...Origins High Potency Night-A-Mins Mineral Enriched Night Cream

What an incredibly long name this product has been given! The is one of the best-selling moisturisers that is made by Origins, a company relatively new to me. They seem to be one of those new-found brands (like Antipodes or Cauldalie) that gather their success from being nature friendly. Origins don't use harsh chemicals like parabens and pack their products full of plant extracts and natural oils.

Firstly it smells of citrus, cinnamon and vanilla, but only very softly. It comes in a jar and is a thick, viscous cream. A little does really go a long way, and I only need to apply a small blob here and there to cover my whole face. It seems to absorb into the skin, rather oddly, in two stages; firstly as you'd expect from a thick cream you have to work it well, massaging it into the skin, but when it starts to warm up and absorb it becomes like an oil. It does leave a bit of a greasy residue on the skin, so I blot this off with a tissue so it doesn't end up all over my pillow.

I haven't noticed any vast improvement with my skin, although it does feel soft and look a bit brighter in the mornings. I really enjoy using this as I adore the smell and it really does feel luxurious to use.

Price - £34
Quite expensive but I'd expect it to last for a long time. On the Origins website it says that 98% of those that used the cream regularly felt that their skin was renewed and refreshed in the morning, so I'm going to use this for at least a month before I decide if I'll repurchase.

Ingredients
This contains a hell of a lot of ingredients, so I'm just picking out a choice few.

Valeriana officianalis - Plant extract of the herb Valerian, often used as a mild sedative and, interestingly, can be an alternative to Benzodiazepam.
Centella asiatica - Another plant extract, commonly used as a supplement and is said to improve circulation, stress relief, asthma and many other ailments - however these claims have never had any reliable scientific testing.
Anthemis Nobilis - Chamomile, an anti-inflammatory and whitening agent.
Linalool - A fragrance oil, used in about 70% of all perfumed hygiene products. Also used as an insecticide.
Retinyl palmitate - Used in vitamin A supplements, known to help acne, psoriasis, sunburn etc.
Tocopheryl Acetate - A vitamin E supplement and a beneficial antioxidant for the skin to absorb.
Disodium EDTA - A salt compound used to give the product a longer shelf-life. Also shown to improve the absorption of other ingredients into the skin.
Folic Acid - Vitamin B9 or H.
Linoleic Acid - An omega-6 fatty acid with anti-inflammatory, acne reducing and moisture-retentive properties.
Citrus Aurantium Amara - Bitter orange, possibly effective for treating fungal infections, possibly unsafe if consumed as a supplement.

I've probably missed off a couple of good ones here, but there are so many ingredients on the label I had to be a bit choosy. I tried to make sure that I put all the good ingredients on, as well as some of the less desirable ones. There is nothing particularly out of the ordinary in this cream, and most of the claims of this product have some backing within the ingredients - quite a rare find actually!

Overall I am pleased with this, I've never used a proper night cream before but I really enjoy it! It's nice having a moisturiser that can have all these goodies in but you don't need to worry about how shiny it makes your skin, or how well make-up sits on top of it.

A decent 4/5

Xxxx