I’d had my eye on Facetheory skincare for quite some time, but early in the year I went for it and bought a few products.
Initially I had just bought the cleanser, night cream and the serums. After a few weeks I went back and bought the eye cream and the sets of 2 of each serum. I’m sure that’ll give you a good idea of how I feel about their products already…
A bit about Facetheory
Facetheory manufacture their products in Sheffield, which I love because it’s supporting a UK-based brand, thus reducing my carbon footprint somewhat when I order their products instead of ordering from overseas brands. They genuinely care about their products: the quality, the ingredients and how the customer gets on with them. One thing that I love is that many products are available with scent or unscented, so they strive to make their products suitable for everyone. Not all of them are available scented, but all of them are available unscented.
The products themselves take advantage of the benefits of both science and nature, with a big push for natural.
The packaging is either a glass jar or a metal tube as they don’t want to use plastic which is amazinggg as they’re all recyclable. They have also been approved as cruelty-free, which is so important in beauty and more still needs to be done on this. Seriously, what’s not to love about this brand so far?!
How do they treat customers?
I think the most important thing to touch on first is their customer service. Facetheory was already on my list of brands and products to review, but my recent experience with them is what prompted me to do it sooner rather than later.
Customer service is about as important as the products themselves – or not far off at least. With social media, reviews and the extensive reach we all have these days when it comes to voicing our opinions on companies (and even each other!), companies can’t afford to be lax and give bad customer service (although that doesn’t appear to phase some…) and Facetheory certainly take that seriously.
I fell in love with the clarifying cleanser I bought at the beginning of the year which had a 12 month life. Unfortunately, the salicylic acid crystallised ever so slightly and created little shards in the cleanser. I contacted Facetheory as I was a little concerned as to what these were and whether the product was contaminated, and they explained that this occasionally happened in the previous formula when it got cold in transit. They had since updated the formula, so I was comfortable that the product was still safe to use, and they had suggested mixing it in my hands a bit to melt the crystals which worked a bit. I concluded that I would just need to keep melting the crystals for a bit before using it on my face.
I thought that would be the end of the conversation, so I said thanks to the representative for her help and left it at that. She replied after a while to ask if I tried what she had suggested, and when I replied she asked for a couple of details. After I gave them to her she asked if I preferred a refund or a replacement free of charge, which I was initially a bit stunned by as I thought the exchange was over. I didn’t contact them looking for any sort of compensation; merely just an assurance that I was safe to finish up my existing tub of cleanser. I was so grateful that they were so quick to make sure I was happy without me even asking for anything.
This is the sort of service that really stands out in my opinion! I wanted to highlight this as I put a lot of value on brands that treat their customers well, and wanted to share this so other people could give them a try as I trust the brand as a whole: their products and their service – and their ethics!
The products I have been using
Anyway, on to the products themselves!
I can’t go on to the site without being lured in by the incredible range of products available, not to mention the amazing ingredients and formulations. So for now I’m going to have to keep away before I buy up the whole site!
Clarifying Cleanser
On the label, the description is: “An AHA/BHA triple cream cleanser that removes makeup and impurities”. Now I’m a heavy product wearer: I layer on the skincare, SPF (yes it has a category in its own right – it’s important people!!) and makeup so I need a good cleanser to get rid of it all. I use this as my second cleanse after a thorough cleanse with a cleansing balm, and I never skip this step because I can really feel the difference it makes. My skin feels like all the layers of ‘stuff’ have been removed after my first cleanse, but it’s only after the second cleanse using the Clarifying Cleanser that I really feel clean. I use this second because I really need something strong enough to get the gunk off my face – this isn’t appropriate for getting rid of my eye makeup – and then something to give it that deep clean, which the ingredients in this product are certainly good for.
Also – the smell! This has a ‘mandarin’ scent, and it really is gorgeous. It doesn’t smell artificial either (I really hate artificial scents), it just smells light and fruity. I’m not usually one for scented products as I find they give me a headache a lot of the time, but I’ve never had that with this. However, I think next time I’ll opt for the unscented version, as the scented version contains mandarin essential oil and I like to avoid essential oils in my skincare. It has not caused any issues for me, it’s just my personal preference.
The texture is really unique as well. It’s almost like it’s whipped! I can only describe it as something between a heavy cream and a mousse, which I personally really enjoy.
I’ll stop there otherwise I’ll become a novelist by the end of this post…
The serums
The BHA serum is described on the bottle as having “2% salicylic acid with green tea extract”. I use this after my cleanser, and after using this combo a few times I could really tell that my skin was looking clearer and brighter. This doesn’t have a scent, and it feels really nice and silky when it glides on the skin.
The ingredients include some industry favourites including Glycerin, Squalane, and Lactic acid to name a few; all big names in the skincare community now. They also have a lot of naturally derived ingredients and components in the mix. Another thing I love is that their ingredient list is explanatory: it gives you a brief idea of what each ingredient does/means – example below. Let’s be honest, a lot of companies name big words and most of us aren’t dermatologists so we’re often left in the dark as to what each one means unless we want to delve deep into the scientific details. I just want to know what I’m using is right for my skin and understand what it’s doing to it, I don’t want to be halfway to a PhD while finding that out!
This is effective but gentle on the skin; I have no irritation after using it.
The Porebright N10 serum is another key contender in the fight for which products I want to use and when, and is described as “Non-comedogenic 10% niacinamide and azelaic acid serum.” The brand claims are that this will reduce pore size, reduce redness and brighten skin. As with the BHA serum, this feel really nice to apply to the skin and glides on really easily. There is no scent in this one either.
The azelaic acid is the main warrior against pores in the formulation, whilst the niacinamide will work to even out skin tone amongst many other benefits. The formulation also contains salicylic acid like the other products, so it’s important to be mindful of which products have certain ingredients so you don’t overdo it while using them together!
I feel that this has helped to even my skin tone and my pores are a bit smaller, however – and perhaps I had just set my hopes too high – I was hoping my pores would be even smaller after using the serum. Nonetheless, there are many benefits I have noticed from using it that I’ll continue using it as it really does make my skin look and feel much better!
The eye cream
I’m going to be completely honest with you – I haven’t used this enough yet to give a fully informed review. The skin around my eyes is extra sensitive and has bouts of irritation, so I’ve had a bit of a stint of relying on my ‘tried and tested’ during times of crisis. As such, I’ve not had a chance to properly evaluate the impact of the eye cream on my skin yet.
What I can say is that it hasn’t irritated or caused any adverse reaction to my skin when I have used it. I found it to be moisturising and I am impressed with it so far, so I’ll give more of an update once I’ve really given it a chance. Facetheory claim that it will reduce dark circles, but I don’t really have them under my eyes so I won’t be able to judge. Two of the ingredients are vitamin C and liquorice; both renowned for their benefits to skin. I’m looking forward to giving it a proper try and updating.
Relaxing night cream
Last but by no means least: the night cream.
I’ve been pretty impressed with this cream and I’ve nearly finished the first pot. As with all of the aforementioned products, a little really does go a long way. This is an unscented cream, which packs a punch. I used to notice my nose was almost scaly (gross!) where it was getting so dry, but I haven’t noticed that at all since I started using this. I use this after I’ve cleansed, toned and used all my serums, sometimes topping this off with a night oil once the cream has been absorbed.
It contains hyaluronic acid, of course, as well as ferulic acid which I hadn’t heard of before. It’s an antioxidant and “helps enhance the stability of vitamin E” as described by Facetheory. It also boasts glycerin, shea butter and argan oil, so your skin doesn’t stand a chance at getting dry after being slathered in this!
I’ll definitely be re-investing in another jar of this after I run out, but it has lasted me a few months already. I really love this cream!
I hope you enjoyed my thoughts and opinions on the brand and the products. I am not a skincare professional so please take any ‘knowledge’ and information lightly, as this is essentially just my research online and may not be accurate.
Thanks for reading!
In A Beauty World 
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