Finding the right skin care routine is a lot like dating. You are trying to meet a certain number of criteria but are hopefully willing to compromise because, after all, there is no such thing as a perfect match, right? This is precisely the reason I never explored natural, cruelty-free skincare.
My skin is acne prone AND aging. Therefor I have always turned my nose up at the words “gentle” and “organic” among others. How could they possibly cut the mustard when it comes to my facial needs?
I was apprehensive to try Luminance Skincare for these very reasons. However, I know I have a lot of vegan followers and I wanted to discover a product they could potentially love. So I set my Clinique acne system aside and crossed my fingers.
And holy crap.
After one week of using the cleanser, which is vegan yet smelled like fresh farm milk, I was shocked to find no negative change in my skin. It is so extremely gentle. I’m used to scrubbing the everloving crap out of my face and this cleanser only requires three measly squirts and a single splash of water to rinse off. I even went through an entire menstrual period without a breakout using this stuff! So maybe vegan skin care would work for me after all.
After cleansing, I used the rosewater toner, which I also honestly initially thought was a lot of hooey. Sure, it was refreshing and smelled amazing but what could rosewater possibly do for my skin? Turns out rosewater is a tried and true remedy for redness. While I don’t suffer from a lot of redness, my skin tone did seem slightly more balanced. It also could have been from no longer using harsh exfoliants though.
I then applied my favorite product of all–the acne serum. A dime-size amount on my still-damp-from-rosewater face does the trick. It is very light and absorbs quickly.
Luminance also gave me a daily moisturizer, but because it didn’t have SPF and that’s a must for me, I wore it only at night and loved it. When I told the company that the only products I continued to use were my Neutrogena SPF moisturizer and under eye cream, they said they could help with that too!
Their organic eye cream has a wonderful consistency that reduced the appearance of my crow’s feet just as well as my Neutrogena cream. It does have a strong smell of chamomile but it doesn’t linger. For SPF protection, I tried their organic sunscreen which is made with cold-pressed raspberry seed oil, which does not have an official SPF rating but is proven to block 98% of UVA and UVB rays. Just one small pump is all that is needed. I was a little afraid to put oil on my acne-prone skin but so far, zero breakouts!
Now it’s time for a breakdown:
Pros
- Effectiveness – My skin looks and feels amazing. No breakouts in almost three weeks!
- Ethical – Vegan and cruelty free
- Natural – Gentle, organic ingredients. Nothing complicated on these labels.
Cons
- Price – While the Luminance products are bigger in size than my Clinique/Neutrogena system, I still think the latter is more cost effective.
- Glass bottles – Only because I’m a klutz.
- Scents – These are natural products so you may not be used to the smells. However, they are mild and do not linger.
Interested in trying Luminance for yourself? It’s perfect timing because the company is running a giveaway now through November 9 where five lucky winners will get FREE SKIN CARE FOR A YEAR. All you have to do is click the link and subscribe to their newsletter. And if you’re particularly antsy to try them, they will send you a free sample kit when you use code NONTOXIC at checkout. Just pay shipping and it’s yours.