A quick one-two for Summer from January Labs

After the recent Fave Fives videos, I had so many comments asking about skins that are combination/oily/acne/sensitised/dehydrated and budgets that needed to be well under £40, that it made me look at the stash of blog posts I had prepped and rearrange them. So the reviews from the Instagram update of a couple of weeks ago are coming this week, but for now, those of you in the aforementioned categories could do worse than look at January Labs.

The Mist is old news to regular readers, but the range contains other great, simple-yet-efficacious products that won't break the bank.

The pricing is sporadic, with the more high-end eye cream, exfoliants and day and night creams pushing the top end. However, the Mist, Moisture Balancing Lotion and Pure & Gentle Cleansing Gel are all between £18.00 and £24.00, making them great value, especially for the sizes. 

The Cleansing Gel is not foaming, and is one of the few that does not strip or dry out my skin - and is a whopping 237ml/8fl ozs for £24.00. Combo skins and boys, this one is definitely worth looking at.

The main reason for the post is the lovely Moisture Balancing Lotion, which I have found myself recommending to quite a few people this summer. It rehydrates and rebalances, literally like it says on the pack, and does so without causing further irritation or clogging pores. Working on literally all skins, I tend to reach for it when I'm using a particularly active serum or pardon the phrase, sweating like a horse (sorry). A little goes a long way, and for £21.00, the 60ml is a good 20% larger than average for moisturisers.

January Labs is one of the brilliant up-and-coming independent brands based out of California and as such is not as easy to get hold of as some, but if you're daft like me, that makes you want it all the more. I know I know. I really should see someone about it. But it's FUN.

January Labs is available in the US from www.januarylabs.com and in the UK from CultBeauty.co.uk who do ship internationally to a lot of countries.

Cult Beauty lists all ingredients.

*This post contains some affiliate links. If you are happy to click on the link and support this blog in that way, thank you very much. If you would prefer not to, just google the brand and the item, it's all cool. :) For absolute clarity: I do not use affiliate links on products belonging to brands that I work with on a professional basis. (I do not work with January Labs)

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Zelens Z Pure Cleansing Liquid Balm

What is it?

'A Shiso-infused cleansing liquid balm formulated to thoroughly cleanse the skin and help remove impurities and make-up.'

Who is it for?

All skin types.

What’s in it?

Possibly acne/allergy/troubling for some ingredients?

Fragrance

Natural? Organic? Man made? Vegan?

Vegan

Tested on animals/sold in China?

No/No

What's not in it?

Parabens

Mineral oil

Silicones

How do you use it?

You can either apply to dry/damp skin and massage through - then remove with a flannel as per usual or you can apply, massage, emulsify and rinse. 

As always I am in the former camp, but this does emulsify brilliantly for those of you that like sort of thing. 

Although this does remove makeup, because of the quality of the ingredients and the price point, this is going firmly in the 'skin cleansing' category for me. Either a second cleanse in the evening or a lovely single cleanse in the morning. 

What’s good about it?

A lovely skin cleanser, this contains perilla seed oil, the same oil in Dr Lens' Shiso capsules. Perilla oil is higher in omegas than fish oil and is a massive anti-inflammatory. The consistency is beautiful, light yet obviously nourishing.

This removes all makeup (obviously I tried it despite preferring it for skin cleansing!) including eye makeup. I didn't test on waterproof, but my advice re waterproof is to always remove with a dedicated eye makeup remover if you can, it's gentler on the eye.

The freshness and ease of use of this has made it a firm favourite with the men in the house - all of whom cleanse in the shower ('wash their face'), none of whom read this blog. :)

What’s not so good about it?

Nothing to be honest. It does exactly what it says on the bottle, my skin likes it.

As always, Zelens is not the cheapest of brands, but you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. :)

Where to use in your routine?

Depending on your preference, either first or second cleanse. My preference is in the morning, because the Zelens scent is perfect for a minty wake-me-up. Nothing floral here.

Similar products?

This is a hybrid between a gel and an oil for me - so nothing quite sits in the same category - but if I had to pick similar..

OSKIA Renaissance Cleansing Gel

NUDE Perfect Cleanse Omega Cleansing Jelly 

Ole Henriksen Pure Truth Melting Cleanser

would be in the ballpark

Brand Website?

www.zelens.com

The website is full of information on both the Doctor, the brand, the products and clinical trials. Whilst it has a beautiful section entitled 'Zelens Garden' which lists all of the botanical ingredients in detail, it only lists the 'active' ingredients and doesn't give a full ingredients list.

Zelens Z Pure Cleansing Liquid Balm is £50.00 for 125ml and available at Spacenk.com and BeautyBay.com - who ship worldwide for free.