Review: Drunk Elephant A-Passioni Retinol Cream

Can you taste the weekend? It's ever so close! I work on a three weekly cycle, and by that, I mean, I get a long weekend every 3 weeks, so I can take off for parts (un)known for two nights regularly, if I were organised enough to do so ahead of time, and let me tell you, when you know your schedule weeks/months/years in advance, you can really go nuts when those Jetstar sales drop! I find that this works well for me at this point, because I can plan my break, before my breakdown, and it keeps me sane, and given that it's a long weekend for me tomorrow, you can bet I have plans! But it also means that I'll miss the skincare that I've been using, and I'm not going to lie - I already know that I'll be looking forward to coming home to the Drunk Elephant A-Passioni™ Retinol Cream!

 

You might have read all of the posts I've done on Drunk Elephant, and there have been plenty, and the overall vibe, I feel, is that it's a brand that my skin seems to appreciate a lot. That's exactly how I felt going into trying this cream out, and I have to say, I wasn't disappointed! This is designed to help those battling skin dullness, ageing, fine line, uneven texture and blemishes, restoring bounce, resilience and brightness and a more even and smooth complexion over time, and giving your skin that gorgeous luminous glow.

 

The formula includes 1% vegan retinol (photo-protective xanthophylls), which is a great anti-ageing ingredient that's mean to help improve the structure of the skin, while also helping with the tone and texture by reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. It contains Vitamin F, which acts as an anti-inflammatory that also maintains a healthy skin barrier. Additionally, there's a triple-peptide blend, which is made up of three types of peptides to aid in firming and plumping the skin. 

 

Much like the rest of the range, this comes in a white bottle with lettering, topped with a colourful cap, and in this case, it's red. I like that the colours are bright, making it easy to differentiate between different products, so that you don't accidentally grab the wrong one in a hurry. There's still enough uniformity to satisfy my need for products to look alike, while being easy enough to identify in a hurry. Simply twist it to reveal the pump, and push down to get the cream.

 

I find about four pumps to work nicely for me, and this comes out as a stringy, yellow cream that doesn't leave a trace of colour behind, once it's been massaged into the skin. My skin is quite used to retinol, and I was able to go straight into using this, without having to ease my face into it. I don't think this is as powerful as some of the other versions I've tried, where it's been a higher concentration of retinol, but I do think that my skin has taken to it nicely in the last few weeks, as I haven't used retinol for a while, and as such, I do think that my skin looks a little perkier than it did before I started using it. This retails for $131, and you can find the entire range over at Mecca. What was the last retinol product you used?