Way back at the end of January I was lucky enough to win a prize draw run by Lisa of LJ Naturals. Lisa makes handmade, organic beauty products and the draw (run on her Facebook page) was to win this lovely lot of goodies:
OMG Serum plus mini products
The prize comprised of mini Organic Deep Cleansing Balm, mini Organic Moisturiser, mini Organic Scratchy Balm and the star of the show (for me), a full sized (30ml) OMG (Organic Miracle Goddess) Serum.
Now, a bit of background. During my teens and twenties, I suffered (first world problems!) from fairly oily skin. Spots were common, and the battle against ‘shine’ was constant. During that period of my life I would have recoiled in horror at the thought of putting oil of any type on my face, but at some point during my thirties that’s exactly what I did. I was persuaded to try an expensive, fancy facial oil by a very convincing sales assistant in some smart department store. I kinda liked it. I was surprised by how good it felt on my skin (which by this point had edged towards the middle of the skin spectrum, and was probably kind of ‘normal’). But for some reason I never finished that bottle. Guess I didn’t like it that much eh?
These days I think I’m reaping the benefits of that oily skin early on as I have relatively few wrinkles for my age (though looking at my mum, genetics have played a part in that too). But, now that I’m in my mid *cough cough* forties, I definitely feel that my skin needs a little extra help. I’ve used the same popular, mass produced day moisturiser for a few years, but rarely get around to using any night time products as, to be honest, I don’t really have a night time routine other than a quick wipe over with one of those cheap facial cleansing wipe type things <Blush> (To be honest, my regular morning routine isn’t generally any better – I use a facial wash in the shower, then apply, without fail, a slather of moisturiser).
All this preamble is my way of saying that until recently I didn’t really ‘do’ skincare products, and was unconvinced as to their efficacy. Well that sure has changed. And what was it that changed my mind I hear you ask? If you guessed it was one of Lisa’s products, you’d be right. I have fallen utterly and totally in love with her OMG Serum.
OMG Serum is made from a careful blend of 7 natural oils and butters, and fragranced with nothing more than pure essential oils. That’s it. It’s 100% natural and 99% organic. It’s supplied in an airless pump, which makes dispensing completely mess / spill free, and removes the need for an added preservative (as bacteria cannot transfer from hands to the product).
When I first started using the serum, about 6 weeks ago, I used one single pump worth, once a day. It (unsurprisingly!) has an oily texture as it goes on, gliding silkily over, and into, the skin. For that reason, in the early days, I tended to avoid using it in the morning as I wasn’t too sure how my tinted BB cream (I don’t use foundation) would fare on top of it. However, a couple of weeks in, I realised that the serum was absoutely not sitting on the surface of the skin. It was being completely absorbed, leaving no trace of ‘shine’ on my face. This was a revelation. I tried applying my BB cream about 10/15 mins after applying the serum. Still no shine. Happy days! Since then I’ve been using it after my shower/facial wash routine every morning.
I cannot overstate how good my skin feels these days. It’s perfectly moisturised all day (I don’t use the mass produced moisturiser any more) and looks healthier, plumper, softer, more elastic. This morning, I applied the serum (two pumps a time these days folks, just because…), waited 15 mins, brushed on the teeniest bit of transluscent powder, and off I went. That’s how good my skin is these days.
Let’s talk hard figures. OMG Serum retails on Lisa’s website for £17.95 for 30ml, and should be used within 6 months of opening. I reckon I’ve used about 1/8 of it so far, but of course I’m using much more of it now than I was in the beginning, so I reckon there may well be about 6 months worth in there. If there’s less, it won’t be much less, and if there’s more, well I’ve never worried TOO much about use by dates, so if it lasts me 7-8 months, I won’t worry too much about it. So assuming one uses approximately two 30ml containers a year, that’s £35.90 a year for the most amazing results – an absolute snip! (And I just checked – that fancy pants facial oil that I tried years back? Retails for £33 for 30ml today, and it’s nowhere near as good, take my word).
For those cynics out there (I know you’re there, I’m one myself :-D) please be aware that although I didn’t pay for this product, I won it fair and square in a prize draw (check out the post on the 31st Jan on her FB page) and at no point has Lisa asked for my opinion on it, or asked me write a review. I’m simply a total convert, and will be buying more when the time comes.
If you’d like to know more about the OMG Serum you’ll find it here on the LJ Natural website.
You can follow LJ Naturals on Twitter and Instagram.
Thank you Lisa for an amazing prize! Oh, and I nearly forgot, the mini samples were fab too, but as you already know, I’m a bit crap with the whole cleanser / toner routine <blush again>.
Maybe that should be one of April’s goals.
The Soap Mine 