[BENTON] - Deep Green Tea Lotion

Hi everyone, can you believe it's the end of 2018 already? I am closing it out with the Benton Green Tea lotion, which is a brand new product that Benton just released.

Benton is a brand that I have reviewed quite a few times in 2018, and each time I wasn't disappointed. I received this via their reviewer recruiting program for the lotion. I received the product for free in exchange for my honest opinion. And since I only had been using this for about two weeks, it is more of a first impression than a full review.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

First up, a little background on Benton. Most people, myself included, knows about their famous Snail Bee High Content Essence. But do you know why it's called Benton?

Source: http://bentoncosmetics.com/about.html

Well, it is inspired by and derived from the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Benton is essentially first and last three letters of Benjamin Button. That's kind of cool, I never knew about that. The name is selected as the goal of the company is to help the users to rewind the clock on their skin, much like Benjamin Button. They aim to help its customers restore their skin back to its original, healthy conditions with healthy recipes made in small batches.

FUNCTION

Source: http://bentoncosmetics.com/product/benton-deep-green-tea-lotion-120ml/119/?cate_no=97&display_group=1

The Deep Green Tea Lotion is designed to be lightweight, mildly acidic lotion that is gentle on delicate skin. It is to help balance the oil-water balance with skin that has excessive oiliness. It is also to provide a boost of hydration and soothe the skin. 

PACKAGING

The lotion comes in a brown coloured plastic bottle with a label printed with tea plantation wrapped around the majority of the bottle. So it makes it a little hard to see how much product is left. But I think it's a pretty neat packaging as it does invoke the thought of green tea whenever I look at it.

It is a shaker bottle with a narrow opening, which I did not like. The lotion is a bit viscous for the shaker top, so it slowly flows out. I have no patience so I end up shaking it, and that doesn't provide a consistent dispersion each time. I very much prefer to pop it open and decant it. I think this would have been better packaged in a pump bottle.

INGREDIENTS

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Water (50%), Aqua (Water), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Centella Asiatica Extract, Houttuynia Cordata Extract, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Camellia Sinensis Seed Extract, Camellia Sinensis Root Extract, Punica Granatum Fruit Extract, Tocopherol, Betaine, Arginine, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum

CosDNA

The CosDNA analysis indicated almost all of the ingredients are not irritants and safe to use. The only ones that are potential irritants are the fatty alcohols like cetearyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, and cetyle alcohol. Even though they are alcohols, they are ones that are used as surfactants and viscosity control. It helps the product and only has a irritant level of 2, which is quite low.

When Benton call this a Deep Green Tea Lotion, and mention it focuses on using green tea. They were not kidding. It comprised of 50% of green tea leaf water, which is just tea isn't it? It also contains other parts of the tea plant, including green tea extract, seed and root extract. These green tea ingredients came from Boseong, which is the most famous green tea harvesting area in Korea. And from pictures, it is gorgeous!

Source: http://dhdawon.com/page/sub_03_01_view.asp?page=3&search_int=&search_content=&search_del=&board=photo&pageNum=3&subNum=1&b_idx=2929

It should be noted that this is only good for one year after manufacturing, or 6 months after opening. So if you get this lotion, don't hoard and use it later!

SCENT

Given how much green tea is present in the lotion, I was expecting a strong green tea scent. But it has barely a scent to it. If you sniff hard enough, then it has a light sweet cosmetic scent to it. It is really negligible though and there really isn't added fragrance.  

PERFORMANCE

The lotion is a white runny creamy emulsion, which is probably why it's called a lotion. Because it is thicker than water, it takes a little while for it to drop out of the shaker bottle, as I have mentioned before. It is loose enough though that if you tip the bottle on its side (without the shaker cap), it will slowly spill out all by its own.

Despite it being an emulsion, it is really light and absorbs quickly. In fact, I had a dollop at the back of my hand and I can tilt my hand around and the dollop slides around accordingly. It's really loose and lightweight. Once I spread the dollop around, it is absorbed by the skin almost immediately.

Once absorbed, it doesn't look like any product has been applied to the area. But when I touch it, the skin feels smooth and hydrated. It even feels a bit dewy!

I have been using it on the left side of my face while keeping everything else the same. And I noticed it has added an extra layer of hydration to my skin. Which is greatly appreciated in the winter months. It makes my skin feel even more dewy.

But.. I feel like it is insufficient in providing the hydration I need by itself. But when it is used as a final layer of toners and essences, it really locks in and boost up the hydration. I think I will continue to use it as the step after toners and essences but before cream. Which seems to be the same step Benton recommend you use it at.

OVERALL THOUGHT 

I like how faintly scented this is, and how quickly the lotion is absorbed into the skin without making it feel oily. It adds that extra layer of hydration my skin needs but it's not enough by itself. I also would prefer this to be in a pump bottle instead of a shaker bottle. It is a decent product and the price isn't bad at $16 USD.

I don't think I will purchase this as I don't like the design and I have a LOT of products to go through. It's nice product but it wasn't earth shattering for me and my non-reactive combination and dehydrated skin. I think if you have oily and/or sensitive skin, this would be a great option.

As always, I just want to thank Benton for sending me the product to test!

RELATED PRODUCTS

Since I reviewed so much of Benton products. Here are the links to the other products I have reviewed.

Cacao Moist and Mild Serum 
Cacao Moist and Mild Toner 
Tea Tree Cleansing Water
Papaya-D Sun Cream SPF38 / PA+++
Honest TT Mist (This has been repackaged as Tea Tree Mist)