Hey everyone,
At the beginning of the year I made a spendy purchase and bought the Josh Rosebrook Deep Hydrating Serum. Josh Rosebrook is well known for having products with pure, organic ingredients with zero toxicity results in his formulas. I was running out of my current facial oil, so I thought this would be an amazing replacement!
The price is quite high ($105 CAD) considering it is a 1oz (30ml) bottle.
I have used it consistently for about 2 months, mostly mornings morning and sometimes night, and now it’s time for a review.
Claims:
“This highly concentrated facial oil serum contains potent vitamins, minerals, anti-inflammatories and antioxidants designed to easily absorb into the deepest layers of the skin. A powerful concentration of live, active extracts immediately goes to work, repairing and nourishing skin cells while boosting collagen and elastin production. We love it for oily skin types because it balances oil production while still being super hydrating.”
On Bottle:
“A powerhouse oil serum packed with active botanical extracts, essential oils, antioxidants, phytonutrients, minerals, amino and fatty acids. This advanced formula uses tiny molecule to infuse superior moisture levels and unparalleled nourishment to the deepest levels of the skin for visibly results.
Use Daily to Help:
Repair & protect
Plumps & brighten
Nourish, hydrate & moisturize”
How to Use:
“Effective for all skin types, particularly oily skin. Can be applied over the Josh Rosebrook Hydrating Accelerator or directly onto skin. Use circular motions to apply a small amount of the serum to clean face and neck. Leave in.”
Ingredients:
Organic Oils Of: Coconut, Sunflower, Hemp Seed, Apricot, Jojoba, Almond, Grapeseed And Seabuckthorn. Organic Herbal Infusion Of: Calendula Flowers, Bilberry, Slippery Elm, Chickweed, Skull Cap, Neem Leaf, Fennel Seed, Ginkgo Leaf, Hawthorn Berry, St. John’s Wort, Green Tea, Marshmallow Root And Alfalfa. Organic Essential Oils Of: Vanilla, Ylang Ylang and a Proprietary Blend Of Other Essential Oils.
Usage
Once thing you’ll notice when you first use this products is its potent, unpleasant smell. I don’t know how else to describe it but it smells like a type of medicine. Fortunately, I have not noticed it since using it on a daily basis, but I definitely did not enjoy the first moments of use. After washing my face and applying toner, I decided to use this as my main serum. I find it best to apply it to the palm of your hand and pat in your face. You could do circular motions as the product suggests, I however find it sinks in faster with some light pats. It surprisingly does a nice job at hydrating considering it’s all oils. My skin after application always looks nice and healthy, never too oily.
Taken from the “How it Works” section (provided via link below), I went through each claim to see if I have noticed a difference in my skin after using the Deep Hydrating Serum for a few months.
- Antioxidants in Grape Seed oil, Hawthorn Berry, Green Tea fight fine lines by neutralizing free radicals and allowing collagen and elastins to be produced. – Confession time. I feel like I have smiles lines and have started noticing the oh so sliiiiightest bits of wrinkles near my nose. I was hoping this product would help with that problem, but truthfully, I haven’t noticed any slight improvements.
- Sea Buckthorn, Hemp, Coconut and Almond oils nourish with Vitamin E, moisturizing fatty acids, strengthening amino acids, binding, repairing, protecting, and delivering moisture and protection deep into skin cells. – I’ll agree with this, because my face actually does feel moisturized after use, however that won’t make me skip on a moisturizer. I’ve also noticed any “wounds” I have from a pimple are not as long lasting.
- Vitamins and minerals in Chickweed repair the structure of the skin while calming and healing dry, problem skin. – My skin definitely hasn’t felt chapped after using this serum. However, it IS summer time, so my skin is less dry in general. The only “problems” it’s healed are post breakouts open wounds, but never a breakout.
- Slippery Elm and Skullcap antibacterial agents detoxify, calm and balance problem skin. – I definitely don’t feel like this contributes more to my skin’s oiliness, and usually I either get oily by the end of the day or if it’s too hot outside. Quite typical I have to say. But I never look TOO oily.
- Neem Leaf’s anti-inflammatories smooth and heal. Fennel Seed’s antioxidants helps reduce fine lines, brighten and firm skin while helping reduce excess oil production. – Again, the fine lines near my smile line have not reduced, but I notice the ones on my forehead less. Also, I feel like my skin looks healthy and full when I use this serum.
- Marshmallow Root reduces inflammation and boosts cell immunity against skin degeneration to tone and brighten the complexion. – The redness I experience in my skin has definitely been infrequent and it never looks like there are dark, dry patches on my face.
Extras:
- This product has done nothing to prevent my acne. It doesn’t make it better, it doesn’t make it worse. Kinda disappointing in that regards I have to say, since I was hoping its anti-inflammatory properties that this item claims would tackle that issue.
- I like that it doesn’t feel heavy, so I’ve been able to apply this during the day.
- I don’t think this serum has any long lasting effects and does anything to help prolong my skin. I feel like I only see what I want to see when I’ve applied this.
- I’ve used this product for a couple of months and it’s almost at the halfway point.
Overall Opinion
I really wanted to love this product, since it has so many amazing ingredients and it just seemed so promising. However I cannot ignore that I feel like there’s been no long term gain since I started using this product a couple of months ago. My skin looks amazing when I’ve applied it and this is what made me like it so much at the beginning as well. However with constant use, that look doesn’t change (if you look at the photos taken of my hand, that’s all it does for my face. I feel hydrated, but the skin outside hasn’t changed). I really like it because it is nice and light, I think it would be great with balancing oil production, it hydrated my skin very well for an oil serum, and my skin always looks even and healthy. However, I can achieve similar results with a facial oil 1/3rd of the price (eg. emu oil, rosehip oil, to name a couple). I personally cannot justify purchasing this product again. I’ve heard so many great things about Josh Rosebrook, I really wanted this to work. I do think it’s beautifully formulated, but I must be one of the few who don’t see anything worthwhile in it. Maybe if you have super inflamed, dry, or super oily skin, this may be a blessing to you, but I’m fine without it and using a simple facial oil. Also for the price I paid, it definitely adds to it not being worth the money.
This won’t deter me from trying out other Josh Rosebrook products, but I don’t think I’ll be going back to this one. I’m going to finish up the bottle and update this post to let you know my final thoughts.
Has anyone else tried the Deep Hydrating Serum? Should I try this differently? Or is there something better and affordable? Let me know what you think.
xo, M.
Check out:
Pretty Cosmetics Purifying Facial Oil Review
Darphin Aromatic Purifying Balm Review
Achieving Clear Skin After the Pill: My Daily Skincare Routine