REN is one of those brands that I’ve wanted to try for ages, especially after hearing the trustworthy and amusing Kate (of gh0stparties, of course) and when I got my Sephora VIB coupon code in November, I picked this product up for myself and then to assuage my guilt of spending more money, sold it to my mother to give me for Christmas – I really didn’t need to be spending money at the time but 20% was too good to waste. A moisturizer seemed like a good choice, having the dry and sensitive skin that I have and after being pleased with the ingredient list (more on this later), I went with the moderately-priced REN Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream, which has recently been renamed by REN to Evercalm Global Protection Day Cream but it has not been reformulated. It can be purchased from a variety of places, but I picked mine up from Sephora for $55 CDN and I believe in the US it retails for ten dollars cheaper, as per usual.

Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Flower Extract, Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Myristyl Myristate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Cetearyl Glucoside, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Triheptanoin, Oryzanol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Seed Oil, Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) Seed Oil, Bisabolol, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Laminaria Ochroleuca Extract, Cassia Alata Leaf Extract, Pueraria Lobata (Kudzu) Symbiozome Extract, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate, Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Extract, Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Peel Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Cinnamomum Camphora Linalloliferum (Ho Wood) Leaf Oil, Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Flower Oil, Limonene, Citronellol, Geraniol, Linalool, Tocopherol.

Without making any other particularly significant changes to my skincare routine, I’ve been using this moisturizer daily since Christmas so I feel confident writing a skincare review. Because REN labels it a day cream, some of you may be mislead, expecting it to contain SPF but it doesn’t — and for me this is good because day creams tend to contain chemical spfs that my skin tends to be extremely reactive to and therefore I cannot use. There’s no reason why this can’t be used at night, but I figure it’s labelled a day cream because its not one of those heavy and thick creams that are marketed for use at night. And I like this moisturizer, it comes with 50 mLs of product in a simple hygienic pump, it’s one of the better moisturizers I’ve tried but it didn’t wow me like the Caudalie Vinosource did.

Ingredient-wise, the moisturizer contains less “filler” such as dimethicone and the like and more impressive ingredients such as antioxidants — the first ingredient, rather than being pure water, is the beneficial antioxidant Chamomile flower water and it has a high concentration of green-tea oil (another antioxidant) and has nice high concentrations of oils without drying alcohol. REN posits itself as a natural brand, so the beef I have with them is no surprise; they talk about the superiority of their skincare because of its natural fragrance but fragrance is fragrance (and irritating) regardless of its origin and there are slight amounts of natural but irritating ingredients like orange peel oil. Despite these facts, I do not find this irritating on the skin, I just think it could possibly be more soothing; I like this moisturizer on my skin on the average day but it isn’t one of those moisturizers that can go over sore dry flaky skin like a dream.

It’s a nicely hydrating moisturizer with a lightweight but nourishing texture dispensed from a handy pump. It smells slightly herbally which I don’t mind but is not necessary in my view in a skincare product as it can irritate the skin and whatnot. It absorbs quickly but leaves the skin plump and energized, helping to add some luminosity (most likely with the added oils). It’s not heavy but it isn’t a completely weightless gel kind of moisturizer but I don’t see this as a problem unless you have some serious oil-control issues but it can also be used at night. I have dry sensitive skin and I quite like this moisturizer but I can also see those with combination skin loving its lightweight texture and nourishing ability. It is soothing on the skin but not as gentle as say the Kiehl’s Stress Rescuer.

As you can probably imagine from the title, the moisturizer is targeted to leave reactive sensitive skin soothed and calm, combating future irritation that leads to premature aging and optimally hydrated. It does a pretty good job on achieving its claims it just might not be optimal for the most reactive and sensitive of skins to calm it due to its fragrance and irritating oils. But it does soothe and hydrate well, so it doesn’t make any otherwordly claims that I can complain about.

Have you tried any products from REN? If so, what are your thoughts?

Maggie, x.