The Prickly Pear Esmeria Organics Skincare Line certainly pricks my interest!

As I observed last week, some readers have been asking me about organic skincare and its quite timely too as the testing period came to an end for this new range of organic skincare – Esmeria Organics. I’d been wanting to tell you about them for a while, because they are a local brand, and despite how I feel about the local political scene, I am proud of local brands that make good.

And Esmeria is one of those local brands I’d love to see succeed globally 🙂 They’re well on their way really, by being the first local Malaysian brand to get certified by EcoCert which is really, no mean feat. But certification aside, our concerns as consumers are, “How does it fare on the skin?” and here’s where we come in 😉

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The range of skincare I have is the Prickly Pear range in red, which is for normal to combination skin. There are another 2 ranges available – Alpine Willowherb for Oily and Acne Prone skin (pink packaging) and Glasswort for Dry and Mature Skin (green packaging). My skin is dry around the cheeks and a little oily on the T zone and Prickly Pear is supposed to help hydrate, sooth and protect the skin from UV damage. Interesting. Let’s take a gander.

Esmeria Organics Prickly Pear Balancing Cleansing Gel – RM29.90/75ml

The cleansing gel has a very lovely fresh floral scent and a light liquid gel texture. Be careful if you upend the tube because it is liable to spill out even if you don’t squeeze the tube. Personally I think for the texture, a bottle may be a better packaging medium. Otherwise, it is light on the skin yet cleans well, and does not leave the skin feeling dry after washing. I enjoy using it in the morning because of the lovely scent and I think its a good face wash overall. Its just 75ml and because of the liquid texture you might find yourself inadvertently using more than you really need. Hence I still think a bottle with a small nozzle will be perfect for this product.

Ingredients: Aqua/water, aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, sodium cocoyl glutamate, disodium cocoglucoside tartrate, coco glucoside, glyceryl oleate, xanthan gum, opuntia ficus indica stem (prickly pear) extract, glycerin, fructan, epilobium fleischeri (alpine willowherb) extract, calendula officinalis flower extract, nelumbo nucifera (lotus flower extract, tocopherol, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, citrus dulcis (sweet orange) oil, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, parfum from essential oils. 30.4% from organic farming, 99.9% from natural origin.

Esmeria Organics Prickly Pear Balancing Toner – RM32.90/60ml

I found myself really liking this toner that you use after cleansing and before moisturizer. The toner is a deep yellow in colour and has quite a strong floral citrus scent. When I’m at home, I apply using a cotton pad, by wiping it all over my face and neck. On the road, I just pour some into my hands and pat it on my skin. Both methods work for me. My skin feels moist after use and it isn’t drying at all. There is a slight tacky feel which dissipates after a while and it almost feels like a first layer of moisturizer has been applied although I top up with moisturizer after that. On the road and in an air conditioned environment, I sometimes saturate cotton pads and lay them on my skin – cheeks and forehead – as a quick mask. Works well that way too and even better to calm the skin if you keep the toner in the fridge! 😀 I’m wondering how it’d fare as a mist toner actually. I personally think it’d work quite well.

Ingredients: Aqua/water, aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, glycerin, epilobium fleischeri (alpine willowherb) extract, buddleja davidii (butterfly bush) extract, thymus vulgaris (thyme) extract, opuntia ficus-indica stem (prickly pear) extract, hydrolyzed algin, sea water, chlorella vulgaris (green alga) extract, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil, tocopherol, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, polyglyceryl-4 caprylate, decyl glucoside, sodium lauoyl glutamate, diglycerin, potassium sorbate, parfum from essential oils. 31.2% from organic farming, 99.9% from natural origin.

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Esmeria Organics Prickly Pear Moisturizer – RM46.90/30ml

I use the Moisturizer as the day moisturizer. Its light in texture and absorbs quickly into the skin, but importantly, seems to hydrate my skin well throughout the day. Even my sister, who took some to try commented that her skin felt well hydrated compared to her regular moisturizer. I might switch her over to this one later. You can also use this at night if you have oilier skin than I do. For myself, I prefer something a little heavier at night,which is where the Replenishing Moisturizer comes in.

Ingredients: Aqua/water, aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, glycerin, epilobium fleischeri (alpine willowherb) extract, buddleja davidii (butterfly bush) extract, thymus vulgaris (thyme) extract, opuntia ficus-indica stem (prickly pear) extract, hydrolyzed algin, sea water, chlorella vulgaris (green alga) extract, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil, tocopherol, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, polyglyceryl-4 caprylate, decyl glucoside, sodium lauoyl glutamate, diglycerin, potassium sorbate, parfum from essential oils. 31.2% from organic farming, 99.9% from natural origin.

Esmeria Organics Prickly Pear Replenishing Moisturizer – RM49.90/30ml

The Replenishing Moisturizer has a slightly thicker texture compared to the Moisturizer. This cream is more suited for those who are normal-dry as opposed to normal-oily and for me, it functions best as a night moisturizer especially if you are sleeping in an air-conditioned room. If you aren’t of the normal-dry skin type or don’t sleep in an air-conditioned room, the regular Moisturizer should do the trick. In the day, I find this one a little bit thick and less comfortable, even if it does also sink into the skin – just a little more slowly.

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Ingredients: Aqua/water, aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, plukenitia volubilis (inca inchi) seed oil, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) oil, cetearyl olivate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, alaria esculenta extract, laminaria ochroleuca extract, opuntia ficus-indica stem (prickly pear) extract, glycerin, epilobium fleischer (alpine willowherb) extract, calendula officinalis flower extract, buddleja davidii (butterfly bush) extract, thymus vulgaris (thyme) extract, fructan, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil, chamaemelum nobile (roman chamomile) oil, tocopherol, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, parfum from essential oils. 35.1% from organic farming, 99.9% from natural origin.

Esmeria Organics Prickly Pear Skincare – Overall view

On an overall basis, I did enjoy using the Esmeria Organics Prickly Pear skincare line. It was light on my skin yet delivered sufficient hydration and was not drying in any manner at all which is really great. Unlike some ranges of organic skincare, my skin did not turn oilier nor drier and I liked how the toner was calming on the skin, even after a touch of sun.

I do note however, that the moisturizers mention UV protection from the ingredients used.The Prickly Pear is supposed to not only hydrate the skin from within, but also defend skin against UV damage.

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Whilst I have no doubt that there are natural ingredients in the moisturizer that can protect the skin from the damaging UV rays, I will not be comfortable NOT using any additional sunblock or sunscreen over my skin. If you don’t like using sunscreen and don’t go out in the sun a lot, perhaps the Prickly Pear range might help you then, as the prickly pear cactus is known to protect even from UV rays so some protection is better than none. It just takes a lot more to convince me, that’s all 🙂

Pricing wise, I’d say the pricing is reasonable for an organic skincare line. Affordable even. However, it will be pertinent to note that most of the products come in rather small sizes. Actually, to rephrase, the packaging looks small as its kept simple and basic. But if you run a comparison, you’d note that most moisturizers come in 50ml sizes so 30ml isn’t too far off the mark and even at 50ml, doing some quick math, it isn’t very expensive either for organic skincare. The toner and cleansing gel could do with a bit of an upsize though.

The biggest size for the skincare is 75ml for the cleansing gel and the smallest are the moisturizers, at 30ml a tube. They are perfect for those who travel because everything falls under the 100ml airline rule so you can take it all on board. However, you might also find them running out fairly quickly. In my case, because I’m rather liberal with the toner, I’m nearly done with the 60ml bottle after about a month. I could take the cleanser and moisturizers to close to 2 months. So I’d say a full size set will last you perhaps 1.5-2 months with daily use. Not bad, to be honest.

I did ask the marketing director why they made such small sizes, when larger bottles would be more practical. The reason was primarily the pricing. Esmeria Organics preferred to keep the pricing competitive and affordable, hence the smaller packaging with lower prices. Also, they opted to not use bulky packaging to be more friendly to the environment. Perhaps if the line does well, we could see slightly larger sizes on the shelves? One can hope! 🙂

So, for everyone for whom I told to take a look at Esmeria Organics, now you know my thoughts on the line I’ve used. Its a pretty good all round basic skincare line, and if you are into organic skincare or are looking to try it, the EcoCert label pretty much says it all. My personal recommendations are the Prickly Pear Balancing Toner and the Prickly Pear Replenishing Moisturizer. I think both of these work very well indeed 🙂

If you have tried this line of skincare, do share your thoughts on them. Or perhaps you might be interested to? You can read Xin’s take on the Glasswort moisturizer for dry and mature skin if that’s more your skintype. There are also trial sets available so you can try those first to see if it suits your skin.

Paris B

Esmeria Organics skincare can be purchased at Vitalife pharmacy, Caring pharmacy, Jusco Wellness stores, Just Life stores and some organic shops. The full list of stockists is here or join the Esmeria Organics Facebook page for latest updates.