All of the products I will mention in this review are available on Bolt Beauty's website here.
Bolt Beauty produce a cleanser, a blemish serum, a vitamin A serum and a moisturiser in biodegradable drops made of seaweed, that are all vegan and single-use plastic-free. These drops come in glass jars that can then be refilled in future with new drops that come in a compostable bag. These seaweed drops can either be disposed of by being dissolved in hot water or putting them in your compost bin. The packaging used is made from recyclable card and paper. Bolt Beauty is also a carbon-neutral company!
I had been advertised Bolt Beauty on Instagram and Facebook for a while before I decided to try it out. As soon as I went on their website I was impressed and I wanted to try the lot. You can choose between either a jar that you keep permanently or a compostable refill bag. The refill bags are each £5 cheaper than their respective jar, so you could use your own containers and save money and waste this way.
If you add the 'Mad About Moisture' moisturiser, the 'Filthy Clean' face wash, the 'Glow Don't Shine' anti-blemish serum and the 'Vitamin A Game' retinol into your basket they will come to around £170! However, there is a half-price deal on the cleanser if you buy the moisturiser and a 15% first time discount if you provide your email. If you are thinking about buying Bolt Beauty's whole skincare this method below will save you some money! The website doesn't allow you to use both deals together. It is also worth noting that postage is free. So, if you're looking to buy the whole range, what I'd recommend doing is using the 15% off first-time discount to purchase the retinol and the anti-blemish serum. Then making a second purchase to get the half-price deal on the cleanser with the moisturiser. When I did this, my products still arrived together so there wasn't a sustainability issue regarding postage and packaging. In sum, this got my total down from £170 to £137.50 for all four products!
For me, as a student, and probably for a lot of people, this is a large and understandably unfeasible amount to spend on skincare. If I use each product once a day, this is a daily cost of £1.38. Each pot or bag has 100 seaweed drops in it. However, my student loan had just come in and I'd been saving money due to coronavirus restrictions so it wasn't as hard of a spend as it otherwise may have been. Also, I guess next time I'll just buy the refill bags so there is £20 in savings. If you're the kind of person who buys mid-range priced skincare then I think this is a really good swap to make because the products themselves are really good, in my opinion.
My previous skincare of choice was exclusively The Ordinary. I believe they are semi-sustainable but they do still use plastic in essentially all of their packaging. They're also very affordable. I'd spent most of the lockdown perfecting my skincare routine. It was nerve-racking to shake it up again. The main skin issue I have is that I get sudden breakouts on my forehead.
Firstly, in the Bolt Beauty 'Filthy Clean' cleanser, I was looking to replace the Ordinary squalene cleanser. I have found I actually prefer the Bolt Beauty Cleanser, I wouldn't switch back. So far, I have really enjoyed this product. The texture and the feel of the products are pretty similar to the squalene cleanser. It is so useful how the drop is the perfect amount I need. I definitely will be getting a refill of this product and it will be a regular in my skincare routine. I'm currently double cleansing using this alongside the Up Circle cleansing face balm. It makes my face feel so nice and it doesn't feel too stripping, in my opinion. I'd definitely give the cleanser 5 stars. I really like this product and will be purchasing again!
In the Bolt Beauty 'Mad About Moisture' I was hoping to replace The Ordinary Natural Moisturising Factors + HA. I didn't actually like this moisturiser too much, it was pretty basic and came off really white, was hard to rub in. Again, I compared the ingredients. These ingredient lists were less similar, perhaps this would be a good thing for me? They both have HA in though which I know is supposed to be a really good ingredient. The moisturiser appears more like a serum in texture than a cream. I like this moisturiser, but I don't like how it feels like it doesn't fully absorb. I think I'd given this 3.5/5 stars. I like it but I don't love it.
Initially, I had considered not buying the 'Glow Don't Shine' anti-blemish serum. It's advertised as a mattifying serum and I didn't really know what this meant or why I might want it. When I looked into it more it though I found it does have skincare benefits beyond just creating a matte look. I don't really have anything I was replacing this with, maybe the Ordinary Niacinamide serum? This product contains essential oils, which can be irritating to some people's skin, however, Bolt Beauty do have an information panel about this. It is worth looking into this yourself if you're considering purchasing. I personally don't mind small amounts of essential oils. I love this product! When I get back breakouts on my forehead or 'maskne' from where I've been wearing a mask in the library for hours I'll sometimes use two. This probably isn't recommended but I find it works quite well. I also enjoy the smell of the product, it is a tea-tree sort of smell and it just adds an experience to using the product. I will 100% be buying this again.
Finally, in the 'Vitamin A Game' retinol, I was replacing the Ordinary's Retinol 0.5% in Squalene. Even if you don't have any immediate skincare issues, retinol is something good to have in your routine for long-term goals such as firmer, smooth skin with reduced fine lines. The Bolt Beauty retinol is formulated at 0.15% which is lower than the Ordinary's lowest formulation of 0.2% let alone their highest of 1%. Apparently, the EU has said you shouldn't be using Retinol in cosmetics above a formulation of 0.3%, which I didn't actually know. Again, I find the fact that I'm given the perfect amount in each pod super useful as previously with retinol I had been worried about using too much. I like this product better than the previous one I was using. I find it absorbs so much more easily into my skin aand I love how it leaves my skin feeling afterward. 5/5 stars, would recommend if you're looking to make a sustainable retinol swap here!
Overall, I would give Bolt Beauty 5/5 stars. I really like their products and I will be continuing to use them myself alongside other brands. I'd be most likely to swap out the moisturiser but it would be worth trying it for yourself! I think keeping a mix of brands rather using exclusively Bolt Beauty will keep my skincare routine at a lower cost. This is the only downside of the products for me, they're not super affordable. The instructions for the products are very clear and the company have good ethics. Definitely would recommend swapping some of your plastic-based skincare with Bolt Beauty's sustainable skincare if you can!
If you have any other vegan, plastic-free skincare brand suggestions for me, please do send me your suggestions on Instagram! Especially if you have found an accessible, affordable brand!