Let’s talk self-care for a minute, shall we? I have an unreasonable, fury-filled reaction to the term “self-care.” I have long felt the term is thrown around at women and makes me feel like I have one more unreasonable expectation added to my growing to do list. Not to mention the accompanying guilt that I have about not doing it enough or not doing it right. And self-care is often presented to women in the form of rather expensive solutions. I say all of this while knowing full well that one thing I’m trying to be better at this year is: taking care of myself. Oh the irony! So when Maelove, an affordable skin-care line founded by MIT grads, reached out to me about trying their products and I jumped at the chance to try them.
Despite my reaction to the term self-care, at the beginning of this year I was feeling run down and made a promise to myself to re-set on all fronts: exercise, healthy eating, and updating my beauty-routine. I’ve made lots of clean-beauty swaps in my make-up bag but finding skincare products that I’m loyal to has always seemed so overwhelming and cost-prohibitive. I’ve bounced around from beauty-aisle basics (that have alarmed me as I learn more about their ingredients) to luxury products that don’t have staying power because of their high-price tag. I started to read about Maelove after seeing this article on Business Insider, and was instantly intrigued.
The Maelove mission is to make elite skincare accessible to everyone. Their founder set out to make a skincare line that was simple and effective, without the price tag of so many luxury skincare brands. Maelove approached their product development through science and research, approaching it like the MIT grads they are, and taking out all of the preconceived notions and marketing layers that exist in the beauty industry. What they ended up with after this extensive development process is a concise line of products that are designed to work well for all skin types. I feel like so much of my apprehension towards high-end skincare products is the investment, so I’ve ended up gravitating towards inexpensive solutions that are fair less effective. Another big issue I have with skincare lines is there are SO many options, that I get incredibly overwhelmed by the choices. Trying these products from their concise, cost-efficient line-up seemed like a no brainer to me, a solution to my problems!
Maelove shared their full Clear Skin Kit with me, along with some serums and creams to try. I’ve given them all a test-run over the past month and a few of the products really stood out to me. My favorite has been The Deep Exfoliator. My biggest skin issues are clogged pores, and I started using this a few times a week in the shower. The exfoliator uses pulverized clay to draw out impurities and unclog pores and my skin looks noticeably clearer and smoother after using it. I’m totally hooked, I’ll be re-ordering it asap.The Eye Enhancer is one of the best finds from this line because I found it worked just as well, if not better, than the eye cream I was using from another brand that was 2x as expensive. This eye cream is actually a gel, which I feel makes it apply much lighter to my skin and absorbs really quickly before I put make-up on over it. The Eye Enhancer gel has Cold-pressed Robusta Coffee seed extract in it, and I sort of feel like it’s a cup of coffee for my under eyes in the morning – they look brighter and less puffy right after I apply it. The hydration has also been great for the delicate skin around the eyes during the cold winter months.
The last product that I got hooked on after trialing this skincare line was The Night Renewer, which aims to improve skin texture, fade dark spots, and diminish the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and pores. I’ve always struggled with breakouts when I tried any nighttime face products before, but I’ve recently noticed a few early wrinkles forming (gasp!) which pushed me to give this a try. It’s been great for my sensitive skin, no breakouts, and definitely has brightened up my dull winter skin. Maelove made a loyal customer out of me, and I’m excited to try some other products in the line (I’m always on the hunt for a sunscreen that won’t cause breakouts so I’m excited to try The Sun Protector next!),
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This post was created in partnership with Maelove. All opinions, images, and content are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support this site.
