Beauty Heroes Box – December 2020 – Ayuna Less is Beauty

Where I got it

After my first box from Beauty Heroes, I actually stopped by subscription because I simply cannot commit to 3 subscription boxes at the same time (Mintd box and Boxwalla). I have decided to only go for one-time purchases for the boxes that contain products or brands that I want to try. After the Biophile box I received last month (highly recommended by Gillian of @growintoyourglow), my fascination and interest in clean beauty grew more and more. I keep checking on her IG for new brands to try and look into. Unfortunately, most of the brands are quite expensive and are based in the US or UK therefore shipping is pretty expensive.

Ayuna Less is Beauty came onto my radar lately as they have just launched their latest offering – Terra Bella in a hand-crafted limited-edition ceramic vessel. What attracted me at first is the pale green ceramic jar that it comes in. I looked into it and found out it was USD$455, which is way outside my budget and I think outside a lot of people’s budget! So about 2 weeks later, 1st of December, Gillian messaged me about the December Beauty Heroes box, I was shocked! To end the year 2020 on a high note (much needed), the discovery for this month is the TERRA BELLA!! OMG! I immediately signed back up for only USD$58.95 ($18.95 shipping), a total of USD$77.90. Which works out to be around NZD$110.

It was shipped on 2/12 and arrived on 14/12. Now, I have been experiencing a number of shipping issues with a couple of my parcels from the US and the UK in October/November and they managed to lose my November Mintd Box so far. I have yet to see my Boxwalla October box (Naturallogic), the Fine Limited Edition box also from Boxwalla AND my Deviant Skincare order (ARGH!! What is going on?!) I am actually very upset because I spent quite a lot of money on those and there is nothing worse than feeling disappointed. Alright, enough with the complaining, let’s crack on.

What I got

This is the last discovery box from Beauty Heroes for the year of 2020 and they are hitting it with a high note. Highest note I have ever heard for a beauty subscription box, to be honest. This month they are sending out a 100ml full-sized jar of the limited-edition Terra Bella by Ayuna – Less is Beauty.

The TERRA collection is the embodiment of Ayuna’s passion, which promotes a new generation of cosmetics through natural, ecological, and sustainable innovation. TERRA’s fully recyclable ceramic container holds the highest level of cosmetic innovation within it. The latest edition of this iconic collection is TERRA BELLA, a supreme emulsion with a high percentage of organic active ingredients (49%) promoting skin longevity and emotional stimulus through its vegan composition based on Plasma Rich in Cell Factors from Turmeric and the first in the industry to use Biotechnological Cocktail obtained from Cannabis Stem Cells.

Ingredients: VITIS VINIFERA (GRAPE) FRUIT WATER, OLEYL EUROCATE, PROPANEDIOL, WATER (AQUA), GLYCERIN, TREHALOSE, SUCROSE STEARATE, OLEA EUROPEAE (OLIVE) FRUIT OIL, BEHENYL ALCOHOL, LACTOBACILLUS FERMENT, BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA) BUTTER, CAPRYLYL CAPRYLATE/CAPRATE, STEARYL HEPTANOATE, CANDELILLA/JOJOBA/RICE BRAN, POLYGLYCERYL-3 ESTER, GLYCERYL STEARATE, MICROCRYSTALLINE CELLULOSE, SQUALANE, STEARYL CAPRYLATE, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CANNABIS SATIVA CALLUS LYSATE, GLUCONOLACTONE, SODIUM GLUCONATE, PRUNUS AMYGDALUS DULCIS (SWEET ALMOND) OIL, CURCUMA LONGA (TURMERIC) CALLUS LYSATE, HELIANTHUS ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) SEED OIL, LACTOBACILLUS, COCOS NUCIFERA (COCONUT) FRUIT EXTRACT, PENTYLENE GLYCOL, SODIUM LEVULINATE, ACACIA SENEGAL GUM, XANTHAN GUM, CELLULOSE GUM, CYAMOPSIS TETRAGONOLOBA (GUAR) GUM, SODIUM ANISATE, FRAGRANCE (PARFUM), BETA-SITOSTEROL, SQUALENE, TOCOPHEROL, PHYTIC ACID, CITRIC ACID, CARAMEL.

*49 percent of Organic ingredients
**Natural and Probiotic Preservatives
***Natural Essential Oil-based Fragrance (Gurjum Balsam, Holy Wood, Myrrh, Chamomile, Rosemary, Buchu)

How I find it

First of all, as a known fact, this is the most expensive skincare product I have ever used, purchase, or even tried. This is around NZD$640 for goodness sake! Whilst, I cannot compare this with anything else I have tried that are in similar price brackets, let me take you through my personal sensorial experience of this product (including packaging). I am not a skincare specialist or scientist or formulation chemist so I can only give you what information I have found on Beauty Heroes’ website and Ayuna’s website, also my own personal experience on this product. This might be a long-winded post, but I do want to cover a lot of things because this is a very very expensive product and most of us would not be able to afford this, so I don’t want to come across recommending something that is over-budget and unrealistic.

To start off, Ayuna – Less is Beauty is a luxury/high-end skincare brand based in Spain and they are a completely science-backed and clean/green beauty brand (whatever that means to anyway, this is a whole different discussion). They have only a handful of products in their current offerings – bar soaps, exfoliants, serums, masks, creams and oils. They also have perfumes. Terra Bella is a “Cannabic Sublimating Cream”. Ayuna has 2 creams in their existing collection – Cream I and Cream II which is light and rich respectively. Terra is a specific collection that Ayuna offers each year and this year it is called Terra Bella in a hand-crafted ceramic container. Once this limited edition sells out, they will no longer recreate it again, but the Terra technology will continue to live on. The container is obviously a collector’s item and can be washed and reused as a keepsake or purely a display item.

The claims of this cream, however, is really innovative. The cannabis Sativa stem cells are scientifically proven to increase oxytocin on the skin! Now you might be wondering what in the world?! Yes, it promotes happiness to your skin. The background technology is something beyond my limited knowledge. But somehow Ayuna has brought skincare to a neuroscientific level. Connecting the skin to the brain, promoting glowing skin from within. Mind-blowing yet?!

I try not to overthink this product, it is only a facial moisturiser and I will apply it on my skin as it is intended to be used. It can be used morning and night and it can be used around the eye area as well. Suitable for all skin types.

Ok, let’s get to my experience of this product. From the packaging of the ceramic “vessel” (jar), it doesn’t close properly, but they did add a silicone gasket around the jar so that the cap can somehow close without falling off easily. The cream is slightly ivory in colour and has a light leafy scent with a hint of sweetness to it. It is hard to describe what it smells like, but it’s not a root scent or fruity scent. It is not overpowering and it soon fades. The cream is quite thick, but not balm-thick. It melts beautifully on the skin and deeply moisturises my skin. It doesn’t leave a tacky or sticky finish so even for my combination-oily skin, even I could use it. I can use it AM and PM with no problems with oiliness or greasiness.

Overall

Overall, I really enjoyed this cream. Not only because it was a very expensive cream, but it really was a very nourishing cream and it really sank into my skin. It was also because of that feeling of applying something luxurious on my face. It’s an overall amazing experience. I would definitely find some good use of the vessel after the cream is finished and cleaned up.

With the ceramic vessel, you really can’t get an airtight seal, and a 100ml jar of cream can easily take me a good 4-5 months to use up when it is a rich cream. I didn’t want to let the formula or the “magic” of the cream to deteriorate by having it opened for too long so I have been using this generously on my face, neck and décolletage. You might think that I’m crazy to use a generous amount for my face and neck, but I would hate for the efficacy of the formula decrease because I have opened it for too long if you know what I mean.

I am about 2 weeks of using this cream and I do enjoy it. The rich texture is probably something I cannot handle on a daily basis when the weather here right now is quite hot and humid, but i definitely prefer to use it at night. I will continue using this until the very end, so follow me on IG to see it in an empties post!