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January used to be the time for holiday adverts and boy, would I love an exotic at the moment. But with Covid-19, that could be a while and so instead, I’ve been treating my skin to some far-flung fun instead, with Tropic Skincare.
To be honest, I’d never heard of Tropic until I started talking to Michelle Buchan about perimenopausal and menopausal skin. Michelle is an independent ambassador for Tropic Skincare and she is so enthusiastic about it – and looks amazing – that I was intrigued and she kindly sent me some samples.
Now I’ve made my feelings clear about menopause skincare here, but that doesn’t mean I don’t acknowledge that our skin needs some TLC during this time. And I’m only human: I want that magic va-va-voom like the next person.
So would Tropic Skincare give me that?
What is Tropic Skincare?
Tropic Skincare is an award-winning beauty brand with a whole range of products, including make-up, skincare, body care, hair care and baby products.
Perfect for January, it’s all vegan and cruelty-free, using global natural ingredients. There are no paraffin, petrolatum, petro-chemicals, parabens or any other synthetic ingredients – I can never understand why these are in our skincare, anyway. Why would you want to have the inside of an Esso station on your face?
The ingredients are sustainably sourced from around the world, too, using plants from the Amazon rainforest, Polynesia and Australia, among others. They’re then sent to the Tropic Skincare workshop in Surrey to be transformed into their products.
Best of all – every purchase helps United World Schools, which works with communities in some of the world’s most poorest regions to give their children access to an education.
You may recognise Topic Skincare’s founder, too. Susie Ma came third on The Apprentice in 2011 and still got funding from Lord Sugar!
What did I review?
Michelle sent me the Skin Discovery Kit – Nourish, a limited-edition set featuring:
- Smoothing Cleanser complexion purifier – which comes with a bamboo face cloth. This oil-based, creamy formula features jojoba oil, green tea extract and aloe vera juice and has won several awards. It comes in two versions: scented and (you guessed it!) unscented;
- Skin Dream age-defying firming cream concentrate – another award-winning product with plant-ceramide complexes to keep moisture in and free radicals out, a bio-retinol derived from the blackjack flower and bakuchiol, and murumuru butter to give your skin those vital fatty acids;
- Elixir age-defying omega oil – with omega-rich ingredients – rosehip, moringa, jojoba, plum kernel and kiwi seed oils – to nourish and hydrate and vitamin E to stimulate collagen. And yup, it’s another award-winner…
- and Rainforest Dew hydration serum – more awards here for this serum, which contains hyaluronic acid and matcha tea extract to counter any redness.
The blurb promises: “Akin to the most nourishing snacks you’d take on a journey to keep you going strong, the minis in this skincare gift set have been carefully selected to keep skin hydrated, strong and ready to face all of life’s adventures.”
Instructions say to cleanse, then it’s serum, moisturiser and finally the Elixir.
What did I think of Tropic Skincare?
Let’s get the ones I didn’t much care for out of the way, which were the cleanser and the Rainforest Dew hydration serum.
And there’s a big reveal here that will probably get me kicked out of every Facebook beauty group going: but I don’t like cream cleansers. I’ve never gotten away with the Liz Earle one and this one was the same for me. It’s nice and it does the job without leaving your skin feeling dry and taut, but I prefer foamier formulas. I think it’s all those years watching the Camay adverts when I was a little girl.
Nor is it that I didn’t like the Rainforest Dew hydration serum. It said to use 3-6 drops, but I found six was the minimum needed to be able to rub into my skin. I probably used a couple more, to be honest, and at times it felt as if my hands were getting more benefit than my face. But again, this is a personal thing. I find I’m like this with lots of oils and if anyone can tell me what I’m doing wrong, please leave a comment below.
HOWEVER…
Oh my God, I loved the Elixir. It seemed to glide over my face in the way most other oils don’t and left my skin feeling silky and fed. At the risk of mixing all the metaphors, it was like a giant drink of water for my face. It also has the most delicate, delightful scent. I used it night and day and had no trouble applying make-up over the top. I would even say I glowed… There is a reason why it has become a best-seller.
As for the Skin Dream moisturiser – how do people get round to applying it? I spent ages just sniffing it! If you’ve ever tried Gü Free From Chocolate & Vanilla Cheesecake (yummy), then this is the smell. It’s this beautiful, comforting, gentle scent that I swear even helped me sleep easier. I loved it.
The cream itself is indulgent without being too rich and thick. I hate night creams that leave you feeling like you’ve got your mam’s chip-pan contents smothered over your face. Like the scent, it’s extremely gentle and feels light, but it does exactly what it’s supposed to do: nourishes, feeds and moisturises. My other night-time moisturisers since haven’t been able to compare.
But – humble brag warning – the best review I can give about Tropic Skincare isn’t my review. It came on Instagram, when I shared a photo to discuss my frontal fibrosing alopecia and had been using Tropic for a few weeks.
Scroll down through the comments and you’ll see one from Midlife_Misadventures_50 saying: “Before I read the detail I thought you were showing us a new skin product – your skin looks beautiful.”
Need I say more?
You can buy Tropic Skincare via Michelle at www.MichelleBuchan.co.uk or at www.tropicskincare.com.
What did you think? Have you used Tropic Skincare? Let me know in the comments below.
And don’t forget to sign up for my free 20-page guide to menopause and midlife, plus my monthly updates. And if you need help with understanding menopause, why not arrange a one-to-one phone or Zoom call with me to talk it through. Details here.
