Burt’s Bees Facial Cleanser & Daily Moisturising Cream for sensitive skin

First, a disclaimer: I’m a BzzAgent, meaning that I’m part of this consumer opinion website. It’s through that site that I received my free, full-sized bottles of Burt’s Bees Facial Cleanser for sensitive skin and Daily Moisturising Cream for sensitive skin for review. But while I might have received these products for free, I promise that that fact won’t bias my opinion of them.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about the products. Both are very much aimed at those with sensitive skin and are fragrance free, hypo-allergenic, allergy-tested, non-comedogenic , dermatologist-tested and made of 99% natural ingredients. While these qualities don’t guarantee that these products will work for everyone, sensitive skin is something that’s very personalized after all, they’re a great start. Both products also contain an easy-to-read ingredients list, which is another key quality any sensitive skin product should have.

Speaking of ingredients, this line is packed with some great ones including aloe, well-known for its soothing and moisturizing properties; rice extract, which is a natural exfoliate; and cotton extract, which I’m told, “Helps improve the skin barrier, reduce the appearance of skin redness and increase the production of keratin.”

I certainly had no issues with redness or irritation while using these products and in addition to recommending them to anyone with sensitive skin, I would encourage anyone with normal to slightly dry skin to check them out (when I started using these products, I did have a bit of dry skin but after a few days of use this line, it disappeared).

However, if you have oily or acne-prone skin, pass on the cleanser. While this very creamy product feels like it’s thoroughly cleaning out pores, it’s not. I had visibly more blackheads while using it, I think because this product just didn’t have want it takes to get in there and break down and clean out the dirt. (Though to be fair, this line makes no claims about fighting blackheads). It’s a shame because sensitive skin and acne often go hand-and-hand.

The moisturizer also has a clear though predictable flaw:  It doesn’t contain any sun protection. At least though I can understand why this is since adding any sort of SPF in would prevent Burt’s Bees from making the “99% natural” claim, plus it could be an irritant to some. Thankfully, this product’s creamy texture makes adding in sun screen easy.

That texture is probably the main reason why I like this moisturizer; it’s so rich and healthy-feeling. It does take a couple of minutes to fully absorb but I don’t mind that because while it absorbs, it feels like it’s soothing your skin. Once it has absorbed into your skin, it doesn’t leave a shine and it doesn’t interfere with makeup.

While the packaging for the cleanser is nothing special, I really like the pump-container that the moisturizer came in. It’s mess-free, easy to use and minimizes the product’s exposure to air and bacteria.

Maybe that fancy packaging explains why the moisturizer is so much more than the cleanser ($24.99 vs. $12.99). However, considering the quality of these two items, both of those prices are quite reasonable.