Hi Everyone~~~ HAPPY 2021~!!! Can you believe we are already 4 months into the new year? 2020 has been quite a wild ride for everyone around the world. I hope everyone is doing well and good things coming for everyone in 2021. 😊😊
I was going to blog more often last year but I was surprised to see my last post was more than 9 months ago. Which is crazy. But understandable. I started a new job in May 2020 that was a LOT more taxing than I expected. I just haven't been in the mood to blog, and the pandemic just made me lose interest in really doing skincare on a regular basis. (Thankfully I left that job a month ago and has been feeling much better. Seriously though, I have definitely learned a big lesson with that job. It's that a toxic work environment is not worth risking your mental and physical health for. You are replaceable to the company, but irreplaceable to yourself. So if the conditions permits, then go and find a new job and LEAVE!!)
As always, even though this was provided to me complimentary in exchange for my opinion, I am going to share my honest opinion on the cream. 😊
Let's move on to the review~~
COMPANY BACKGROUND
I am not 100% sure when Belif started, but I know the kbeauty world has been talking about Belif when they just have the two Bomb creams years ago.
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| Source: https://ca.naturecollection.com/en/belif.html |
The brand's story is that the brand philosophy is combining the herbal apothecary and the latest Korean technology to produce quality products. The herbal apothecary is based on the herbalist Duncan Napier, founder of Napiers herbal clinic in Edinburgh, Scotland. The belief is that using quality herbals, extracted with the latest Korean technology will allow for a natural product that delivers high performance. They even apparently use original formulas from Napiers in their products.
Below is a quick video from Belif USA about the brand story of Belif. You can also find a quick story about Belif here.
The brand has four core values: True Ingredients, True Formulas, True Honesty, and True Benefits. It is discussed in the video above, and the page I linked above. It essentially is about using the natural and pure apothecary herbs to produce quality products and placing the focus on the ingredients and formulation instead of packaging or advertising.
I have to say they have been pretty true to those core values since I known of the brand. I want to say I known the brand since 2015 but I feel like it's been much earlier than that. They have been always had this apothecary design and focusing on the efficacy and quality of the ingredients.
Once the brand has been brought over to Sephora in the Western market a few years ago, I think there has been some confusion over whether this is a European brand, given its relations to Napiers. With my understanding, I believe it is a Korean brand who uses the herbal formulas from Napiers. In fact, I tried to look for the brand on Napiers website. Whilst I can find the Aqua Bomb page, I couldn't find anything else from the brand. I think there may have been some association between the two brands at one time but now it's just a page on the Napiers website.
That aside, I do believe that Belif has always been a brand focused on quality ingredients and formulation since the beginning.
FUNCTION
The Moisturizing Bomb is the heavier one of the True Bombs from Belif. It is designed for normal and dry skin, and designed to deliver up to 26 hours of intense soothing moisturization to the skin. It is a thicker, cushiony cream in comparison to the Aqua Bomb. It is supposed to provide deep nourishment without creating stickiness on the skin.
PACKAGING
One of Belif's core values is True Honesty, which is their belief in prioritizing quality ingredients and formulas before packaging. They want to showcase what's inside instead of a flash outside.
So it comes as no surprise that the cream comes in a simple paper box, and in a plain white jar with a black lid. The container is marked with black and blue lettering.
To be honest, the packaging haven't changed since I known the brand. There may have been small design changes to the lettering and label. But it's still very close to how it originally looked to me.
Maybe there is a reasoning behind the way the container is designed. But I always thought the black lid is like a black hat on the container. I also thinks its kind of excessive (just a little) that the container is much larger than it needs to be. The actual size of the reservoir where the cream sits is smaller than the smallest part of the lid. So there's about 0.5cm on the radius in the extra jar packaging. Not a big deal but thought I point it out.
INGREDIENTS
Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Cyclohexasiloxane, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Dipropylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Bis-PEG-18Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Triethylhexanoin, Stearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, PEG-40 Stearate, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract*, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract*, Nepeta Cataria Extract*, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Leaf Extract*, Baptista Tinctoria Root Extract*, Stellaria Media (Chickweed) Extract*, Alchemilla Vulgaris Leaf Extract+, Viola Tricolor Extract+, Rosa Damascena Flower Extract+, Spiraea Ulmaria Flower Extract+, Althaea Officinalis Root Extract+, Euphrasia Officinalis Extract, Thuja Occidentalis Leaf Extract, Symphytum Officinale Leaf Extract, Achillea Millefolium Flower Extract, Trifolium Pratense (Clover) Flower Extract, Menyanthes Trifoliata Leaf Extract, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Viscum Album (Mistletoe) Extract, Lactobacillus/Soybean Ferment Extract, Imperata Cylindrica Root Extract, Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate, Poncirus Trifoliata Fruit Extract, Panthenol, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Urea, Tromethamine, Glycosyl Trehalose, Stearic Acid, Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate, Sorbitan Stearate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sorbitan Olivate, Cetearyl Olivate, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone, Xanthan Gum, Hydroxyethylpiperazine Ethane Sulfonic Acid, Cetearyl Alcohol, Trisodium EDTA, Carbomer, PEG-100 Stearate, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil**, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Oil**, Rosemarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil**, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil**, Citral, Citronelleol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool
* Napiers Original Formual
+ Napiers Moisture Formula
** Fragrances
CosDNA Analysis of the ingredients list. Ingredients list (IL) came from the box, and it can differ slightly from the ones listed online.
The cream is made with a ton of emollient and moisturizing ingredients, which is probably why it had a clinically tested of hydration of up to 26 hours. It doesn't have much acne or irritant ingredients in there which is great to see. However, the ingredients list is more just there as a guide as to what's inside the product. Just so if you are allergic to some specific ingredients, you can avoid it.
I was previously under the mindset that ingredients matters a lot. But now I am kind of the mindset that while the ingredients matter, the formulation plays a huge key too. Sometimes, you can combine some "bad" ingredients like denatured alcohol, in a really sophisticated formulation. Sometimes, a product will cause a bad reaction if you are allergic to a specific ingredient, despite the formulation. But sometimes, that's due to a bad formulation. So we shouldn't put a huge focus over the IL.
That being said, I am not a big fan of having so much citrus essential oils being added to the cream. I'll discuss it below in the scent section.
SCENT
The cream has a distinct Belif scent, which is a citrus scent. This is due to the various citrus essential oils in the ingredients list, which is the last 8 ingredients on the IL, excluding the rosemary. It is low on the IL but some people have reactions to essential oils, and there's been some reports that prolonged use to essential oils can cause sensitization of the skin. There is still a bit of disagreement in the beauty community over the long term effects of essential oils.
The other thing I am a bit hesitant about the inclusion of the essential oils is that pets may be allergic to essential oils. I have a dog and sometimes he licks my face. So I do not want him to accidentally ingest some of the essential oils and cause some issues on his tummy.
I am not against the use of essential oils in skincare, but I am not sure if it's necessary to include SO much essential oils to just add fragrance. I would have been ok without it.
PERFORMANCE
So when I first found out about Belif years ago, I was super interested in the Aqua Bomb. But the pricing was quite high for me at the time, which was about $30USD for 50ml. I thought it was really expensive for something I have never tried before. Someone recommended getting the samples which are $15 for about 25ml (5 x 5ml) so that's what I got. I ended up using maybe 2 of the samples because I just wasn't super into it. I posted a review of it on my IG, and Belif Canada recommended that I try the Moisturizing Bomb as it was heavier and may fill my need for a more hydrating cream.
The Aqua Bomb is a gel moisturizer and light blue. Which provides great hydration but better suited for oily and normal skin. I have normal/combination skin but it is dehydrated. So I am not surprised that the Aqua Bomb was not enough for my poor skin.
The Moisturizing Bomb is definitely much heavier than the Aqua Bomb. It is more of an emulsified gel cream. It has the consistency of a soft peak (in baking terms), but it still have a bit of a gel consistency to it. It is lightweight and definitely sinks in quite quickly.
I have been using it once a day for 4 weeks now. I am so glad that Influenster gave us a lot of time to test out this product. Because I really do prefer to test a skincare product for over 2 weeks. A 2 weeks testing period is great for first impressions, but a longer term testing period allows for better impression of how it performs with the skin cycle, which is about 6 weeks. Even though 4 weeks is not the full skin cycle, it still gave me a pretty good idea over the performance of the cream.
I have been tempted to cheat on this cream over the last 4 weeks but I didn't. I made sure this was the only cream I used. This way, I can know how this cream performs.
I have babbled on a lot, but ok. Here's how it performed.
It got sent to me in perfect time as it was winter time. So it's quite drying with the cold winter wind and heaters on everywhere. Whilst mostly everyone gets to work from home, I was not allowed to due to upper management. So it's important for my moisturizer to be thick enough to keep my skin hydrated and help protect my skin barrier against the cold and the masks. And this cream did great!!
I used it once a day, I use maybe a quarter size / 2 finger dips of the cream. It sinks in quickly and beautifully. My skin feels hydrated and dewy after each use. It keeps my skin very moisturized because I don't have those annoying skin flakes on my cheeks, which happens every single year. I always had issues with getting rid of it, and almost always have to resort to a light chemical exfoliant to get rid of them. Even my favourite cream doesn't seem to be providing enough moisturization in the winter because I noticed the little skin flakes. But once I switched to the Moisturizing Bomb, those flakes are gone. That's A+ to me!
In addition, it definitely helped in keeping my skin barrier strong. Because due to the new government mandates related to the pandemic, we are now required to wear masks indoors and outdoors. So I am wearing masks quite often and sometimes taking it off and putting it on multiple times within a short period of time. That would normally cause a lot of contact dermatitis, especially when I used masks of different materials within the day. But with the cream, I haven't had any issues! Which is amazingly different in comparison to how my skin was back in May.
I am definitely really enjoying this cream. I am itching to get back to another cream simply because I want to finish up that jar before it expires. But I really enjoyed using this cream. I can do without the added fragrances but it is still a pretty great cream for my dehydrated cream.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
I really enjoyed this cream. I found that it does great in hydration and being emollient (soften the skin) without feeling heavy. It sinks in beautifully and doesn't feel like it takes FOREVER to sink in, or my skin just isn't absorbing all of it. I really enjoy putting it on every day and love to see there is no flaky skin despite the winter dryness.
What I don't love is the presence of so much citrus essential oils used only as fragrances. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the presence of essential oils are not super bad. But I just think when it has not other function besides fragrance, it doesn't really need to be included. I feel like the cream can do without it when it doesn't add to the performance, especially when it's added so the cream can be fragranced but the brand can say no artificial fragrance added. I just feel like the cream will still do well without the essential oils. Not a deal breaker but I think it could be improved upon.
The cream cost CAD $50 for 50ml, which is $1/ml. Which sounds EXPENSIVE. But then I look at my favourite cream and it cost USD $48 for 50ml, so it's not that bad. Especially when this cream performs better. Plus, if these are available in your local Sephora, these are a lot more readily available than the Korean shops, especially with so much shipping delays due to the increased online shopping.
I definitely would recommend this cream to anyone who has normal, dry or dehydrated skin. But I think the cream can be even better without the essential oils used for fragrance.
Edit: I finished this blog post back in January and just haven't been around to update the post with pictures. So... Of course this has been sitting in my draft folder for the longest time. Since then, I have finished the jar of the Moisturizing Bomb. I have to say, I REALLY like it. I enjoyed it to the very last bit. Though, the jar is a bit deceiving. It feels heavy and looks big, but it's just weighted down by the packaging. It's not a big deal. I just thought I had a lot more than I actually did. Definitely a repurchase once I finish my collection of creams, and I would buy it even QUICKER if they take out the essential oils! This is a way better product than the Water Bomb for my dehydrated skin!
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