Way back in March, I had written a review on a Cream Mask from a South African skincare brand called Esse Organic Skincare. It's unfortunately not a very well-known brand outside of South Africa but I believe it's slowly but surely making inroads into the European market.
To be honest, I think this is a brand that deserves more mention. If all its claims are to be believed, Esse does sound like a great natural, organic skincare brand as it addresses all the right concerns of many health- and ethics-conscious consumers of today. Here are just a few keywords as a reminder: natural, organic, ECOCERT, cruelty-free, vegan, Fair Trade, PhytoTrade, paraben-free and preservative-free, amongst others.
A couple of months ago, Esse Netherlands kindly sent me a few products to try. If you've been following my writings long enough, you would know that natural and organic products are right up my alley, so I was curious to find out how I would get on with some other Esse products.
The first one to be featured is the Esse Rich Body Moisturiser.
Esse offers two types of body moisturisers - Light and Rich - and each is available in two sizes. The Rich Body Moisturiser retails for €20.80 (100ml) and €32.40 (200ml). This moisturiser comes in a recyclable amber glass bottle with a locking pump.
What Esse says about the Rich Body Moisturiser
An ideal treatment for dehydrated skin suffering the ravages of dry weather.
Yangu and Manketti oils are included for their UV barrier function. Rooibos extract enhances vitamin C production and eases bruising. Hydrating Marula Oil is rich in Omega 6.
Additional uses:
Massage into hands after every wash taking extra care to the skin around the nails.
Esse uses many African botanical ingredients in its products, so it's common to see names like Rooibos, Marula and Yangu in the ingredients list of its products.
Ingredients
Water, Jojoba Seed Oil*, Rooibos Extract*, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Glycerin, Marula Seed Oil*, Yangu Seed Oil, Cetearyl Olivate, Manketti Seed Oil, Sorbitan Olivate, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, Xanthan Gum, Tragacanth (Astragalus Gummifer) Gum, Olive Fruit Oil, Olive Fruit Oil Unsaponifiables, Benzyl Alcohol, Geranium Leaf Oil*, Dehydroacetic Acid, Aloe Ferox Leaf Extract, Salicylic Acid, Kigelia Africana Fruit Extract, Tocopherol, Orange Wood Oil*, Grape Seed Extract, Citric Acid, Spearmint Leaf Oil*
* ingredients from organic farming
On the box, it says that
•99.5% of the total ingredients are from natural origin
•86.9% of the total ingredients proceed from organic agriculture
My Thoughts
Scent
Lovely scent. The moisturiser smells sweet, earthy and of rooibos. The usually strong scent of spearmint is surprisingly subtle here. You can still catch a whiff of the sweet earthy scent some hours after application.
Texture
It's a light caramel colour and of moderately thick consistency.
An ideal treatment for dehydrated skin suffering the ravages of dry weather.
Yangu and Manketti oils are included for their UV barrier function. Rooibos extract enhances vitamin C production and eases bruising. Hydrating Marula Oil is rich in Omega 6.
Additional uses:
Massage into hands after every wash taking extra care to the skin around the nails.
Esse uses many African botanical ingredients in its products, so it's common to see names like Rooibos, Marula and Yangu in the ingredients list of its products.
Ingredients
Water, Jojoba Seed Oil*, Rooibos Extract*, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Glycerin, Marula Seed Oil*, Yangu Seed Oil, Cetearyl Olivate, Manketti Seed Oil, Sorbitan Olivate, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, Xanthan Gum, Tragacanth (Astragalus Gummifer) Gum, Olive Fruit Oil, Olive Fruit Oil Unsaponifiables, Benzyl Alcohol, Geranium Leaf Oil*, Dehydroacetic Acid, Aloe Ferox Leaf Extract, Salicylic Acid, Kigelia Africana Fruit Extract, Tocopherol, Orange Wood Oil*, Grape Seed Extract, Citric Acid, Spearmint Leaf Oil*
* ingredients from organic farming
On the box, it says that
•99.5% of the total ingredients are from natural origin
•86.9% of the total ingredients proceed from organic agriculture
My Thoughts
Scent
Lovely scent. The moisturiser smells sweet, earthy and of rooibos. The usually strong scent of spearmint is surprisingly subtle here. You can still catch a whiff of the sweet earthy scent some hours after application.
Texture
It's a light caramel colour and of moderately thick consistency.
Efficacy
To put it to the ultimate test, I used this moisturiser mainly on my chest area and upper back as those are the driest and most problematic areas of my body. Of all the body moisturisers I've tried in the past few years, only two have worked on these problem areas: one contains urea, and the other frankincense and myrrh.
This Esse moisturiser may be called "rich" but I consider it a mild one. It could juuust about keep my problem areas from deteriorating to dry, rough skin. So, it worked OK. However, on other parts of my body with normal skin, it worked well.
Last Words
I find the sweet earthy scent very agreeable and as is usual of botanical skincare products, this is a mild body moisturiser. I think it's a bonus that two of the ingredients (Yangu and Manketti oils) act as UV barriers (although no SPF is indicated). I've almost finished my 100ml bottle after two month's regular use mostly on my problem areas. If you used it intensively on your whole body, I think you'd reach the bottom much sooner.
More information:
Review of the Esse Cream Mask
Esse websites
- South Africa
- Netherlands
I've been told that Esse Netherlands does offer shipping to countries outside of the Netherlands.
To put it to the ultimate test, I used this moisturiser mainly on my chest area and upper back as those are the driest and most problematic areas of my body. Of all the body moisturisers I've tried in the past few years, only two have worked on these problem areas: one contains urea, and the other frankincense and myrrh.
This Esse moisturiser may be called "rich" but I consider it a mild one. It could juuust about keep my problem areas from deteriorating to dry, rough skin. So, it worked OK. However, on other parts of my body with normal skin, it worked well.
Last Words
I find the sweet earthy scent very agreeable and as is usual of botanical skincare products, this is a mild body moisturiser. I think it's a bonus that two of the ingredients (Yangu and Manketti oils) act as UV barriers (although no SPF is indicated). I've almost finished my 100ml bottle after two month's regular use mostly on my problem areas. If you used it intensively on your whole body, I think you'd reach the bottom much sooner.
More information:
Review of the Esse Cream Mask
Esse websites
- South Africa
- Netherlands
I've been told that Esse Netherlands does offer shipping to countries outside of the Netherlands.
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