I decided to try out some Andrea Garland products after reading an article about her unique, natural skincare line. What is the appeal you may ask? Well, Andrea has a very unique take on skincare and aromatherapy, she has combined her love of vintage packaging and design with skincare to create what can only be described as a very eclectic, interesting beauty brand. Andrea began her skincare career on a market stall in East London and now stocks her products in the likes of the Conran store.
I tried three of Andrea's products; Lemon Balm Body Gloss, Rose and Hazelnut Day Cream and a Liberty Print Pill Box Lipbalm. There were some surprising results.
Lemon Balm Body Gloss 100ml £24
I think the first thing that strikes you about this body gloss other than the lovely packaging is the scent, it smells very strongly of lemon balm. I really like the smell but for some people I think it may be a bit too overpowering (so check you like the smell of lemon balm before you buy!). I found the gloss very nourishing but light and silky at the same time, it is a lovely consistency. This body gloss uses a variety of oils such as Avocado to help soothe irritated skin, Camellia to add a vibrancy to dull and lifeless skin and Coconut, Crambe and Broccoli Seed to help boost the radiance of the skin. I can imagine this would be the perfect product to take on holiday and would be lovely to apply before an evening out in the summer as it adds a beautiful sheen to the skin, however this sheen only lasted about 30mins before it soaked in, leaving the skin feeling soft, moisturized and smelling of lemon balm and summertime.
The ingredients in this product are all natural, unlike the below product.
I have to say I really love Andrea Garland's unique quirky packaging and personally it was the best thing about this product. I'm afraid I really wasn't a fan of this day cream. The scent again was too overpowering and sickly sweet. I know this products uses benzoin, vanilla and rose, I think the combination is a bit of a overload of sweet scents. I only used this for about three days because I really didn't like the smell and I didn't see it having a positive effect on my skin. It's very light and watery but leaves a greasy film over the skin, I think it was too rich for my skin (even though I have dry/sensitive skin) I ended up getting a couple of pimples.
Unlike the body balm this product seems to be less natural containing the preservative Phenoxyethanol (which can cause skin irritation and according to the FDA can depress the central nervous system). I also discovered the list of ingredients of the jar was different to the list of ingredients on the website which is very misleading for the consumer. All in all I felt this was a real shame because I was hoping this brand would have avoided using such ingredients, especially as Andrea is an Aromatherapist and I presume understands about the health implications of this toxic ingredients. A bit of a let down I'm afraid.
Other than the very cute Liberty print pill box tin, I was underwhelmed by this product. The lipbalm is 100% natural using sweet almond oil, shea butter, beeswax and rasberry seed oil (thumbs up). It was though very, very hard and was quite a job to scoop any on to my finger to apply to my lips. When I did manage to apply some it soon softened and was quite moisturizing. I liked the packaging and the little mirror, it's a sweet touch but I felt this product was worth about £10 max and I felt £18 for a little tin of lipbalm is very expensive.
The Verdict
Personally, I feel it is the quirky, beautiful packaging that has set Andrea Garland apart from other natural brands. It was a shame to discover not all of her products are as natural as I hoped. I think the unique packaging such as the replica vintage pill boxes, trinkets and rings make the products a very unique gift but I'm afraid this brand is just not for me.
