Burt's Bees Radiance Healthy Glow Kit

Good Day Everyone,

I really like starter kits / product miniatures as I find they are a great way of trying an unfamiliar brand without committing to the cost of full sized products that I may not like. So whenever Sephora has its 20% off sale I use it as an opportunity to test out new brands and products. I recently got round to trying the Burt’s Bees Radiance Healthy Glow Kit which I picked up a while ago.

 

The kit contains five products from the Burt’s Bees Radiance range and you also get a leaflet that details the benefits of each product along with directions on how to use; 

1. Radiance Day Lotion (e 7g / Net Wt. 0.25oz) 
2. Radiance Night Cream (e 7g / Net Wt. 0.25oz) 
3. Radiance Lip Shimmer (e 2.6g / Net Wt. 0.09oz) 
4. Radiance Eye Cream (e 4g / Net Wt. 0.14oz) 
5. Radiance Facial Cleanser (e 20ml / Net Wt. 0.75 fl oz)

Before I share my thoughts on each of the products I just want to get a couple of things off my chest. One of the first things I noticed when I opened the kit is just how tiny some of the products were. Now I know these are trial / sample size but seriously some of them are much smaller than any other sample size trial kit I’ve ever used. 

 

Secondly, the leaflet has pictures of each of the five products but two of mine did not look like the pictures. The picture of the eye cream, suggests that it would come in some sort of jar / pot like the night cream but mine was in a tube. My cleanser was also in a tube rather than a bottle with a pump, as suggested by the picture. I’ve no idea why the packaging for two of the products is different to what’s depicted in the accompanying leaflet, and whilst it doesn’t affect the actual product's performance, I did find it a bit annoying...  I'm just saying.

 

I have no thoughts, whatsoever, to share on the Radiance Day Lotion for the simple fact that I could not access the product. The pump action just did not work. At first I thought maybe it was me with my arthritic hands not being able to work it. However, after my hubby played around with it, trying to pump it, unscrew it or break into it using whatever means possible and still failed, I realised it wasn’t just me. I don’t understand why there would be a pump dispenser for something that contains such a tiny amount of product. It seems like really complicated packaging when a simple jar / pot or tube would have sufficed plus that way there’s likely to be less product wastage as these pump dispensers rarely pump all of the product out. So that was a not a great start!

On a more positive note, I really enjoyed the Radiance Night Cream but you really don’t get a lot. I only got a weekends worth of use out of this! I found the cream very hydrating, it absorbed into my skin quickly, didn’t leave my skin feeling greasy and the next day my skin looked very healthy, plump, hydrated and dare I say it... radiant. Like several of the other products in this kit, the night cream contains the coveted Royal Jelly (a honey bee secretion thought to have anti-ageing properties) so I don’t know if that was the magic ingredient. However, I did not like the smell of this cream and this is a running theme I have with several of the products. I found the scent unpleasant to the extent that it would stop me from buying the product again despite me really liking this cream. The scent isn't subtle enough that I could ignore it. To me, the cream smelt like stale, bitter nuts, which I know is very specific but that’s what it reminded me off. 

Moving onto the Radiance Lip Shimmer, Burt’s Bees state this as being 100% natural and reading through the ingredients list I do recognise (and understand) most of them. The list contains oils such as sunflower seed oil, peppermint oil and castor seed oil as well as cocoa seed butter. The Lip Shimmer has a slight pleasant peppermint scent to it and has a cooling sensation when I first apply it to my lips. It’s very hydrating and, on my lips, the shimmer is more obvious than I was expecting but I don't mind it, and it does seem to slightly lighten the natural colour of my bare lips. I use this alone as well as on top of any lip products that are a bit on the dry side. The Lip Shimmer is a skinny size which means it’s easy to apply without a mirror. For me the only downside to this product is, again, to do with the packaging. I find that if I twist the product up a bit too much I then can’t twist it back down which is annoying, and so I have to push it down with my finger. 

Size comparison of The Body Shop Born Lippy lip balm with the Radiance Lip Shimmer

Me being me, when I was swatching the Lip Shimmer on my arm for the below photo I thought to myself that the shimmery effect is actually prettier on my arm than on my bare lips. I’m sure you can guess what’s coming next ;o) And so I decided to see how this product would work as a highlighter and I have to say it gives a really nice effect on the cupids bow and cheek bones. The shimmer is definitely more subtle compared to on my lips and it just adds a nice bit of radiance whenever the light catches it. It can even be used as a brow bone highlighter as it’s not too obvious, although I prefer a matte brow bone highlight. So lately I have been using this more on my face than my lips. The texture does have a slight tackiness to it but it’s not sticky and as I tend to wear more liquid and cream products this doesn’t bother me at all.

I’m pretty indifferent towards the Radiance Eye Cream. It didn’t impress me the way the night cream did even though it also contains the Royal Jelly which Burt’s Bees likes to emphasise. Again it had that weird scent which was very off putting. I did finish it but it’s not something that I would purchase again.

Finally, on to my favourite product from the kit, the Radiance Facial Cleanser. I really liked this and for once there was a decent amount of product with no annoying packaging issues. The cleanser contains the Royal Jelly as well as jojoba butter and fruit extract. The leaflet states that this gently removes oil, dirt and makeup but as the directions for use state to avoid the eye area, I didn’t use this as my evening cleanser i.e. to remove my makeup and so cannot comment on that aspect. I used this in the evenings on days when I didn’t wear any makeup and sometimes in the morning. The cleanser turned milky once I started to massage it over my wet skin and felt hydrating and all together very pleasant. I found that it didn’t strip my skin of moisture which can happen with some cleansers, especially as my skin is more on the dry side. The best part was that after I rinsed my face I was left with the most wonderful glow and my skin looked radiant time and time again after each use. I’ve no idea how it did that but it was amazing! I examined my skin close up too see if I could see any tell-tale signs of shimmer but there was nothing, just my healthy radiant skin staring back at me. I will definitely be buying this in the full size and best of all whilst the cleanser did have a scent it wasn’t as unpleasant as the night and eye creams and definitely more subtle.

Whilst I haven’t been impressed by all of the products I am pleased that I picked up this little trial kit as I have found a great cleanser that I may not otherwise have done so. I would definitely recommend that you smell the Burt’s Bees products before purchase because some of the scents are quite strong and unpleasant, I found. 

Have you tried this radiance kit or any of these products? What did you think? What other Burt’s Bees products would you recommend?

Love Sheen xxx