If you spend any amount of time online, you’ll probably have heard of the Drunk Elephant brand.
Most likely, you’ve heard of their No. 9 Jelly Cleanser or the T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night Serum. Those are the two I see pop up most on Instagram feeds. And Instagrammers love it!
I splurged and bought The Littles travel set since I wanted to try out the products before I made the monetary commitment to purchase something. It included the products that I wanted to try. It’s a great way to see which items rocked and which would be worth dropping the money for.
Drunk Elephant ain’t cheap.
I wanted to make sure they worked if I was going to be spending roughly $100 on a serum or cleanser.
The set contains:
- Beste™ No. 9 Jelly Cleanser
- C-Firma™ Day Serum
- B-Hydra™ Intensive Hydration Serum
- T.L.C. Framboos™ Glycolic Night Serum
- Virgin Marula Luxury Facial Oil
- Lala Retro™ Whipped Cream
- Umbra Sheer™ Physical Daily Defense SPF 30
- Shaba Complex™ Eye Serum
Overall Impressions of The Littles by Drunk Elephant
Aesthetically pleasing to the eye, the packaging is on point. It’s cute, minimal and easy to use. The screw caps don’t come off all the way so you won’t lose and keeps the product neater when in use. The serums are all pumps, so they’re easy to keep clean and neat as well. The only product that comes in a pot is the Lala Retro cream which is pretty no-nonsense to use.
The stand out products for me are the Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser and the Marula oil.
I wore my normal amount of makeup to work one day (mascara, powder, brows, highlighter), used it at night and it’s honestly the first time I’ve washed my face with anything and all the mascara was off my lashes. I typically feel like even after a face wash I have to use wipes or makeup remover to take off the excess, and sometimes I’ll still have raccoon eyes after water touches them! Not with this though. My skin has never felt so clean and soft. I tried it again with more makeup (eyeliner, shadow, lipstick, along with the above mentioned) and it worked just as well. All my eyeliner and mascara was gone with no residue. I did only cleanse my face at night, opting to use a face wipe in the morning to just freshen up the skin and prep it for makeup.
I actually really liked the Virgin Marula Facial Oil. It mixed nicely with the T.L.C Framboos as well as on its own and it absorbed nicely into the skin. It didn’t make my skin greasy or oily, and when I woke up my skin felt dewy. I did only use this at night before bed since that’s a more intense routine.
I think that the creams (Lala Retro / Shaba Eye Serum / Umbra SPF) you can take or leave.
They feel great, I actually do like the SPF it’s smooth and absorbs quickly and non-greasy, but do I need to spend $42 on a sunscreen? Not really. Same with the Lala Retro – it’s $75 retail. It’s nice but… If you don’t require that heavy of cream you can find alternatives for cheaper. For a heavier cream, it did absorb nicely into the skin without making it feel heavy. I did mainly use it for my extremely dry areas that crop up in the winter. I don’t really use eye serums – maybe when I’m older I’ll use them but right now I’m a little on the fence about them.
The products that left me undecided were:
I know that the T.L.C. Framboos is a cult favourite, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I didn’t mind it with the facial oil, but then I didn’t know if it was doing anything? So I tried it on its own and it’s nice? I feel like it gets such rave reviews that it might have been a bit overhyped for me. I’m still on the fence about it.
The C-Firma Serum was nice, but again, I think hyped a little bit too much for me. Also – the smell? It smells so gross. It has pumpkin ferment extract and you can definitely smell it. Maybe because I’m more sensitive due to pregnancy, but I cannot stand the smell. I’ll try it again when I’m not pregnant and see if this changes.
The B-Hydra Serum is actually my favourite of the serums. It feels like it’s actually hydrating my skin. Lasts all day, and creates a nice base to start my makeup routine with.
Anything worth the purchase of the full size product?
For me, the Jelly Cleanser is definitely worth the cost and worth the rebuy. The way that it cleanses makeup makes it worth the money. You don’t need a lot of product, so wouldn’t require repurchase too often. Plus, you don’t need to have an alternate makeup remover. One probably only needs one of the serums or face oil, don’t break the bank purchasing all of them.
In my opinion, the B-Hydra is probably the one to get as you can use day or night. If you live in place that has crazy climate differences between the seasons (hey-o Toronto, it’s currently 0 degrees outside) you might want to just supplement with a drugstore brand moisturizer for a little more protection in the winter.
Have you tried Drunk Elephant? What were your thoughts?
J x
