Burt's Bees: Radiance Facial Cleanser Review

I took a gamble with this facial cleanser. I hadn't read any reviews beforehand but since I had had only positive experiences with Burt's Bees products, I figured I couldn't get it that wrong with this cleanser.

I'm still faithful to MuLondon's face cleansers and I've been alternating between the MuLondon Organic Fragrance-free Foaming Face Wash and Burt's Bees Radiance Facial Cleanser for the past half a year or so. The former gives instant foam and smells raw and earthy while the latter is slimy lotiony and smells milky-honey. Both are gentle, cleanse well and are not drying. To cut to the chase, I like both.

Here's what Burt's Bees says about its Radiance Facial Cleanser:

• Lightweight lotion cleanser
• Formulated with a plant-based cleansing complex to remove dirt, oil and make-up
• Exfoliates to help encourage skin cell turnover with Jojoba Beads and fruit acids

The cleanser is housed in an opaque plastic bottle (which I believe is made from 80% post-consumer recycled materials) and it has a lockable pump. For one cleansing session, you just need one quick, shallow pump to dispense a blop smaller than any typical five cent coin. That's all. When I used this cleanser for the first time, I did four (!!!) pumps. That was way, way too much. Trust me, just one shallow pump each time and this 175ml bottle will last a long time.

As mentioned earlier, it has a slimy texture. The Jojoba Beads are not that detectable as they tend to melt off quickly. It lathers okay and it rinses off fine. The face feels very clean and fresh after a wash but I wouldn't use just this cleanser to remove eye makeup. I prefer to precede that with an eye makeup remover.

I believe some ladies feel it does bring radiance to their skin. I'm on the fence about its exfolating qualities but that's okay. If it contains good ingredients (yay for royal jelly!), cleanses well, doesn't strip my skin of all its oils and doesn't break me out, I'm a happy camper already!

It's a thumbs up but that's not all I want to say though.

Firstly, the bottle packaging. Although there has been a minor change in the look of the bottle (according to the website), I don't see major changes in the list of ingredients. All the core ingredients are still present.

List of ingredients:
Water, decyl glucoside, safflower oleosomes, sodium cocoyl hydrolyzed soy protein, glycerin, royal jelly, jojoba oil, hydrogenated jojoba oil, bilberry fruit extract, sugar cane extract, sugar maple extract, orange fruit extract, lemon fruit extract, fragrance, glucose, xanthan gum, citric acid, sodium chloride, lactoperoxidase, glucose oxidase

Burt's Bees says that this product is 99% natural.

Secondly, its interesting similarity to one of Burt's Bees body care products. When I first started using the Radiance Facial Cleanser, I was surprised by how it reminded me of the Burt's Bees Radiance Exfoliating Body Wash - same colour, similar texture, similar scent and both have what Burt's Bees calls Jojoba Beads suspended in the liquid.

Of course, I had to take another look at the list of ingredients and I compared it with that of the Body Wash. Similar! All the star ingredients are there - safflower oleosomes, royal jelly, jojoba oil, hydrogenated jojoba oil, bilberry fruit extract, sugar cane extract, sugar maple extract, orange fruit extract, lemon fruit extract - listed in pretty much the same order.

At that time, I still had some of the body wash left and decided to try washing my face with that for a few days. Yup, the Exfoliating Body Wash works fine for the face too but I thought a couple of its Jojoba Beads were less subtle during lathering between the palms.

I wasn't in the laboratory when they formulated these two products, so I won't claim that the Body Wash is exactly the same as the Facial Cleanser. Burt's Bees may or may not have tweaked the basic formula here and there so that one is more suited for use on the body and the other on the face. I can only say that they are very similar and I just thought you should know.

The Radiance Exfoliating Body Wash costs USD8.00 / £9.99 for 350ml while the Radiance Facial Cleanser costs USD10 / £9.99 for 175ml. You can do the math. Over here, the facial cleanser is going for around €15-€16, depending on which store you get it from.


Burt's Bees website

Burt's Bees: Coconut Foot Crème Review

I like Burt's Bees. I haven't been terribly disappointed with any of the Burt's Bees products I've tried.......so far, anyway.

Burt's Bees has done it again with today's featured product. There are some aspects about it that irk me but overall, the brand has come up with a good rescue product.

About the Burt's Bees Coconut Foot Crème (excerpts):

This pampering natural foot cream combines coconut oil, lanolin and vegetable glycerin to revive and rejuvenate even the driest, most neglected feet. There's also a hint of rosemary and peppermint oils to refresh tired feet.

Ingredients
Glycerin, olive fruit oil, oat kernel flour, lanolin, fragrance, coconut oil, quillaja bark extract, oat kernel oil, tocopherol, rosemary leaf extract, soybean oil, canola oil, butylphenyl methylpropional, coumarin, limonene, linalool.

It says on my tube that it's 99.51% natural.

Consistency
One thing you must know is that the foot cream is jelly-like, very thick and sits heavy on the skin. Its oily, slightly-sticky and highly-viscous consistency is what I dislike but then again, this very consistency is one of the things that makes this product a star.

Scent
It smells very strongly of coconut oil but not as scrumptious as the hunger-inducing, fragrant smell of pure coconut oil. That's because it's been 'laced' with rosemary and peppermint. I get the sense that many ladies love the smell of this foot cream. Personally, I find the perky freshness of peppermint juxtaposed against the heavy, cookie-smelling coconut oil rather, uhm, weird. But don't mind me.......

Application
You need patience when working with this foot cream. Because of its thick consistency, it does take a while to work the cream on the feet. Wait a couple of minutes and then, put on socks. You definitely need socks not just to lock in the moisture but also to avoid getting greasy stains on your floor or your bedsheets.

Burt's Bees also suggests this: For a luxurious way to treat your feet, soak feet in warm water for 10-15 minutes and rub gently with a pumice stone. Massage Coconut Foot Crème into feet, paying close attention to heels and calloused skin. Then cover your feet with cotton socks overnight.....

When to use
I prefer to use it at bedtime. In colder seasons, it's nice to have the feet kept warm and cosy with this thick foot cream plus socks. On warm summer nights, it's not so pleasant with the socks and all.

I believe some ladies also apply a thin layer of the cream on the feet before putting on socks and sneakers and then going off with their day's activities.

Efficacy
After leaving my feet to 'marinate' overnight, I would wake up to still-fragrant, softer feet. The Burt's Bees Coconut Foot Crème is certainly capable of rescuing dry, calloused feet or cracked heels. You'll notice some improvement already after just one night but you'll need to follow that up with diligent application for your feet to fully heal.

Sometimes, I use it on my hands as well, especially when I feel they need a quick overnight fix. Yes, wear gloves if you're going to sleep with this. I use my pair of Essence Nail & Hand Care Gloves.

I can't vouch for this myself but I thought I'd add this one other use that I've read about: Some ladies say it's good for preventing stretch marks during pregnancy.

Caution
When you remove your socks in the morning, there will be some residue left on your feet. It's quite hard to describe it: the feet feel kinda dry, kinda tacky, kinda waxy, kinda greasy. Just be careful if you're stepping out of the bed barefoot.You wouldn't want to leave waxy foot marks on bare flooring.

Price
USD9.00 / £12.99 / €14.95 for 120g / 4.25oz.

Here in the Netherlands, I haven't seen many stores carrying this. You can find it in places like Sephora and Biocosmetica. Over at Zalando, I see a mini version of it as part of a kit.

This tube should last quite a while. I've been using mine once-twice a week for half a year and I've still a long way to go to finishing it.

Last Words
A robust foot cream, this is. No regrets getting this.


Burt's Bees website

Burt's Bees: Radiance Exfoliating Body Wash Review

Despite having used many products from the brand, this Burt's Bees Radiance Exfoliating Body Wash is actually the first bodycare product that I've tried from them.

Burt's Bees says (excerpts):

Wash away dull, reveal radiance.

• Nourishes with Royal Jelly
• Exfoliates with Jojoba Beads and Fruit Acid
• Moisturizes with Safflower Seed Oleosomes

99.2% natural

The Ingredients
Water, decyl glucoside, safflower oleosomes, sodium cocoyl hydrolyzed soy protein, glycerine, royal jelly, jojoba oil, hydrogenated jojoba oil, bilberry fruit extract, sugar cane extract, sugar maple extract, orange fruit extract, lemon fruit extract, fragrance, glucose, xanthan gum, citric acid, sodium chloride, lactoperoxidase, glucose oxidase, butylphenyl methylpropional, hexyl cinnamic aldehyde, hydroxycitronellal, linalool

The Texture
The light yellow-coloured milky liquid has a runny, slightly slimy consistency. As you can see in the images below, it has sparse tiny beads which are the jojoba beads that Burt's Bees is referring to.

The Scent
I love the scent. I would interpret it as a pleasant, milky-honey, salon-like smell.

The Lowdown
If you're used to most commercial sulfate-containing body washes, you would be disappointed by how little suds this one produces. It doesn't lather much but despite that, I find it easy enough to 'lather' the whole body due to its runny, rather slimy consistency. Some people would reach for the bottle several times in an attempt to get more lather. I've gotten used to this (lack of lather) and have managed to limit myself to two (sometimes three) small 'pourings' per shower.

The body wash doesn't come in a very large bottle (but they should, really). Priced at USD8.00 / £9.99 / €12.95 - €14.95 (I've seen various prices here in the Netherlands), it contains only 350ml and given the temptation to reach for the bottle more than once per shower, one can get through the bottle very quickly. Thus, it's not a cheap body wash. I'm quite all right with that as I use this body wash only twice a week.

Okay, the name is Radiance Exfoliating Body Wash. The so-called jojoba beads provide hardly any exfoliation. They are too few and they melt quickly during lathering. So, that's mechanical exfoliation out the window. They are just a gimmick, really. You'd be better off using a shower pouf, wash cloth or a loofah (also helps with the sudsing).

That leaves us with chemical exfoliation with the fruit acids - bilberry, sugar cane, sugar maple, sweet orange and lemon. The naturally-occurring alpha hydroxy acids are meant to encourage cell renewal. The thing is, I haven't noticed any difference in my skin after each wash (not that I had any high expectations anyway). Sure, the skin feels clean but I wouldn't say that it was glowing. If there was exfoliation, it must have been very mild/subtle.

Unless you over-rinse, the body wash does leave an unobtrusive film on the body. The skin feels mildly moisturised and one does walk out of the bathroom smelling really nice (the bathroom too). The scent lingers on the skin for a while or until one applies a scented body moisturiser.

Bottomline, don't expect too much from this Radiance Exfoliating Body Wash. I like it for its scent and its mildness. I might consider buying it again if there's a really good offer on. I mean, seriously, have you noticed how much more expensive it is for us here in Europe than in the US?!? It's ridiculous!


Further reading:
You could say I'm quite a fan of Burt's Bees' products. I use its lipbalms (amongst many other brands) and its hand salve/cream. I buy repeats of the Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Crème and I love love love the Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer.

Burt's Bees website

Burt's Bees: Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream Review

This little tin of cuticle cream has received many rave reviews. I'd just like to give my two cents' worth on it as I've been using it fairly regularly for the past eight months. I'm now on to my second tin.

I received my first one, a travel-size tin (0.30oz / 8.5g) in a swap with my dear friend, Danielle, last year when Burt's Bees hadn't made its debut in the Netherlands yet (a limited selection of its products are now available).

According to Burt's Bees
Give your needy nails a helping hand. Nourish and moisturise nails and cuticles with this intensive, natural treatment. A touch of lemon oil makes your nails smell incredibly clean, and healthy, naturally.

Gently massage crème into cuticles after washing hands and as needed.

Ingredients
Sweet almond oil, Beeswax, Lemon peel oil, Cocoa seed butter, Candelilla wax, Beta-carotene, Rosemary leaf extract, Tocopherol, Sunflower seed oil, Soybean oil, Canola oil, vegetable oil.

My Thoughts
First of all, you can't miss the waxes in the ingredients list, so essentially, the Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream is a balm.

It smells strongly of lemon/lemon peel - sweet and citrusy. It's hard to dislike the scent, really.

The balm is on the 'drier' side (less oily) and the consistency is harder (more solid) than say, the softer Burt's Bees Hand Salve (reviewed here).

Instead of rubbing a finger on the surface to get to the balm, I tend to extract the balm with the back/top of my (clean) fingernail. In other words, I scrape the balm backwards with my fingernail. That way, I start off having the balm on one nail, dot each nail/cuticle of one hand with a bit of the balm and then, rub in with the nails/cuticles/minor knuckles of the other hand.

I concentrate only on the nails and cuticles and don't tend to use the balm on the palm-side of the fingers. For each use, I need only about half a pea-size amount.

Give it some 10 minutes. The oils will sink into the skin around the nails but you will still be left with tacky skin and nails. That's from the waxes.

It's great for use after removing polish from the nails as that's when the nails are driest. After using an acetone-free nail polish remover, I would give my hands a quick wash with soap and water, and then proceed to apply this Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream / balm. I would leave it on for several hours and let the oils re-nourish my dry nails and cuticles.

As you know, lemon oil is especially great to keep nails healthy. The balm also works well to soften hardened skin around the nails (speaking from experience). I would call it a rescue balm for troubled cuticles. If used regularly, it would keep nails and cuticles in good condition.

I'll have to agree with the general consensus. Highly recommended!

Note: For my nails and cuticles, I don't use this Cuticle Cream exclusively, as I rotate it with the Burt's Bees Hand Salve and any of the MuLondon organic moisturisers that I happen to have in my stash.


The regular-size tin (0.60oz / 17g) goes for around USD6.00. I've seen various prices here in the Netherlands. The Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream is also available in a Tin Trio, packed with a lipbalm and a hand cream. I've seen this trio going for between around €13 and €15. In the Netherlands, a limited selection of Burt's Bees products are available at, inter alia, Sephora, De Tuinen and one or two Etos stores.


Further reading:
My review of the Burt's Bees Hand Salve
Burt's Bees website

Burt's Bees: Hand Salve Review

Do you know Tiger Balm, the balm trusted for generations, especially in Asia, for use against muscle-aches and mosquito bites? Well, this Hand Salve from Burt's Bees reminds me of Tiger Balm. Different ingredients, of course, but almost the same kind of texture and menthol/minty scent.

Burt's Bees' Hand Salve contains eucalyptus oil, so I think that would put some people off already from the very first sniff. However, if you are one who does not dislike that smell, you might want to read on.

According to Burt's Bees
Need some salvation for rough, dry hands? Our most intensive hand treatment, this formula is packed with botanical oils, herbs and beeswax to moisturise hard-working, rough, dry hands. It's an everyday miracle.

Ingredients
Sweet almond oil, Olive fruit oil, Beeswax, Sunflower seed oil, Lavandin oil, Rosemary leaf oil, Eucalyptus globulus oil, Lavender flower oil, Tocopherol, Rosemary leaf extract, Soybean oil, Canola oil, Linalool, Limonene

My Thoughts
It comes packaged in a practical wide tin, very big, in my opinion. I don't know if it was a fluke, but the tin that I have does not shut properly - the cover is loose and it slips off too easily.

The 85g of balm will last you many months. I've been using the salve once a day almost everyday for around four months and I haven't gotten through half of it. Price: €10.95.

As you can see from the list of ingredients, it does contain essential oils, so some oils will get absorbed into the skin. However, it is basically a balm based on beeswax. Expect it to sit pretty and oily/waxy/sticky on your skin for hours. I use it only when I know I won't be doing any chores or washing my hands much for a few hours.

Forget the scents of the other oils in the salve, the scent of eucalyptus oil is dominant in all the time the salve is on the skin. I don't mind the smell of eucalyptus oil, so it doesn't bother me at all.

This amount (two pea-size) here would be more than enough for both hands.

Is the Hand Salve any good? Well, I like it a lot for its three-prong action:

• Aromatherapy
That's obviously from the overpowering smell of eucalyptus oil. It perks me up.

• Moisturiser
The botanical oils are absorbed into the skin, leaving the skin nourished. I sometimes use it on my elbows and knees too. It's also great on nails and cuticles, especially after using nail polish remover.

• Protection
The layer of beeswax sits on the skin, protecting the skin from the elements. A thick layer of salve will of course feel very heavy on the skin, so apply a thin layer to keep the beeswax light.

The first and the third reasons why I like this Hand Salve may be the very reasons why some of you may not like it. To each his own. To me, this Hand Salve is great stuff!

There are presently many Burt's Bees retail points in the Netherlands, eg: Sephora and De Tuinen stores. I bought mine in Sephora.


More information:
My short write-up on the history of Burt's Bees
Burt's Bees website

Burt's Bees: Lip Shimmer Review

I've been reading up on Burt's Bees' history. As with many other brands that have seen mega-success, Burt's Bees' story is an interesting one.

It is basically an inspiring rags-to-riches kind of tale. The gist:

Its founders, Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby met in 1984 in Maine, US. Mr Shavitz was a beekeeper who sold honey out of the back of his truck. He had a lot of leftover beeswax and it was Ms Quimby who started putting it to good use by making candles and selling them at local fairs. It proved to be a profitable business and other products like furniture polish were introduced in subsequent years, using the time-tested recipes which Ms Quimby found in a old farmer's manual.

The brand's star product (even to this day), the beeswax lipbalm, was introduced back in 1991. Burt's Bees grew from strength to strength with an ever-expanding range of personal care products made with natural ingredients. Mr Shavitz retired from the business in the late 1990s (but his face still adorns many of Burt's Bees products). Ms Quimby stayed on till about four years ago, walking out with a multi-million dollar payout. Clorox owns Burt's Bees now. Isn't it ironic?

Anyway, the product in question: Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer. I wish I had discovered this much earlier, but then again, Burt's Bees products weren't available here in the Netherlands till about a year or so ago. If you're too lazy to read further, then just read this: I love this Lip Shimmer!

Price: €7.99 for 2.5g, housed in a slim tube of about 3" long.

According to Burt's Bees
A kiss of color and pearlized shine add a hint of glamour to our world famous lip balm. Condition, smooth & highlight your lips with our wonderful selection of twelve shimmering shades. Luminescent earth pigments add a hint of color to our natural beeswax lip balm to give your lips the lift they need.

Ingredients
Please click to enlarge.

My Thoughts
The one that I bought is in the shade Fig.

Application
It's so smooth that it just glides on the lips. You are left with a cool, minty feeling that lasts just under an hour. You have to love minty stuff to love this.

As this is basically a lipbalm, I only twist it up a bit at a time. I always have this fear that the twist mechanism would fail on me (that's happened before) and I'd be stuck with a protruding colour stick that can't be closed properly. The downside to twisting it so little each time is that the casing gets the lip colour too during application (image right). I always clean it up before putting the cap back on.

Colour
It's not a sheer. On the contrary! It's pigment-rich, so it is quite like a lipstick. Fig looks like a dark brownish red in the tube but it's a lovely sweet coral red that really shows on the lips.

It's not called 'Shimmer' for nothing. Just have a look at the swatch on the right and at my lips (lip photo below taken in strong sunshine).

Moisturising factor
It's a beeswax lipbalm, so it's really as good as its normal lipbalm (if not better), but with colour. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it leaves my lips feeling so soft and moisturised. The effect can be felt almost immediately after application. I quite literally fell in love with this Lip Shimmer from the first application.

Durability
Yes, there is the usual colour transfer when drinking. In general, the colour does fade after two to three hours but the moisturising effect lasts a couple of hours more. Re-application is entirely up to you. I usually don't need to re-apply in that time unless I've eaten something.

Some Gripes
Those of you in the US have access to all the twelve colours that the Lip Shimmers are available in. Not fair! Over here in the Netherlands, they sell only about six or seven shades.

We pay €7.99 per piece. Also not fair! How is that calculated when in the US, the price is only USD5.00?!

Last Words
Yes, I may have two gripes but this is a super duper fantastic lipbalm-cum-lipstick, in other words, a very convenient moisturising lip colour. I totally give it two thumbs up. Of all the lipbalms that I've tried, coloured or not, I would put this Lip Shimmer in my Top Three.

In the Netherlands, a limited selection of Burt's Bees products is available in De Tuinen and Sephora, amongst others.


More information:
Burt's Bees website
Burt's Bees' origins according to co-founder, Roxanne Quimby
A short video that also features the Mr Burt Shavitz