Product reviews are hard to keep concise because I want to cover all the questions you may have but I’m going to try today because there are two products I want to review: RMS Beauty Oil and Bambu Earth Petrigrew Moisturizer.

I’ve been trying to find a good nighttime moisturizer for a while now. I didn’t have one that I loved when I decided to go low-waste so I wasn’t heartbroken to move onto a better moisturizer.

The first one I tried was RMS Beauty Oil. I’d been following RMS for a while on Instagram as a clean beauty brand but hadn’t made the plunge to try anything. When I had initially discovered them, they just weren’t offering makeup I was looking for. But by the time I tried their Beauty Oil, I was getting a bit on the desperate side.

Their oil comes in a glass bottle. The dropper is glass, rubber and plastic. It’s not perfect and I am keeping my eye out for other options but so far it’s the best packaging and quality I have found.

The oil works OK on my combination skin. If I’m being honest, I think I went into it with really high expectations. This is the most I’ve ever spent on a beauty product so I expected some big results. I do keep going back to it, though, because so far, it’s the best I’ve found. It does occasionally result in breakouts around my nose but for the most part, it keeps my dry skin at bay. It doesn’t clear it up entirely, which is what I was hoping for, but between this and the Raw Elements product I shared with you last week, those two products get my skin as close to normal as I’ve found when used consistently.

The application is incredibly easy. I wash my face and then when my skin is still damp, apply 4 drops to my face and neck. Though it is expensive, this stuff does last forever because you are applying such a small amount each time. I bought mine the first week of October and am not even halfway through it. I do keep trying other moisturizers so this isn’t a great representation of usage but it does go a long way.

Additionally, this has a very mild smell, which I really like. I hate scents. Like, all scents. I pretty much can tolerate vanilla, peppermint, and some milder citrus scents and that’s it! Floral scents are a hard ‘No’ so I really like that this was subtle.

Overall, I would recommend giving this a try if you are able to find a sample somewhere and see if you like it or if the price doesn’t make you twitch. The oil retails for $78. For my Boston peeps, I found this, and all the RMS Beauty products, at Cambridge Naturals in Porter Square. I was able to sample it and really loved it when I first tried it so stop there first. For my Connecticut readers, I believe Green Beauty Salon and Spa in Willimantic stocks RMS products, though I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet. I would give them a call before heading over.

The second product I tried was Bambu Earth’s Petitgrain Moisturizer. This comes in a glass container with a plastic lid. Their website states that their packing is “sustainably sourced for a minimal environmental impact”. This was mailed to me and the shipping products were minimal and recyclable- no plastic. All their products seem to be packaged mostly in glass, where possible, with minimal plastic. Again, it’s not perfect, but this was $32 for full container compared to RMS’s $72. I was also able to try a sample size at $14, which I think is such a good idea! (seriously, why don’t all companies offer trial sizes???)

The first problem I had was upon ordering their moisturizer, I got a FLOOD of emails. Bambu Earth emailed me at least once a day, everyday, once I placed my order. The irony is, it took them over a week to ship out my order because one of the items was back-ordered but none of the 8 emails I received mentioned that. I finally reached out to them to see what was going on and that’s when they notified me that one of the items was back-ordered. The emails did seem to slow down to about once a week after that, which I don’t mind.

The second problem I had with this moisturizer was I absolutely hated the smell. The ingredients list was short, which I liked! The list is: Organic Raw Fair Trade Shea Butter, Sweet Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil, and Petitgrain Essential Oil. I think it was the Petitgrain oil which I didn’t like the smell of and honestly, I had never come across it previously so I genuinely had no idea I wouldn’t like it.

Smell aside, I used it religiously every evening for about two weeks, which was how much came in that sample size. I wanted to be able to get an accurate idea of the product and how it worked. For the most part, I felt that it didn’t really penetrate my skin enough to moisturize it. It seemed to sit on the surface. When I washed my face in the morning, I saw no improvements and my skin was still dry. I opted not to order more and went back to reusing the RMS Beauty Oil.

I do have another product from this company that I like and will review later so I am not writing them off completely! They do have another moisturizer called Intense Hydration Cactus Concentrate but that retails for $160 for a full container and I absolutely refuse to spend that so I didn’t dare try their sample size for $28. I would inevitably fall in love with it and then just be disappointed when I couldn’t afford it regularly. But, I figured I’d bring it up incase you have a larger budget then me.

So in conclusion, if you are looking for a nighttime moisturizer, I would recommend giving the RMS Beauty Oil a try at a location near you first. It has been the best moisturizer I have found for my combination skin with the best packaging.

As I said though, it’s not a perfect solution. If you have a moisturizer you like or have heard of a good brand you want reviewed, please leave me a comment below! I would love additional recommendations.