MSM Beauty Spray
MSM, often called the beauty mineral, is an organic sulphur compound that's anti-inflammatory and very beneficial for skin repair. When taken internally, MSM can help with a whole host of things - everything from arthritis and joint health to strengthening hair and promoting radiant skin. By applying MSM topically, as in Raw Gaia's MSM range, the MSM is directly absorbed by the skin, thereby maximizing its skin benefits.
In addition to MSM, the Beauty Spray contains wild crafted argan oil, organic rosehip oil, and wild crafted frankincense water and essential oil, all blended together to create a gentle spray that I think would suit just about any skin type. The Beauty Spray is described as a light moisturizer, but I like to use it more as a hydrating toner. It's a liquid spray with some oil in it (I recommend shaking it before you spray!), but it's definitely more on the watery side. It's not hydrating enough for my skin to use it on its own, but I love using it either to dampen my skin before applying an additional face oil, or as an intermediate toning step between cleansing and moisturizing. It smells like frankincense, but it isn't overly strong or overpowering in any way.
Raw Chocolate Face Pack
The composition of this mask is a potent mix of organic raw chocolate powder, red clay, organic turmeric, and organic amla fruit powder. The clay tones and decongests your pores, while the chocolate provides a boost of free radical fighting antioxidants. The amla powder gives a high dose of vitamin C, great for increasing cell turnover and brightening the skin, and the turmeric is both anti-inflammatory and very effective at evening skin tone and fading hyperpigmentation and scarring.
It smells phenomenal - just like chocolate - and it felt lovely and cool while it was on. It wasn't overly drying and I was looking forward to radiant, glowy skin when I washed it off. Unfortunately, what I found instead was that my entire face had been stained orange. Bright, bad fake tan, Snookie orange. I'm guessing it was the turmeric - in combination with how fair my skin is - but, needless to say, it wasn't a pretty sight. I got the color off by washing my face a few times with Evolve's Gentle Cleansing Melt, but my skin doesn't thrive on a lot of touching/scrubbing, so by the time I'd gotten all the orange off, I felt like I'd probably negated many of the benefits of the mask. I've been reluctant to reach for it since, so I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I'll make sure to post an update once I've used it some more.
The Bottom Line
I'm conflicted on the Raw Chocolate Face Pack, but I'd wholeheartedly recommend the MSM Beauty Spray. I don't generally fall hard for toners or sprays, but I really like this one. I could definitely see myself buying a full size in the future. If your skin is more on the oily side, it might even work as a light moisturizer.
Have you used anything from Raw Gaia? Any tips to prevent the face pack from staining so badly?
*Press Sample
