In celebration for my love of skincare, I’ve decided to set up a weekly feature dedicated to trialling some of the newest, most loved and similarly, unknown skincare brands, giving my honest opinion on each one. Whether or not you share the same love for skincare, hopefully it will be enjoyable, if not slightly helpful or insightful. Many of the UK’s skincare brands use the same claims, the same (almost) packaging and the same advertising techniques, so it’s rather difficult (in my eyes anyway) to be able to make sense of it all and choose products that are right for you without forking out £100’s in the process.
As a blogger, who is able to try things free of charge, it gives me the ability to be able to give an honest opinion, and sometimes, a recommendation, hopefully saving others lots of money in the process. If you know me, you’ll know that I won’t give a bad product a good review. So just because it’s a sample, please be aware, this does not affect my opinion in the slightest. If it hasn’t worked for me, I’m not going to use it or rave about it because it’s free.
So, to kick things off, this week’s brand is Pai. A brand known for its gentle, delicate products – and similarly, it’s chic white packaging, the majority of the products almost 100% organic, vegan and irritation free.
Pai Camellia & Rose Gentle Hydrating Cleanser: Cleansers, in my opinion, are either awful or fantastic (there’s no real in between), and this one falls into the latter category. With a fresh (slightly herby) scent and a smooth, non-sticky consistency, it removes make-up and cleanses pores gently, without stinging your skin or removing any of the oils needed for natural skin hydration. Used with a warm muslin cloth to remove make-up, or simply freshen up skin in the morning, or before bed, it really does leave your skin feeling soft, smooth and refreshed.
It claims to also act as a dual action eye make-up remover, but I found it less effective at this, having to use large amounts to remove my mascara and eye liner, however as a cleanser, it really is fantastic. I personally prefer having a separate, less creamy eye make-up remover, however if you’re limited for space and can only pack one product, this could stand as both in an emergency. Perfect for those with sensitive, or easily irritated skin, it didn’t generate any redness after use and I would most certainly use this again or incorporate it into my daily skincare routine once my current product has run out.
Great for: dry skin, sensitive skin, easily irritated skin, combination skin.
Pai Chamomile & Rosehip Sensitive Skin Cream: From the outset, this looks a little like a very pale foundation, with a creamy yellow colour and a thick consistency, so I initially thought this was a ‘sensitive skin’ style take on a BB cream, however upon application, I soon found this wasn’t the case. With the same refreshing scent as the Hydrating Cleanser, it has been designed to calm the appearance of reactive redness. I used to use Clearasil products a few years back, which although a great brand, with great values, unfortunately used to bring me out in harsh red pimples – in other words, reactive redness. It can occur when your skin is irritated, or allergic to one, or many of the ingredients in a certain product (sometimes even foundation or make-up wipes can cause this). It’s annoying to live with and have to cover up, trust me I know, but this aims to calm your skin and cool it down, illuminating it gently, rather than making you turn beetroot.
I have to say, I was largely impressed at how much of an impact this had on cooling my skin and calming down the redness (I used one of the products I know irritates my skin beforehand to do a little trial and give it a fair test), as within 5 to 10 minutes, the angry red patches had almost completely disappeared. As the cream is quite thick, it does take a little while to sink into your skin (although small intervals of gently rubbing it in helps) however once it has done, skin feels much smoother, calmer and softer.
Great for: easily irritated skin, sensitive skin, reactive redness, dry skin.
Overall, Pai Skincare has made a great impression on me so far, and I’m excited to have a little browse of their website and see what else they offer. As someone who has to stick to products which cater for sensitive skin, or irritated skin, it’s nice to find an entire brand that takes both skin-types into account, providing nicely packaged products, with effective formulas. Bringing a rare bit of transparency to a largely competitive (especially when it comes to the claims made) beauty industry, Pai offer customers a 30 day money back guarantee, listing all of the ingredients in plain English and seeking independent certification wherever possible. You won’t find a brand more confident about the effectiveness of their products than that!
With many fabulous brands sold exclusively online, rather than on the high street, it’s easy for such products to be overlooked, which is a shame. But if you are a sensitive skin sufferer, or even someone who would like to try something new into their routine, Pai Skincare is worth a try. And that’s my honest opinion!
For more information on Pai Skincare, or to purchase any of their bestselling products, please visit paiskincare.com.
