If you don’t know who Caroline Hirons is, go check her out! Shes’s a skincare expert from the UK with over 20 years experience in the industry, so she knows her stuff. I learned about her in 2017 and have been following her ever since! Her blog is a treasure chest of good information without the fluff – she tells it like it is and won’t sugarcoat her thoughts, which I respect. She started putting together these seasonal skincare kits with some of her favorite products, and I purchased one of the Spring kits in May 2020 (after staying up all night because it was launched UK time- totally worth it). Now that I’ve been using the products for a few months, I’m ready to share my thoughts on them!
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, they’re marked with 💰. If you use them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. I only link to products I genuinely love to use, and not because of the commission. Whether or not you decide to buy something using my affiliate links is completely up to you.
My skin after using all 7 products in the kit
Products
Jordan Samuel Skincare Aftershow Cleanser (sensitive) – This is the first JSS product I’ve used, and i like it! There’s no fragrance but I swear I smell the slightest birthday cake scent when I’m rubbing this onto my face -maybe it’s just me. This cleanser has a gel texture that removes makeup well (I don’t wear a lot of makeup so maybe I’m not the best one to judge) but it also works nicely as a morning or second cleanse. Even though it leaves my skin feeling clean, it doesn’t strip my skin- my skin still feels soft afterwards. This is the version for sensitive skin, so I’d be interested in trying the original. I don’t see the point in spending a lot on cleansers, but I would repurchase this in a travel size or with a sale
Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel Pads (sensitive) – These peel pads are an excellent way to gently exfoliate your skin. It’s a type of chemical exfoliation – meaning doesn’t physically scrub your skin to exfoliate, but uses acids to gently “eat away” at dead skin cells and exfoliate them off. The pads come in 3 different strengths, these are the most gentle with only 3 exfoliating acids (the normal strength has 5 acids and the intense has 7). I like that it comes with 2 steps, the first to add the acids to your skin and the second to add hydrating and soothing ingredients that help neutralize the acids. That neutralizing step helps keep your skin from getting too irritated by the acids, but still lets the acids do their job. I don’t use these pads every day (even though you could), I stick to a couple times a week. Would definitely repurchase… with a serious sale, they’re almost $90 for 30 pads
NIOD Multi-Molecular Hyaluronic Complex – This is a really nice HA serum! Hyaluronic acid is a great ingredient for hydrating skin, and this serum does that without being thick or heavy. The serum is very watery and rubs into the skin quickly, but leaves a slight tacky feeling afterward. It doesn’t bother me since I finish with a facial oil or moisturizer which takes the tacky feeling away. This has been great to use in the summer when I don’t want to use rich products on my skin, but I still want to combat the dehydration I deal with. Because of the watery texture, a little goes a long way. My current HA serum is the one from the Inkey List (full brand review here), and honestly I like them both. This one from NIOD is like a more mature version of the Inkey serum, with better packaging and a lighter texture – the Inkey serum is more of a gel texture but I don’t mind it. Would repurchase with a sale
Sunday Riley Autocorrect Eye Cream – I always want depuffing and brightening from my eye creams, so this is one product I’ve had my eye on (see what I did there) for a while. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it since I don’t normally like cream textures -gels work better for me- but this one is nice. It starts out feeling somewhat thick but rubs into the skin quickly, and makes my undereye area feel moisturized. I don’t deal with dryness in that area, but more hydration won’t hurt. There’s a bit of shimmer to help immediately brighten undereyes, but I don’t notice it unless I’m looking extremely close up in the mirror. This cream does well under concealer too, it doesn’t pill or leave a weird texture. After 3 months of off and on use, I haven’t noticed any reduction in my dark circles – mine are hereditary so I wasn’t expecting miracles, but I thought I’d see a little something. I’m very glad I got to try this eye cream, but I would not repurchase – personally I like the Biossance eye gel more than this one
Oskia Super-C Capsules – I’ve been interested in trying a new kind of Vitamin C serum for a while now, so I was really excited to see this in the kit! These are individual capsules of serum, which make it very easy to know you’re getting the right amount every time. It’s got an oil base, so it gives an immediate glow to my skin but leaves me feeling slightly more oily than I like. I haven’t noticed much overall brightening after using about half the container (there’s 30 in this travel size so I’ve used about 15 so far), but I’ve read that there are better ingredients than Vitamin C for brightening dark skin and fading dark spots. I love that there’s no tingling or burning sensation when I use this, which is what happens with my current Inkey Vitamin C serum (I have to mix that with another serum to keep the tingling down). I still want to find a Vitamin C serum that feels nice to apply and isn’t too expensive so I could use it daily, but I would repurchase this one and just use it a couple times a week
Ren Evercalm Global Protection Day Cream – This cream is a rich texture that’s a little too moisturizing for my skin right now during the summer. It’s too heavy for me to use during the day, and even at night it’s a little too rich for my skin. I haven’t had any breakouts or clogged pores from the few times I used it which is good, but I think I’ll like it better in the winter when my skin is more dry. There’s a kind of herbal scent which isn’t bad, but it lingers for a while on my skin. I’ve used it when I irritated my skin with too many acids and exfoliating products, and it’s a very calming and soothing cream to apply. It’s tough to sheer out on it’s own because of the rich texture, but mixing with a little serum first helps it glide on nicely. I think if you’ve got more normal/dry skin, you would like this moisturizer more than I do for my combination skin. Would not repurchase; it’s just not for me and my skin type
Medik8 Advanced Day Total Protect – This is a moisturizer and SPF all in one, and it doesn’t leave a white cast on my skin! (Check out this post for 3 other sunscreens that work on my dark skin) It has a thick texture that rubs into my skin nicely but doesn’t completely dry down, I still feel a little oily and shiny afterwards. It’s not as thick as the Ren day cream, but it’s still pretty rich on my combination skin. I normally set my skin with powder after I apply this, but I don’t wear liquid makeup with this because it’ll get too shiny throughout the day. Again, if you’ve got dry skin you’d probably like this more than I do. The price is pretty steep and this isn’t the best moisturizer or SPF that I’ve used on my skin, so I would not repurchase
