Origins Skincare Review – the Ultimate ‘Green’ Choice?

The ‘green’ beauty industry seems to be ‘blooming’ by the day- and one of the first companies to dominate in botanical cosmetics was Origins. Starting in the 90s, this (relatively) more recent brand was born out of a passed-down love for beauty and skincare: Leonard Lauder, son of Estée Lauder, built the brand and watched it grow into one of the leading natural cosmetics companies it is today. 

So is this the ultimate ‘green’ choice? let’s go discover….  

Providing a vast range of ethical, natural and desirable products, Origins is a company that prides itself on caring for both you and the environment. Describing their packaging as ‘eco chic,’ you might argue that this phrase represents all of the skin care products that this company provides!

Whilst you can also purchase body care, make up and hair care from Origins, here we focus on why their skin care is often so popular and comes highly recommended!

The Origins store has a few firm favorites with its customers, some of which we have highlighted to review for you:

Origins Ginzing Eye Cream

Origins Ginzing Eye Cream is designed to instantly brighten the skin surrounding the eyes and to address dark circles. It aims to give tired eyes a boost and includes an active ingredient to reduce puffiness. Dark, puffy eyes can add to the appearance of aging around the eyes, but this eye cream aims to tackle this and instead promote a fresh and youthful look!

This eye cream (best applied when you’re “looking tired,”) contains caffeine to offer a ‘wake-up call’ for the eyes. Deriving from the coffee bean, the natural ingredient of caffeine helps to reduce water retention, which makes it a great buy for those who experience puffiness or heavy-looking eyes when they wake up or show signs of being fatigued.

This Ginzing Eye Cream works well for providing anti-aging effects, as it does genuinely seem to brighten the skin, showcasing a more ‘youthful’ tone. If it’s a tired ‘lift’ you’re looking for, this cream has a noticeable sensation and provides instant rejuvenation. The eye cream is great if you’re after a bright boost!
Many also feel this product feels smooth and creates a lovely base for applying make-up.

However, with very dark circles under the eyes, you might find this product doesn’t create a particularly dramatic effect, and the cream does lose it’s effective after a little while, so it’s advised to reapply. This would be a good cream to put on before heading out for an evening after a busy day, or to give you a more fresh-faced appearance early morning.

The pot is a relatively small 15ml, but arguably you don’t need much of the cream to be able to cover the eye area.

The texture is nicely creamy, and the product is a delicate pink in color. This also has a lovely scent, and for a reasonably priced product, it gives off the impression that it’s rather luxurious! There’s a whole range of ‘Ginzing’ Origins products, hoping to naturally ‘energize’ you and your skin, so it’s definitely worth browsing if you like the idea of naturally inducing the appearance of brighter skin.

Super Spot Remover Acne Treatment

Skin that shows signs of acne and oil can be tricky to manage but Origins has proven that natural ingredients, such as caffeine and red algae (used in this Super Spot Remover,) can help! These ingredients help to reduce redness that is often associated with acne and breakouts and, in addition to this, Origins Super Spot Remover Acne Treatment contains salicylic acid to directly target spotty areas of your skin.

Origins promote the product as a treatment to ‘heal, fight and fade’ spots- and it comes highly recommended as a spot remover with successful results! We agree: you can usually notice the difference overnight after applying this product. It’s also great as it acts as a ‘super’ exfoliant to rub away dead skin and clear your clogged pores (a cause of spots.) As a gel, this applies easily and dries almost instantly.

What is also very welcome about this product is that it has a ‘cooling’ sensation as it touches the skin, which feels very calming in its fight against uncomfortable spots and acne.

This treatment does come with quite a strong scent and has a slight tightness once applied to the skin- but many people like that they can ‘feel’ the ‘action’ of the spot remover, which works best once spots have appeared.

Finally, despite its tiny appearance (in a 10ml Origins blue bottle,) this is one amazing spot buster which- because of its ‘dab on’ nature- can easily last a couple of months! And, if you’re still unsure, Sephora (who also stock Origins products,) have been known to stock samples- so it’s worth giving this a trial period if it’s an option available to you. If not, the product is very reasonably priced when compared with similar spot treatments on the market, making Origins super spot remover an affordable and well-received product!

Origins Face Masks

One of the greatest ways to experience Origins’ natural touch is through their wide and wonderful array of face mask. With over 20 different types and styles of Origins mask to choose from, it’s good to know that you can be assured there’ll be something there for you- whatever your skin type!

What’s so lovable about these masks is the fact that many of them are flower infused, not only providing wonderfully relaxing scents, but also providing different properties and results depending on what it is you’re looking for. On top of this, the individual sachet-style masks are well-priced, at $7 each. The Orange sheet mask, for example, is fortified with a flower wax, which works as a great emollient for the skin. Not to mention, it has such an energizing, citrusy scent, too!

Mega-Mushroom Relief and Resilience Soothing Face Mask

A very unique and best-selling Origins mask is also the Mega-Mushroom Relief and Resilience Soothing Face Mask, which comes in a 100ml tube. It can be used a handful of times (good value for money) and promotes the super-food action of mushroom. This subtly-scented product seems to work well for reducing redness and irritability, with a soft and gentle creamy texture. It’s a good one to try out if your skin needs a bit of a detox, as well as a bit of relaxation, too!

Retexturizing Mask with Rose Clay

Finally, in terms of Origins mask, the Retexturizing Mask with Rose Clay is another listed best-seller from the beauty brand. Claiming to be a ‘2-in-1’ style mask, this one contains some lovely ingredients: Mediterranean Rose Clay and Canadian Willowherb to give the skin a deep cleanse, and Jojoba beads to exfoliate and improve skin’s texture.

However, it must be said that if you’re not a fan of exfoliating beads, then this might not be the Origins mask for you, simply because the beads do like to stick around a little- even after a good wash! But, on the plus side, the effects of this mask leave such a soft effect on the skin and make your face feel well cleansed! It’s best applied by massaging in, leaving for a while, and then washing off.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Origins is a great place to search for skin care that’s going to be ‘kind.’ Although there are many Origins stores, their largest global stockist is Sephora, where you can find many of these natural skin care products. Of course, there’s also the Origins online store, which is a sensible place to start if you’re hoping to browse products across the brand- or you could peruse the Origins ‘special offers’ page to pick up an exclusive deal and secure a well-valued Origins sale.

The website is easy to navigate and is very helpful visually: the company include plenty of pictures, not just of the products, but also of the ingredients used within each product. This is an engaging way to contextualize what you’re putting on your skin- and admire the beauty of ‘nature-’ formulated in to these natural products!

Summary