Product Fails Part 1: Alba Botanica Very Emollient SPF and The Ordinary Niacinamide 10%. These products weren’t helpful.

I’ve decided to do a wee series of blogs on product fails. I have been going through my skincare and realised I have a lot kicking around that simply failed me. See here for my first product fail. There are so many products out there, we can easily get sucked in and end up buying stuff that really isn’t worth the money for a variety of reasons. So I’m going to let you in on the products I have unfortunately bought that haven’t been worth a sook. Obviously it is all individual depending on skin type etc. My skin type is normal to combination. Sometimes it is a tiny bit dry, other times I get breakouts on my cheeks, chin and jawline.

Welcome to the most emollient sunscreen I have ever come across! Alba Botanica very emollient mineral suncreen SP30. Bought for £2.99 from TkMaxx.

Wow. Just wow. I know it says it is very emollient but oh my days. You simply don’t have enough time to use this SPF. It says it is for kids but I have no idea how you would be expected to use this on a child. It would take hours to rub it in and I am not exaggerating. I rubbed the SPF on the back of my hand and after 30 seconds all I had done was spread the product about a bit. It certainly hadn’t absorbed or broken down in any way. All that happened when I rubbed the product was the natural oil on my fingers sealed the top of the product making it impossible to rub in. I gave it a really good go after that, rubbing it with all of my other hand and it dispersed but leaves a very sticky white shiny layer behind.

The ingredients list is okay. It has some good stuff in there, no obvious fragrance but it does have benzyl alcohol at the bottom which is fragrance. It’s not touted as fragrance free so there likely is covert fragrance . I won’t be using the product because the texture has made that impossible so the ingredients isn’t that important because it won’t be going on my skin anyway.

This would have to be one of those products you just leave to sit on the skin and accept you are going to look like you have melted white chocolate all over you. I can’t see a situation where this product would be practical. At all. Well maybe if you wanted everything your child touches to stick to them and likewise want your child to stick to anything they touch, then this is the product for you. Maybe use your child as a human fly catcher because it would work well for that.

The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% Solution plus 1% Zinc.

Loved by many, just not by me. I don’t have too much to say on this product. It’s a fail for me because it just didn’t do anything. It is viewed as being amazing for skin blemishes and reducing sebum congestion. Did I see those positive differences in my skin? Not a chance. It’s a watery solution that goes on fine and absorbs. I have used a whole bottle and I didn’t see any positive change in my skin.

I am seriously wondering if I paid for a bottle of water because I literally seen no difference. I have tried other products since this one, ones that have contained niacinamide, and have helped with sebum production and skin blemishes so I find it wierd that TO didn’t produce any visible results. Plus, it pilled like crazy under The Ordinary Retinol 1% with Squalene.