Botanicals Mandarin & Chamomile Face Polish

As I hit my teenage years it became clear I had what is known as oily skin. 

Even before I finished primary school I already had black-heads and the odd break-out. Thus, began the teenage search for skin care. At the time I tried what was aimed at teenagers and what the age-appropriate magazines were telling me to buy, plus because my mum was still responsible for my spending it was also largely her decision what products I tried. 

This led to me not using very good skincare products. It was Clean&Clear and Clearsil etc. Stuff I wouldn't even touch these days. As an adult I very much have discovered that natural is better and that even the oiliest of skin needs can still be stripped of natural oils if washed too much. My mum used to buy me scrubs and encourage me to use them daily saying my skin needed it, which is not what I'd recommend. My skincare these days is a lot gentler and works wonders for my skin type. 

I'm still sceptical of scrubs. So when Botanicals got in contact offering me a tub of their Mandarin & Chamomile Facial Polish* I accepted it with a bit of hesitation. It's a company that prides itself on being natural, but the word polish brings up memories of my teenage skincare routine and overdoing it with harsh scrubs (you know that St Ives scrub that gets raved about - I hate it). 

But when I opened up the tub I was pleasantly surprised that the scrub itself is very smooth and has a high cream to exfoliant ratio. The exfoliant of choice is oatmeal, so it's very gentle and won't harm the environment when it goes down the drain either. The smell I would say is a very typical natural skincare smell, which might not be the best description ever - but effectively it smells like a natural health shop and I have loads of products that smell the same. Nothing distasteful, but nothing to rave about either. 

As for the after-effects, this is a great product to use to perk-up skin for a few days but not one to use if you're looking for longer-term improvements. I've been using it weekly, as per instructions, and afterwards my skin is smoother and much softer, but I'm yet to spot any real ongoing changes. It's a great skincare product to use before a night out or an interview to help you look more awake and help your make-up go on a lot smoother. I personally like to use before I head out for a shift at the bar. 

The product also lasts a long time. I only have a 30g tub, but I imagine it'll do me a very long time as so little product is actually needed (especially as it's only a weekly or when needed product). Being a natural product it does come with a sell-by date and my particular tub is October 2017 - which isn't bad for a natural product.

Pros: brightens skin and perks it up
Cons: only offers short terms improvements for the skin
Ingredients: Helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, glycerine, cetyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, sesamum indicum (sesame) seed oil, decyl glucoside, cocos nucifero (coconut) oil, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, rosa canina seed poweder, avena satvia (oat) kernal meal, calendula offcinalis leaf extract, tocopherol, zea mays seed flour, parfum, lavendula angustifolia (lavender) flower oil, anthemis nobilis (chamomile) flower oil, citrus nobilis (mandarin orange) peel oil, geranoil, limonene, linalool.