One day I got this ad on Instagram showing this Indian brand Minimalist. I normally skip past those sponsored brand stories but the product caught my eye—a gel cream with ursolic acid. Now if you know me at all you know I love ursolic acid. It’s not very common in skincare but everything I try with it I love.
I started off with two moisturizers. The Ceramides 0.3% + Bisabolol Moisturizer is listed for dry/normal skin to help restore the skin barrier. It’s got iActive Ceramide which is a complex of ceramide EOP, ceramide NS, ceramide NP, ceramide AS, ceramide AP plus cholesterol and saturated fatty acids to help form a barrier and reduce TEWL. It’s also got soothers like oat, bisabolol (from chamomile), allantoin, asiaticoside/madecassic acid/asiatic acid (from centella) and hydrators like betaine, glyceryl glucoside, glycerin, trehalose and saccharide isomerate. They actually didn’t use hyaluronic acid which considering it’s everywhere right now is unique. I like it.
This cream is also stacked with petrolatum and ursolic acid. You know I love petrolatum for adding longevity to a moisturizer. I’ve had a love affair with ursolic acid for years. It’s one of my favorite ingredients. It soothes and has some anti-inflammatory benefits (help prevent development of cyclooxygenase/lipoxygenase—in
The texture is medium. It’s not a night cream for me—day cream for dry skin. It could be a night cream for combo skin. I love the longevity of it for the medium weight texture. I think many will love that it’s not super dewy looking, it doesn’t feel heavy or greasy—it has a more natural finish. The only thing I can see someone complaining about with this cream is that you do have to rub it in a little. You know how some creams get that white look until you rub it in—this has that. It’s not bad, goes away quick. Honestly I could care less especially cause there’s so few petrolatum containing moisturizers on the market.
Ingredients
Aqua, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Glyceryl Glucoside, Ceteareth-20, Butylene Glycol, Bisabolol, Petrolatum, Cetyl Alcohol, Trehalose, Saccharide Isomerate, Betaine, Ursolic Acid, Pentylene Glycol, Allantoin, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract, Cholesterol, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Asiaticoside, Madecassic Acid, Asiatic Acid, Glyceryl Stearate, Sucrose Distearate, Propylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Ceramide NP, Ceramide EOP, Ceramide NS, Ceramide AS, Ceramide AP, Triethanolamine, Arachidyl Alcohol, Behenyl Alcohol, Arachidyl Glucoside, Ethylhexylglycerine, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Carbomer, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate
The Ceramides 0.3% + Madecassoside Moisturizer is listed for oily/combo skin. The texture is a gel cream. It has the same Active Ceramide complex, ursolic acid, oat, glycerin, glyceryl glucoside, glycerin, trehalose and saccharide isomerate for hydrators. This gel cream is more focused on madecassoside versus the other one. The texture isn’t this thickest gel cream ever—but what I love about it is its ability to last on the skin. It doesn’t sink in and disappear quickly like most other gel creams. It has a longevity to it I really enjoy. It feels like it stays on the skin, forms this nice light barrier—not in a heavy occlusive way. It feels like it really helps the barrier. Plus it’s $10 and stacked with things I love for supporting the skin barrier.
It’s easily one of the best affordable products I’ve come across is a while. And I love the pearly tube packaging. I just bought two more tubes. I use the gel cream before moisturizers in my dry Skin sandwich method. It’s not a technical moisturizer for me but it’s great at sealing in the layers below and helping keep my super dry skin happy longer. It helps slow TEWL. Totally impressed for the price on this one and I added it to my gel cream favorites.
Ingredients
Aqua, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glycerin, Glyceryl Glucoside, Butylene Glycol, Trehalose, Saccharide Isomerate, Ursolic Acid, Aminobutyric Acid, Pentylene Glycol, Allantoin, Cholesterol, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Madecassoside, Polyacrylate-13, Polyisobutene, Polysorbate 20, Glyceryl Stearate, Sucrose Distearate, Propylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Ceramide NP, Ceramide EOP, Ceramide NS, Ceramide AS, Ceramide AP, Triethanolamine, Ethylhexylglycerine, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Carbomer, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate
I tried a few more items recently. Multi-Peptides 10% Serum is as you guessed it–a peptide serum for firming and rejuvenation. This has 7% Matrixyl 3000 for wrinkles and elasticity plus 3% Bio-Placenta with five growth factors for rejuvenation and revitalization. The texture is a light gel serum, it’s not heavy or sticky which I love. I used it twice a day until it was empty. I really enjoyed the light texture, I feel it did help with firming and lines to some degree.
Growth factors are great for firming, hydrating and keeping a healthy skin barrier. Matrixyl 3000 is great for lines and firming. For $10 it was absolutely enjoyable because of the nice texture and combination of peptides with synthetic growth factors. It’s a good combo for firming, elasticity and lines. Again for $10 it’s a winner and I added this to my peptide favorites. It’s beat quite a few cheap peptide serums for me because it has both worlds in one (peptides and growth factors).
Ingredients
Aqua, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Acetyl Glutamine, sh-Oligopeptide-1, sh-Oligopeptide-2, sh-Polypeptide-1, sh-Polypeptide-9, sh-Polypeptide-11, Bacillus/Folic Acid Ferment Filtrate Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Lecithin, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, Polysorbate 20, Propanediol, Pullulan, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Xanthan Gum, Sclerotium Gum, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Lactic Acid
The Oat Extract 06% Gentle Cleanser is a gentle, creamy gel cleanser that’s soothing. It has oats, panthenol, bisabolol and glycerin. I find it gentle, it doesn’t foam a lot and isn’t too drying on my super dry skin. It’s more moisturizing than a typical gel cleanser for me. Plus it’s only $9. I love the pump packaging. The pH was right around 5.5-6 for me (I use strips so always up to interpretation). It’s still ultimately a gel cleanser but most definitely one on the least drying side. I’ve been keeping it in the shower.
Ingredients
Aqua, Glycerin, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Lauroyl Oat Amino Acids, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Methyl Gluceth-20, Coco-Glucoside, Phenoxyethanol, Glyceryl Oleate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Panthenol, Bisabolol, Pentylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate
So far I like what I have bought and tried so far from the brand. It’s affordable. Some of it seems very ingredient and percentage focused like The Ordinary and Inkey List, but more recent products to the brand seem to be more complex and well done. I look forward to seeing where they go from here.