Review| Althea's CALMING - Skin Relief Calming Cream

In this review, I will be introducing the product, showing you the key ingredients and features, full ingredients list, how to use it and then finally, giving you my full review on this product.

Althea

Skin Relief Calming Cream

RM44 | 80ml (2.7oz)

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What is this:
A soothing cream that hydrates and repairs damage that is suitable for dry and sensitive skin. It helps to keep irritated and sensitive skin calm and cool by intensively hydrating and deep moisturizing in order to reinforce the skin's barrier with the help of Panthenol and five other soothing ingredients.

Althea's Smart Beauty: COOL & CALM

Althea had released two smart beauty products: Waterful Green Bamboo Pads and Skin Relief Calming Cream. If you'd like to check out the other product review as well, hover over the picture below and click on it to be directed to the page.

Althea Smart Beauty: Reinforcing the skin’s barrier
This product contains Panthenol and a soothing complex made with 5 soothing ingredients (listed in the ingredients list) to strengthen the skin.

Mild / Essential / Calming / Recovery

Antipollution Essentials: Restoration and Calming
The harmful external factors can damage the natural function of the skin's barrier. The aim to create this product is to restore fatigued, irritated skin for a healthy, calm complexion.

Key Features (3)

a. Effective for: Easily irritated skin due to harmful external factors; Dry, sensitive skin; Those looking for a non-sticky, hydrating moisturizer
* Dermatologically tested

b, Product texture: Seawater and chamomile flower water provide the skin with deep hydration and quick soothing care while being absorbed softly without any greasiness or heaviness.

c. Free from: Paraben, Synthetic pigment, Triethanolamine, mineral oil, Benzophenone-3, animal ingredients, Propylene Glycol, ethanol, Talc, Benzoic acid.

Key Ingredients (3)

Aim: Intensively Hydrating and Deeply Moisturizing

A mix of shea butter and hydrogenated lecithin nourish the skin and form a moisture barrier while chamomile water and seawater soothe and improve moisture retention in the skin.

Panthenol: A special substance that changes into vitamin B when absorbed into the skin. It keeps skin hydrated and soothes while strengthening skin barrier's functionality.

Shea Butter: It is rich with skin hydrating properties that nourish skin and forms a protective moisture barrier. It is also known as the “African treasure”

Seawater: Seawater is packed with natural minerals that have anti-ageing properties for a radiant glow

Ingredient List

Water, Glycerin, Methylpropanediol, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, 1,2-hexanediol, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Panthenol, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate Se, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Algae Extract, Eclipta Prostrata Leaf Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Ficus Carica (Fig) Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Ulmus Davidiana Root Extract, Amaranthus Caudatus Seed Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Peel Oil, Sodium Hyaluronate, Litsea Cubeba Fruit Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Butylene Glycol, Carbomer, Tromethamine, Sea Water, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Water, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Allantoin, Fructooligosaccharides, Disodium Edta, Beta-glucan, Myristic Acid, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Ceramide Np, Ethylhexylglycerin, Pentylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol

*Soothing ingredients

How to use

After cleansing and toning the skin, apply an even layer and gently pat in till absorbed. You can use this as a moisturiser itself but I'll still suggest adding another layer of hydrating moisturiser.

Squeeze out a suitable amount for your face and/or other body areas.

Evenly spread out the cream across the area to ensure that it is well distributed. 

You only need a smaller amount of the cream and its easy to spread out without needing to apply more. (Excess of the cream as shown below at the right bottom on the back of my hand.)

It takes a very short while to be absorbed. You can use makeup directly after applying because that's how fast it would be absorbed into the skin. 

Review

This is probably the most surprising product ever. True, it looks simple and the function is simple as well but the most surprising part is when it gets absorbed into the skin so quickly especially when this is cream. The texture is smooth and lightweight with a subtle hint of smell that resembles lemon. The cream itself starts off giving a teeny bit of sticky feeling but after a few 10 seconds, my skin felt like there was nothing there except toner. It has a very minimal tacky feeling but it goes away really quickly. During the time when it feels a little sticky, my skin was not uncomfortable at all. Not to mention that when it is still a little tacky, it might even grasp makeup better but of course, this is not a primer so it will not do as well as a primer.

So far, my eczema skin didn't trigger and my flakes minimized a lot. I still have two patches of eczema skin (uneven texture, red, itchy) on my neck and when I apply this to my neck, it can get a little bit itchy. It's bearable and felt like those itches you get when your wounds (from falling down; remember those when you're younger?) starts to heal and grow skin cells. The skin patches feel softer as compared with before applying but I can't say that those patches are going to calm down as quick as applying steroid cream. However, it is definitely faster than using (essential) skin oil or aloe vera.

On the other hand, I use this on my boyfriend after giving him a good manual pore cleaning/pimple extraction. He has a lot of blackheads and whiteheads hiding inside of his pores so using only chemical exfoliation was not enough. So it was necessary for me to use my fingers and pinch those dirty things out but this creates another issue: his skin would start to turn red, becomes hardened and the pores would enlarge. I usually solve this with Althea's Milk Peel Cream Mask and then end the routine with a cold sheet mask. It works but it didn't work as good as using this along with the Waterful Green Bamboo Pads.

If you'd like to know the routine I have for him, here's what I did:

1. Cleansing with Althea Bare Essentials Contour Cleanser

2. Exfoliating with Onsaemeein Yogurt Peeling 

3. Deep mask & pore cleansing with Innisfree Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask 2x

4. Manual pore cleaning with fingertips and tissue paper

5. Secondary pore cleansing with Althea Milk Peel Cream Mask

6. Cooling down the skin with Althea Waterful Green Bamboo Pads

7. Calming down the skin with Althea Skin Relief Calming Cream (this product)

As usual, every althea product has expiry dates on the product packaging as well as on the product itself. So even if you throw the boxes away, you don't have to worry about whether you remember the expiry date or not.

Rating:

Smell: 👌👌👌👌

Comfort: 🙆🙆🙆🙆

Repurchase: Absolutely Yes.
Reason: I can't think of not living with this product anymore after it was introduced into my life.

That's all for this post!
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