Ew! Ew! Icky! (Origins Pure Cream)

Member Name: carly_pussycat

Product:	Origins Pure Cream
Date:	31/10/07 (130 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice packaging, nice scent, not drying

Disadvantages: Gave me really big spots, felt like it didn't wash off easily

Like all other Origins products their cream cleanser, called Pure Cream, is packaged really nicely. Slightly unusually for a bathroom product it comes in a heavy glass jar which some people might not like due to the whole glass in the bathroom thing, but I like it and I think it'd survive a fall onto our floor anyway because it's not made from hard tiles and the container is thick and sturdy.

Cream cleansers may not be something that everyone is familiar with but they are basically exactly what the name implies - creams which cleanse. It sounds like a bizarre concept at first because most people are used to foamy soapy things for cleaning their skin, but having tried (and loved!) a free La Prairie sample of their cream cleanser I was keen to hunt down a cheaper alternative. As I'd put this on my list of suggestions I was kindly treated to it by my boyfriend's mum for Christmas.
You can use of one of two ways - cleansing then tissuing off, or cleansing then rinsing off. I normally just rinse my foaming cleanser off so I thought I'd try that first. The lid of the container comes off easily but is slightly tricky to replace if you have the cleanser in your hand because you keep getting the screw wrong - not a major complaint though. You can apply this to wet or dry skin, and I don't find it really matters so I normally just apply it on dry. You scoop a bit of the cream out, spread it over your face and get massaging. The first thing I noticed was that it was significantly slimier and greasier feeling than the La Prairie one I'd tried. It wasn't as creamy and was just very slippery to massage around my face, but nevertheless I managed it. I didn't put it near my eyes because I wouldn't want a cream cleanser to go in my eye at all, so I just stuck to the other areas. It smelt pleasant with a slightly minty aroma which cooled my face a little as I massaged. The problem came when I began to rinse it. It felt like I was rinsing the majority of the cream off but the oily feeling remained and there was still a layer of gunk left on my face. Deterred by this I thought perhaps it was more designed for use with cotton wool. Trying this I had a mildly better result but I could still sense the layer of oil there so I always felt a compulsion to rinse it again with another cleanser (defeats the purpose of using this?)

I am sorry to say this about an Origins product as I have been impressed with most of their products that I've tried…but the nightmare didn't end there either. I have found that if I use this it gives me big spots like I never normally get - not spots that will pop but painful bumps that stay for days on end and then just go down flat again. Perhaps it's a personal reaction to this product but i have tried it on several occasions and always had the same result.
Origins website says that this product is best for dry skin and mine is basically normal all over, not dry/greasy/combination. Perhaps you won't get this problem if you never get blocked pores, but I find that some oil based products create this problem with my skin and this is obviously one of them.

Priced at £15 per 200ml jar this would be quite reasonable if it worked well for me because it will last a while, but sadly I hate it!

The hunt continues!

Summary: This was a product I'd had high hopes for but sadly it didn't agree with me at all