Honest Beauty

Beauty Review: Honest Beauty Younger Eye Cream

Beauty Review: Honest Beauty Younger Eye Cream | Writing Between Pauses

I wrote on Instagram last week about my experience with my Honest diaper bundle and customer service, but to reiterate: I receive Honest diaper bundles for Forrest and the past few months they've been showing up, well, absolutely destroyed. This month was no different, with my bundle arriving torn apart, diapers missing, and, worse, the free gift I had received (the Honest Beauty Younger Eye Cream) was nowhere in sight. I was extremely disappointed.

Thankfully, however, Honest Customer service sent me a package of the missing diapers and eye cream that arrived within 2 days. They really are amazing. 

I've been somewhat acutely aware that I needed to start including an eye cream in my routine for a while--I don't necessarily have dry skin, but at 29, I do want to start thinking about how to keep wrinkles as unlikely as possible. My skin has definitely gotten more crepey, especially around my eyes. It's not severe yet, but it was something I was watching.

Enter the Honest Beauty Younger Eye Cream. As I had the opportunity to add it to my bundle for free, I figured, why not!? It's free! Here's what it promises: 

You’ll love this deeply hydrating eye cream, which contains hyaluronic acid to attract moisture and hydrate skin. This botanically charged formula also features barbary fig and baobab fruit, both rich in essential fatty acids. A chamomile and calendula blend helps calm and soothe. Eyes look younger and more refreshed. With results so eye-catching, don’t blame us if you get carded.

Oh la la! At $28 for 0.5 fluid oz, it's not the most expensive product out there--but it is a bit more than I usually spend on a skincare item! However, since you don't use much of it at a time, it will last quite a while. Here are the results of a test study, according to Honest: 

In a consumer study of 106 women, after 4 weeks of use:

94% agreed eye area felt refreshed after use.
88% agreed eye area looked rejuvenated and revitalized after use.
86% agreed fine lines around eyes were less noticeable after use.
84% agreed wrinkles around eyes were less noticeable after use.
82% agreed they looked like they had a good night’s sleep after use.
82% agreed eye area looked younger after use.
81% agreed eye area was instantly plumped after use.

Oh wow! However, that's only 106 women and only 4 weeks of use. 

My Experience

I've been this for 2 weeks now. I know that's not a very long time for a review, especially of a skincare product, but here are my thoughts about that: 

  • As I don't really have wrinkles or severe signs of aging around my eyes, my visible results are going to be much more subtle. 
  • I'm adding this purely for extra moisture. 

So, do I like it? 

It took some getting used to to remember to put it on before my moisturizer at night--and it's especially difficult to remember to pat it and not blend it. (Cut to a flashback of me in high school absolutely destroying my face by rubbing it and scrubbing it. Old habits die hard.) 

I do quite like it. It doesn't feel greasy or heavy; it doesn't pill if I put it on under my make up; and I don't feel like it makes my make up wear off. I have felt like my eye makeup has applied better lately, but that might just be wishful thinking. 

One thing I don't love about it is the smell. In reviewing other Honest Beauty products, I've mentioned this as well; they smell is odd. It's not bad. But it's not good. It's not added fragrance, but it doesn't smell natural either. It smells vaguely like plastic cheese, if that makes sense. They really do need to work on the fragrance of their products, because while the smell doesn't last all day, it is very obvious when I'm applying it! 

Do you use an eye cream? What kind do you use? Once this tube is done, I'll be looking for a replacement! 

Beauty Review: Honest Beauty Try Me Kit for Oily Skin

I don't usually try new beauty products. I used to be the kind of person who tried a new moisturizer, a new cleanser, or a new primer every single month. But over time, I realized that was not helping my skin whatsoever. I have my tried-and-true products for oily skin that I use consistently to help me keep things consistent

However, in my November diaper bundle that I receive from Honest (I'm a sucker for those cute printed diapers), I had the option to choose any Honest Beauty products. I decided to go to the Try Me Kit for Oily Skin, just to see how their products really measured up. 

Obviously, I get diapers for Forrest from Honest. We also exclusively use their baby body wash and shampoo, bubble bath, diaper cream, and healing balm; they're the only products that don't send Forrest into a tail spin of rashes. I love their products mostly because they deliver them to my house, which is a major bonus. 

When my bundle arrived, containing not just diapers, but the Try Me Kit, I was pretty excited to try it. I was also surprised that the kit arrived in such a nice travel bag; it feels like high-quality faux-leather, lined with a nice canvas. For something you get for free, it's pretty great. 

The Try Me Kit for Oily Skin came with three products: 

  1. Refreshingly Clean Gel Cleanser
  2. Dependably Clear Oil Free Moisturizer
  3. Beyond Protected Daily Beauty Fluid SPF 30

The gel cleanser is the largest bottle and I've been using it for about a week, once a day, without running out. The moisturizer is much smaller, but again, I've been using it once a day for a week and haven't run out yet; the beauty fluid is the same size as the moisturizer. 

Alright, let's talk about each products. 

Refreshingly Clean Gel Cleanser

I actually really like this cleanser; it cleans and gets rid of everyday oil as well as make up without leaving any kind of residue or feeling like it absolutely strips my skin. I can get really dry after washing my face, especially with harsh cleansers, but so far, I haven't noticed any dryness with this cleanser.

My one issue with it is that it smells really strongly--and not very good. Honest is famous for their products being fragrance free (or if they're scented, they have a fragrance free option) and sometimes, this can make them smell, well, a bit weird. When you combine chemicals to create soap, you're obviously going to end up with some kind of smell. They may have wanted to add a little something to cover up the smell of this. The closest approximation I can get is it smells like that really cheap lotion you can buy at the dollar store: chemically and weird. 

Dependably Clear Oil Free Moisturizer

This moisturizer gets a solid OK from me. I didn't feel like it harmed my skin, but I also didn't feel like it really did anything different from my normal moisturizer. It felt nice though and didn't give my skin that tacky feeling that some moisturizers leave. I tend to avoid "oil free" moisturizers because that often means they use something artificial to create moisture and ultimately, oil is actually very good for your skin (yes, even oily, acne prone skin). I worried a little bit about this moisturizer stripping my skin, but I haven't noticed any issues. 

Again, the one major issue I had with this product is... the smell. 

The smell of this moisturizer was different than the cleanser, but not any better. I don't know how to say this without sounding weird, but this moisturizer smells like cheese. It smells like that fake white cheddar cheese dust that's used for packaged popcorn or chips. It smells almost foot-like. That's not a pleasant way for your face to smell. I had a moment where I felt a bit like the scene from Mean Girls where Kady replaces Regina's moisturizer with foot cream. 

Beyond Protected Daily Beauty Fluid SPF 30 

I use an SPF 30 on my face every day anyway, so I was excited to try this product. However, it was my least favorite of the kit and here's why: it's not fluid. It's near impossible to get out of the bottle. It has a super weird texture and you have to use a ton of it to cover your face. And just like the moisturizer, it smells like cheese-and-feet.

That's enough "no thank you" moments to make me put it back in the bag and not finish the little bottle of it. I really wonder why they didn't just add an SPF 30 to the moisturizer; three steps is bordering on too many steps for skincare for me, and especially with a product where the instructions are "shake vigorously" so you can get it out of the bottle, it's just too time consuming. 


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