Nip + Fab: Solid Skincare Without Breaking the Bank

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We all know I love me some fancy makeup – the packaging, the textures, all the pretty colors(!). One of the ways I make that happen is by watching my pennies in other areas of my beauty routine. And by ‘other areas’ I mean skincare, which I got from Perfect Image Skin Products. When it comes to that I’m in it for the ingredients & results, and thankfully there are some great options that don’t have a luxury price tag. Latest in: Nip + Fab, a UK brand that’s new-ish to this side of the pond. A couple months ago they sent me a few things from their product line to try out, and naturally I have thoughts.

I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about these Glycolic Fix Daily Cleansing Pads ($12.99). The pads aren’t quite as soft as I’d like them to be. On the other hand, the actual product doesn’t sting or dry out my skin like some other exfoliating pads I’ve tried. Glycolic acid also has a ton of research behind it for evening skin tone & fading hyperpigmentation, so I think these will still be a great option for anti-aging even if they aren’t pillowy-soft.

The Kale Fix Clay Mask ($12.95) is a lesson in knowing your skin type, and which ingredients work for you. My skin has gotten a lot drier over the past few years (as opposed to the super-oil-slick it used to be), so I don’t really feel like clay masks are a thing I ‘need’. It has lot of moisturizing ingredients like glycerin, almond oil and cocoa butter to help keep your skin hydrated, but I still find that my face feels a little tight after using it. I do think it would be fantastic for more normal/oily skin, especially once we get into summer weather. Unlike a couple of the other products I tried from the line, the fragrance isn’t super-intense.

A few years ago when skincare & makeup brands were going crazy with the BB/CC/DD creams, I joked that DD cream sounded like a special boob lotion. Well, they didn’t name it DD cream (guess that was already taken) but Nip + Fab have made exactly that with their Bust Fix Night cream ($25). The main claim behind it is that Chronodyn – a ‘chronobiological cell energizer’ – firms the skin by triggering cell metabolism. I wasn’t able to to track down a specific study that those claims are based on, but I can say it seems like a good lotion. I’m a side sleeper who pretty much only owns v-neck shirts, so cleavage wrinkles are an unfortunate part of my reality. After a couple weeks of consistent use the fine lines aren’t as noticeable. It’s light and absorbs easily, but it does have a strong and kind of long-lasting herbal smell.

The real star of the show is the Dragon’s Blood Hyaluronic Shot ($24.99). I know dragon’s blood totally sounds like a made up thing, but I googled it and it’s a thing. Not from actual dragons (my inner nerd is glad that no dragons were harmed), but from a tree with red sap that looks like blood. Turns out it’s been used a long time in folk medicine, and now studies are showing it could be effective in wound healing (source). Neat stuff. It’s combined with a high concentration of hyaluronic acid to keep your skin nice and moisturized. The product packaging suggests mixing it in with your other skincare products to boost their hydrating power but I think it’s easier to apply a drop directly to my face before my moisturizer. It has a strong fruity scent but it wears off quickly. Normally I’m not a huge fan of heavily scented face products, but I’m willing to give it a pass on that because I’m pretty sure it’s single-handedly responsible for bringing the redness in my skin down to manageable levels. I usually feel like I need to use foundation if I’m bothering to wear makeup at all, but over the past couple months (the same time frame I’ve been trialing these) my skin has looked so nice that half the time I don’t bother.

In Short: These are really well-formulated products that user higher-end, interesting ingredients. Not all were perfect for my skin type, but the only real drawback I can find to the line as a whole is the heavy fragrance.

Nip + Fab products are available at Ulta, Target and Asos

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