Himalaya Herbals NEW Clear Complexion range

Himalaya Herbals launched their Clear Complexion range and I must admit that I was quite excited when I was informed that they would be launching their 'whitening' products. I've heard so many raves about Himalaya but have never really picked up anything from them. And I love whitening/brightening products not because I want to get any whiter but I believe that items in any whitening range should at least promote clarity in the complexion and provide some sort of better exfoliation to maintain an appearance of "brighter" skin.

The range is entirely new, not new looking packages or rebranded/reformulated products.

The face wash and scrub come in a nice 150ml tube, each priced at RM29.90. Their main ingredients include licorice and white dammer, but the face wash has additional cleansing and brightening properties like saffron, cucumber and pomegranate while the face scrub has apricot bits, quite synonymous with many general scrubs.

On the left is the scrub and on the right is the creamy cleanser.

I quite like the cleanser because the scent reminded me so much of Lancome's Galatee Douceur (milk cleanser) minus the milky filmy texture. Since it is a creamy cleanser, I would usually use this as the first step of my cleansing routine. Even during the launch, Himalaya did mention that if your skin is on the oilier side, you can double cleanse with a purifying cleanser after using the Clear Complexion Whitening Face Wash.

I think it does its job pretty well and I like how my skin felt after. You get a little tingly feel as it also contains traces of Menthol and using it is a gem. You know how hot and humid our weather is... to use it in the morning would wake up your senses almost instantly and to use it at the end of a tiring day, would refresh your tired skin. Even after moisturising, the skin still feels cool.

You would probably prolong the menthol cool effect when you scrub after cleansing with the Clear Complexion Whitening Face Scrub. It doesn't have menthol in its list of ingredients but the exfoliation probably makes the skin much cleaner that you'd feel extra refreshed. Frankly, since I've used many scrubs before this, this may not be a personal favourite. I think the apricot granules though they are quite fine, they are still grainy and quite scarce. The creamy texture of the formulation also felt a little bit too creamy for my liking that I didn't quite feel that it further cleanses the skin of impurities. 

The star product in this range is probably the Clear Complexion Whitening Day Cream. It is supposedly light and non-greasy, and enriched with extracts of licorice and white dammar to give you a triple whitening action.

It comes in a 50ml tub and retails at RM39.90. I quite like the texture and the light tint which gave my skin a healthier and brighter appearance. It applies quite smooth and true enough non-greasy with a gel-like texture. I've only used it for a good 3 days though because after the third day, I started getting small bumps on my jawline, which I believe may be due to the dimethicone content... a suspicion I can't quite say for sure yet. Its quite a disappointment though because I had such high hopes for this brand since many friends have told me how much Himalaya products have improved their skin. But I think it is probably just me and my sensitive skin at this point of time.

If you'd like to try it, I would also like to caution you on its herbal scent. It is pretty strong... somewhat close to the smell of yellow ginger. The scent doesn't linger on too long but upon application it can be quite overpowering. When they demonstrated the usage of the cream on a participant, the person mentioned that she could still smell her face even after the demonstration ended over an hour. While we appreciate that Himalaya is a natural product and doesn't use artificial fragrance, they might want to just relook at maybe reducing the depth of the scent.

But truthfully, when I was using the cream, I didn't mind it one bit. It came up a bit strong initially but after a couple of minutes, my nose kinda got immune to it.

At the session, they also unveiled a new packaging for their very popular Nourishing Skin Cream. If previously it only comes in a small package of 50ml, it now also comes in a jumbo size of 150ml. Retail price for the 50ml pack has also been reduced significantly without compromising its original formula - RM15.90 (50ml) / RM28.90 (150ml). 

For better hydration, in case your skin needs it, it is recommended to be used after the Whitening Day Cream.

A full range for your step-by-step healthy complexion.

You may have seen these products in their outlets. Do let me know what you think of them, if you have picked them up to try.