Mary Elizabeth Hand Cream and Gentle Facial Scrub

Mary Elizabeth is an award winning, natural and British-made beauty brand that offers a range of skincare and bodycare full of vitamin rich plant oils and essential oils. The brand is cruelty free which means that none of the ingredients in any of the products are tested on animals, and they're also free from SLS, parabens, artifical colours and fragrance. I'm always keen to try more natural and cruelty free beauty products so when Mary Elizabeth contacted me and asked if I'd like to try some of their products I very happily said yes. I chose their Juniper and Joboba Hand Cream - winner of the Green Parent Award 2013 - and the Camellia and Geranium Gentle Face Scrub - winner of the Free From Skincare Awards 2013.

Mary Elizabeth Juniper and Jojoba Hand Cream* | rrp £10.00

Mary Elizabeth's hand cream has a wonderful texture - it's creamy but light and absorbs into the skin incredibly quickly, leaving your skin instantly feeling softer and smoother. It also has a lovely natural fragrance from the inclusion of oils and flower extracts. It's quite a strong fragrance but once you've massaged the hand cream into your skin it fades into something much more delicate. I've been really impressed by the effectiveness of this hand cream and I can definitely see how it won an award! My only gripe is with the packaging which isn't very good for use on-the-go, and it isn't really that hygienic. However, it's totally fine if you just want something to apply in the evening before bed and that's how I've ended up using it. Overall, I really like this hand cream and I think it's priced just right too.

Mary Elizabeth Camelia and Geranium Gentle Face Scrub* | rrp £14.00

Unlike the hand cream, this Face Scrub came as quite a surprise as it has a completely different texture to what I had expected. Whilst I expected something far more "scrubby", what you get from Mary Elizabeth's Camelia and Gernaium Face Scrub is an incredibly nourishing, creamy base which is then home to only a sparse sprinkling of medium sized exfoliating particles. It isn't a harsh scrub nor is it a micro-exfoliant - it's quite unlike anything else I've tried before. It really does only offer a very gentle exfoliation and although this does make it lovely and gentle on the skin, personally I don't find that it gives me enough exfoliation to keep my skin soft and clear. It does, however, also work as a wonderful cleanser and I find massaging the product into my skin an incredibly luxurious experience. Overall, I really like the product but I think it works better as a cleanser - or even a once-a-week cleansing mask - than as an exfoliater. I don't think that I'd choose this over other exfoliating products that I've tried in the past, but I think it might be a nice option for those with very sensitive skin who want a really gentle exfoliater.

Have you heard of Mary Elizabeth before?

What hand creams or exfoliaters do you love using?