Hey guys! Seeing as we're right in the midst of the worst time of the year for skin - at least for me and many other people living in cold, dry climates - I'm all about talking about products that protect and nourish winter skin. I don't know about you, but during the winter I definitely have to take a little bit more care with my skin, not only making sure that it's sufficiently hydrated and protected from the elements, but also being sure to take care not to overwhelm it and cause sensitivity. For the past couple of months, I've been testing out the make p:rem x CrediThink Tamanu Calming Serum* and I feel like it's been making a huge difference in my sensitive skin. 

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When I was looking through the description of this serum over on the CrediThink website, I was initially really struck by how much thought and detail went into it. From the ingredients - mainly hydrators and antioxidants - to the packaging, I really feel like this is a product that has been considered thoughtfully at every point in development. Personally, these things are really important to me because I prefer proof in the pudding to marketing/packaging hype, and I think the latter does tend to be getting more attention paid to it these days.

Like I said, this serum really does lean towards being a hydrating antioxidant serum. Obviously the top line ingredient is the Tamanu Oil from Madagascar that is extracted via cold pressing. From what I've read about Tamanu Oil, the best clinical evidence for it as a skin care ingredient is in the reduction of scars and dark spots, which it what also really draws me to it. On top of the Tamanu Oil, this also contain 6 different forms of hyaluronic acid at different molecular weights for absorption into different layers of the skin. This formula also contains several botanical extracts, including Green Tea and Tsubaki, that are packed with antioxidants and minerals that are beneficial and soothing to the skin, though they are fairly low on the ingredients list. One issue that I do have with this formula is the number of fragrance ingredients like bergamot and peppermint oils, which can be skin sensitizing and that I would prefer not to see in this type of product. 

Something that I was really happy to see with this product is that it comes in opaque, airless pump packaging. Because there are so many great antioxidants in this formula, I'd really have hated packaging that would cause oxidization. Unfortunately, dropper bottles are far too common when it comes to serums and I pretty much always find that I prefer an airless pump packaging for this type of product. Not only does it protect the product from prematurely oxidizing, but it also just makes it a lot easier to use, in my opinion. It really is just a matter of preference, but where possible based on formula I think brands should absolutely be using airless pumps and I appreciate that this one has it. 

The texture of this serum is sort of a gel cream texture, quite a bit thicker than a lot of the other serums that I have in my collection, but it really easily spreads and sinks into the skin. I definitely wouldn't ever call it a heavy serum, even though the texture feels like it could be. Even though I don't love a couple of the fragrance ingredients in this product, I do really, really like the light herbal scent of it and find the sensory experience of using it to be quite lovely. 

As I've been testing this product, I've been using it as a nighttime serum because I do tend to use stronger actives at night and I wanted to test out the soothing properties of it when used with products that could, particularly at this time of year, cause some irritation. I've also been testing another product that uses physical exfoliation, and I've been using this serum particularly when I do that because I wanted to test the benefits of this particularly when my skin is more likely to be irritated. Overall, I really do think that this has made a difference when used at night. It isn't what I'd call an immediately calming product, but when I use this at night I wake up with skin that feels really lovely and without any irritation in the morning. 

Overall, I think that this is a really interesting and unique serum, definitely unlike anything else that I have in my collection, and I've really enjoyed using it. There are obviously a couple of ingredients that I'm not super happy are in the formula, but they haven't caused any issues for me and my skin has really, really been reacting well to this formula for the couple of months that I've been testing it out. Very solid and definitely has left me more interested in seeing what else make p:rem has in their range!

The make p:rem x CrediThink Tamanu Calming Serum* is available exclusively from CrediThink and retails for $27.99USD. 

Thanks for reading!