Can you tell I’ve been trying out skincare products these past few weeks? I certainly have been doing a few skincare reviews lately and the last bit I tried is this Sephora birthday gift with two Drunk Elephant minis. When I visited New York last fall, I knew I wanted to look into Drunk Elephant. This skincare brand is so hyped up, it is definitely one that I was interested after. It is also very expensive and 2019 was all about trying some more expensive skincare products for me. For years I have sworn by drugstore and mid priced products by brand such as The Ordinary, The Body Shop, Lush, Kruidvat, Simple and Garnier. Simple, not too expensive and so I was interested in finding out whether the markup on this is worth the money. Luckily I could first try these mini freebies.
Skincare review: Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream & Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser
Let’s talk price point for a minute. Drunk Elephant is simply an expensive makeup bran. The cream retails for €65 from Cult Beauty. The cleanser retails for €31. That is for the full sizes. These are minis which is something the brand does a lot. So you don’t have to spend the full amount on these if you are just looking to try them. They do quite a few sets, but of course mini is a bit more expensive compared to the full size. So the question is: are these worth it?
Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream
In this little set you get a mini of the Polypeptide Cream. This is a daily moisturizer that boasts containing peptides. I have been using a peptide serum by The Ordinary in the morning and I found it to be very plumping. This sadly didn’t deliver for me. It is a nice moisturizer for sure, but I felt it didn’t fare any better than some of the more affordable ones I have tried. Why? Because it doesn’t do anything extra. It moisturizers my skin, but there is no SPF, no extra plumping and if I were to use this in the winter time it just wouldn’t be enough to really nourish my dry skin. It is just a little bit too lightweight for me.
And you can see that texture well when you look at the product closeup. It is lightweight and it sinks in quickly. So that means it works well under makeup. For a brand that claims to be free of fillers, I had expected more from the ingredients list. For that sort of claim, I would expect a short ingredient list that focuses on the core elements. However, this product has an ingredient list longer than many of the moisturizers I have tried by many different brands and that is why this is not the best in my book.
Drunk Elephant Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser
Let’s have a closer look at the second product in this set: the cleanser. This is a gel cleanser that comes in a tube. I really wanted to use this to cleanse my face after a long day of wearing makeup. What I like these gel cleansers for is a quick, easy all over cleanse to take off my makeup. Sadly this didn’t do that. After using this I felt it didn’t really take my makeup off well enough and I had to go in with a second cleanse to really get everything off. Additionally it had a hard time getting off eye makeup, especially mascara. This was messy to use, it gets into my eyes and then stings and just overall isn’t my favorite cleanser.
Where the cream was still okay enough, but it didn’t wow me for how expensive it is, this just really underwhelmed me. This is the kind of cleanser that is okay in the morning or as a second cleanse to really make sure all your makeup is gone. But as a first cleanse at night, this is just not heavy duty enough to take off makeup and make your skin feel clean. And to make matters worse, I find this too aggressive too. On my dry, sensitive skin, this makes my skin feel stripped and ‘squeaky’ clean. This product is perhaps great for more normal skin types, bit it is not for me.
My final thoughts
I was excited to try some Drunk Elephant, but after trying these two minis, I am not convinced. I do not think these are worth the price point. The moisturizer is too lightweight and doesn’t do enough for my skin (my milia have been getting worse since using this) and the cleanser is not heavy duty enough to do what I need a cleanser to do, which is to take off makeup while not stripping my skin bare.
Would I recommend the Drunk Elephant Polypeptide Cream & Jelly Cleanser?
Based on my skin type, I cannot recommend these two products. They are not great for dry, dehydrated, sensitive skinned people. However, if you have a normal skin type that is not prone to sensitivity than these two products may be good ones. For me personally, it wasn’t good enough and therefore I will not be putting my money towards the full sized products.
Leave a Reply