In my never-ending quest to defeat ageing and keep my skin as youthful and soft as possible, I’m now on the eternal quest for great skincare products that will aid the fight I’m destined to lose eventually. With this in mind I’ve been trying two products from Bjork & Berries, a Swedish company who use their heritage and local flora in their sustainable range. As a bonus for me, they also use as many organic ingredients as possible as part of their natural products philosophy.
They sent me the Forest Extract Moisturiser and the Botanist Hand Cream. So, how did I find them?
Forest Extract Moisturiser
Bjork & Berries Forest Extract Moisturiser is a very light cream with a delightful soft fragrance that soaks into the skin with ease, and because it’s light, it feels like it's been fully absorbed in seconds and leaves the skin feeling grease free and clean. In the (polluted) London air, that's important as moisturisers that don’t soak in can feel like they grab the particles and hold them on your face. The blend feels great, and as someone who can suffer from skin that’s as dry as a prohibition town in the Vegas desert, I can honestly say that my skin has been soft, glowing and pliant like a cashmere bouncy castle on a dusky summer evening.
It also passed the ‘people around me test', given how tired and run down the September fashion treadmill can leave me – long hours, little sleep, poor diet and lack of sunlight. When people comment how glowing you look, not only to you feel like you’ve had an inch added to your height, but it also proves that the product lives up to its claims on how well it works.
Botanist Hand Cream
I’m always a bit wary of hand creams. The feel for those that don’t usually have them in their routine can feel a bit heavy as they need to be thicker due to your hands being busier and more used than your face. The hand cream from Bjork & Berries is a bit heavier than the face moisturiser. It applies to the skin easily and doesn’t feel like you’ve actually applied anything very quickly. I loved that it truly was an all-day barrier and that it’s 100% vegan.
But the best thing about this, apart from it really does leave your hands feeling very soft and like they’ve become a velvet glove, is the smell. How to describe it?
The fruity under notes are mixed with vetiver and patchouli to create a lasting fragrance that nods to a bygone age. The scent is one that brings back nostalgia without feeling old fashioned. It’s like a comforting reminisce of my grandfather's bathroom cabinet brought right up to date. I just adored it.
The only test that counts: Would I buy Bjork & Berries?
A resounding yes, without hesitation. The skincare market is rammed full of creams and lotions that shout and brag, but not only are these two fantastic products, but they are understated and just get on with the job as proof of their ability to work. Both smell great, feel great and leave you feeling like they haven’t even been applied, while giving the skin a soft firmness. In the last two decades I’ve tried a lot of products, and these are a couple of the best I’ve used.
Find the products at bjorkandberries.com.
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All photographs by Ross Pollard.