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Cruelty free beauty is having a big moment lately and rightfully so, so when Trufora (trufora.com) reached out to me three months ago to see if I’d be interested in checking out a few of their products to share my honest opinion, I agreed. Before I gave them a short list of their products I thought would best suit my needs, I researched the ingredients as thoroughly as you would expect from a crazy-sensitive-skin-having beauty blogger. For me, I felt that Trufora’s eye cream, face wash, day cream and exfoliator would be excellent alternatives for someone with my sensitive, combo/oily, acne-prone yet anti-aging skin type/needs who is looking for a CF and Vegan Certified skin care routine. Ready to hear my thoughts?
Why I wanted to try it
I have an eye cream fascination. I am not 100% sold that eye creams really do anything more than a standard moisturizer, but I *can* tell you I have religiously used one since I turned 25 and have yet to see any fine lines around my eyes (which is not true for the rest of my face). This eye treatment is chockfull of anti-aging ingredients, but mostly I was intrigued by its brightening properties. Your girl here has some serious dark circles (to the point that my grandmother thinks I have leftover mascara/eyeliner under my eyes when I’m not wearing a stitch of makeup), so this eye treatment was in for some heavy lifting on me.
What did I think
Within two days of using the eye cream, I broke out with my first-ever experience with milia (tiny white bumps on the eye skin that resemble acne, but isn’t). Milia is typically caused when a product is simply too heavy for the skin. I found this crazy shocking because the texture of this product is by no means heavy, although the second ingredient is shea butter. I’ve been a huge fan of Bobbi Brown‘s Extra Eye Repair Balm for years and that stuff is like wax. Additionally, it was causing my eyes to water at the corners so much… no matter how far I patted it around my orbital bone. After six days of this nonsense, I had to stop using it.
I also wasn’t a huge fan of the metal-tip applicator. It seemed to release way too much product at once and with no way of seeing how much you’re going through with the opaque packaging, that could be an issue for someone who likes the product (no one wants to run out of her favorite eye cream on a big day with no warning).
Overall, unimpressed.
Who may love it
This product may simply be better for more mature skin or those with more visible fine lines/wrinkles near the eye.
Why I wanted to try it
Trufora advertises this cleanser as a complete makeup remover and cleanser in one. Sold! Anything that can remove a full face of makeup and cleanse my skin in one step is a welcome guest in my bathroom. It’s soap-free and won’t sting the eyes, and has aloe and oat extract to soothe, leaving skin clean yet not dry/tight.
What did I think
This creamy, opaque non-foaming cleanser smells mildly of plain yogurt, but does exactly what it says! After using a grape-sized amount of cleanser, I had zero traces of makeup left (was not using waterproof mascara, though). I did not have any breakouts, so I am a big fan. This one is a keeper!
Who may love it
Anyone who wears makeup daily. Whether you are younger or older, oily or dry, this formula is gentle but effective at removing all traces of makeup and grime without leaving you greasy or tight.
Why I wanted to try it
I typically love physical/mineral sunscreens more than their chemical sunscreen counterparts because they’re usually a lot less irritating on my sensitive skin (read more on physical vs. chemical sunscreen on melanomafoundation.org). Titanium Dioxide is a physical/mineral sunscreen and Trufora advertises this cream as lightweight and quick-absorbing (perfect for my more combo/oily skin).
What did I think
This day cream is a mauve-tone serum/lotion texture, which had some difficulty absorbing into my oilier skin. It definitely provided a warm-radiance/glow under my makeup, but honestly made me a greasy and gross mess within an hour of wearing it. I also really didn’t get along with the pump dispenser. Kudos for keeping the product in a pump and not in a tub/jar for hygienic reasons, but way too much product pumps out with no control of the pump pressure. I did not experience any breakouts, but it just made my skin entirely too oily.
Who may love it
Those with dry skin or those looking to impart a radiance on their face with or without makeup will probably enjoy this sunscreen/day cream hybrid.
Why I wanted to try it
Trufora really caught my attention with this product because I love exfoliating my skin. It keeps my pores clearer, texture smoother and breakouts at-bay. This formula is even smarter than your standard facial scrub because it has AHA and BHA chemical exfoliators (like the type I’ve been using daily in my new skin care regimen I talked about here) in addition to the organic bamboo physical exfoliator silica beads. It also includes Kaolin clay, which helps combat oiliness along with allatoin, oatmeal and aloe to soothe. I mean, this basically sounded like a miracle in a tube.
What did I think
The consistency of this exfoliator comes out clay-like (hello, Kaolin) and is packed with those little bamboo exfoliators – nice and sandy-feeling, lol. The instructions say to apply it to skin and give it a few minutes for the AHA/BHAs to ‘do their thing,’ and then begin gently massaging into the skin before rinsing. I honestly expected to have a crazy red face when I was done using this, because that always happens with exfoliators for me. You can imagine my shock when I got out of the shower after using this and had NO redness. WHAT IS THIS!?!? Magical. I am in love. This is my all-time knock-it-out-of-the-park product from Trufora.
I’ve used physical exfoliators before and typically shy against them because many cause little tears in your skin which over time, deteriorate your epidermis. But the fact that these scrubbies are silica beads makes me feel better than using, say, St. Ives (a huge no-no for your face, people). This scrub gives the same smoothness/scrubbing feeling of St. Ives, with none of the irritation. It also performs similarly – BUT BETTER (because no redness) – than scrubs by Dr. Brandt and GlamGlow. A great once/week treatment. Highly recommend.
Who may love it
Anyone will love this because of the excellent ingredients that clarify, refine texture, soothe and reveal a healthy glow without stripping skin of its natural moisturizers.
Trufora has three other cruelty-free/vegan certified products in their collection that I did not try/felt were suited for my skin needs, but maybe you’d love them for their more concentrated/targeted anti-aging benefits: Day Serum 85, Night Serum 85 and Intensive Night Treatment.
I happy to mention that Trufora is based out of Texas (where I am!), is currently sold online and out of their location in Austin. They’ve been featured most recently in InTouch, Shape, COSMO for Latinas and InStyle magazines.
*There’s a coupon code floating around the interwebs for 20% off your order on Trufora.com using TRUGLOW20 or 10% off using GREATSKIN (not my unique code nor do I get any commission from this post OR the code; just wanted to pass the savings along in case you wanted to try anything). They also do free shipping AND free returns – very cool of them.
Hope this helps any of you on the hunt for a new vegan-certified/cruelty-free skin care regimen! I’m here for your guinea-pig testing needs. I’ll be the animal testing 😉
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-Steffanie
