin sits on top for a little bit longer. Which makes me think it might actually work nicely for a primer. I'll have to test this theory out later.
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