Hello! How are you doing? Hopefully you’re well, staying healthy and sane. I want to share with you today the amazing April Boxwalla Beauty Box, it’s so good!
In the April Boxwalla Beauty Box themed ‘When the Muses Sing of Spring’ you will find two full size products from Monastery Made: Aloe Hyaluronic Moisture Boost and XX Rose Glycolic Gel. You can check out the box here.
Monastery Made is a new-to-me brand and I think pretty much all of us only just discovered this brand through Boxwalla. Lavanya, the founder of Boxwalla, has such a talent for sharing all these amazing brands and products with us. Not sure where she finds them, but I’m most thrilled she does and I cannot tell you how lucky and grateful I am I’m one of Boxwalla’s brand ambassadors. Okay so Monastery Made is a brand created by Athena Hewett, made in small batches in her studio in San Francisco. Athena has worked as an esthetician for 20 years, opening her, own skincare studio (where she still practices) in 2011. Monastery Made was inspired by her childhood summers in the Greek Cyclades, where her grandmother pressed oil from their own grove, mixing sage, chamomile, and rosemary into tonics. With this beautiful inspiration it’s no wonder that the products themselves are so beautiful – I love the whole look and what’s inside impressed me so much too.
Aloe Hyaluronic Moisture Boost is a lightweight gel serum that provides a serious boost of hydration. This serum contains two molecular weights of Hyaluronic Acid – the larger sits on the skin, hydrating and softening it, while the smaller penetrates deeper, plumping the skin. It also contains Aloe Vera, which is yet another wonderful hydrating, and soothing ingredient. What I really like about both of these products are their short ingredient lists. I really appreciate that. Those ingredients that are in the products are effective and they work, so really there’s no need to add anything more. As mentioned, this is a lightweight serum that is quite runny. Has a pale, off white colour and sinks into the skin quickly. Based on Instagram stories Athena shared, I like to tap my skin as soon as I apply it. I do two pumps and apply straight on my cleansed, dry skin. Smooth all over and then do these tapping movements with my fingers all over my face. Feels really nice and I appreciate a little boost of circulation. I also can’t forget about its scent of Lavender elevated with Clary Sage and White Camphor. I really like it! After about three weeks of use I have to say I’m impressed. A really beautiful serum that I use AM & PM. It hydrates and plumps my skin, plus it’s also soothing, and I didn’t experience any irritation or redness while using it. It layers beautifully with other products – other serums, creams and oils. I’m so happy I got to try this product, I like it so much! You can check out Monastery Made Aloe Hyaluronic Moisture Boost here.
XX Rose Glycolic Gel is a gentle exfoliating gel serum with 10% Glycolic Acid (an AHA) in a soothing base of Rose Water. This AHA glycolic gel is made from the sugar acids of Cane, Beets and Pineapple. It is preserved with a natural fermentation process. It has a pH of 5, so it’s mild yet very effective. For me this product wasn’t an instant hit, as was Aloe. There are a few different ways on how to use it. The first one I tried was to use it as an overnight exfoliating serum. This can be done 1 – 2 times per week. Applying one to two pumps on cleansed, dry skin, and then following with Aloe and other products (I used a facial oil and/or a moisturizer). My skin always turned slightly red and I felt a tingling sensation for a little while, but that disappeared quite quickly. Based on these two signs I did expect my skin to be more exfoliated and smoother, but I didn’t seem to notice any major results. I tried it like that a couple of times and it was fine, but then I tried it the second way they recommend – as a mask. Now that is more of my jam. I applied two pumps (again, on cleansed, dry skin) and left it on for a few minutes. There was that tingling sensation again but no redness. After about 3 or 5 minutes, I rinsed it off with water and my skin was definitely smoother but then in the morning I really noticed the skin looking brighter and it just looked better, and exfoliated. After that I’ve been using XX like a mask and I love it! It wasn’t an instant hit but now I cannot wait to use it again as a mask. Which actually hasn’t been that many times since I only use it once, possibly two times a week. Now I did say that it didn’t perform as well as I hoped as an overnight serum but then a couple of days ago I did use it like that just because, and I enjoyed it too. I’ve been loving experimenting with this product and figuring it out what’s the best way to use it for my skin. It’s funny how at first I didn’t seem to think it does anything to my skin, but then it proved me wrong and I’m so glad about that. A beautiful product! I actually can’t decide which one is my fave of the box and that’s when you know it’s a bloody good selection of products. Thanks Lavanya for another amazing skincare discovery! You can check out Monastery Made XX Rose Glycolic Gel here.
I’m in love and I highly recommend the April Boxwalla Beauty Box.
You can get it here.
Definitely check out Monastery Made products here.
Thank you so much for reading and have a lovely weekend!
Love,
Jana xx
*sample generously provided
**this post contains some affiliate links