SKINCARE | Probiotics in Your Skincare? First Impressions of Tula!

Back in February, I was introduced to a brand I had only heard about at Cosmoprof, but never tried since it was only available in the US through Neiman Marcus, Spack NK and Nordstrom, but never fear because now Tula is shipping to Canada! I received a discovery kit back in February to get to know the brand so these reviews will be somewhat more brief then my usual skincare Bible-length blog posts, but I will soon have full reviews coming over the next few months!

Tula, meaning "balance" in Sanskrit, is an interesting brand because of the addition of probiotics or healthy bacteria in their skincare formulations. We all know how important yogurt is with their bacterial cultures and probiotics in skincare works the same way. Just like having healthy gut bacteria or flora, our skin's surface also has something called a microbiome which is a unique collection of microbes that are perfectly balanced at keeping our skin happy. Adding probiotics has been shown to help with inflammation and aid in hydration. Likewise, if this balance is disturbed, the good bacteria can turn bad and cause skin conditions such as acne. Since this is a first impressions post, I will not delve too much into the the biology of probiotics, but I will when I review the full sized products!

Tula Skincare Review

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Starting off with the first step of any skincare routine - cleansing! Tula has two cleansers in their collection that thankfully facilitate my love for double cleansing! I start off with the Kefir Replenishing Cleansing Oil* which is a rich cleaning oil, containing the probiotic strain bifida ferment lysate, and massage it onto dry skin which rinses off as a milk. This cleansing oil has one of the nicest, most "plush" textures I can remember from a cleansing oil and is free of sulfates and fragrance. On days where I am not wearing makeup, I will only use this and my skin feels fabulously soft and plump afterwards.

On days where I am working and will have what feels like the daily grind on my skin, I will add in a second cleansing step using Tula's Purifying Face Cleanser* which also contains probiotic strain bifida ferment lysate and is almost like a gel/cream texture. I also love the addition of chicory root, a prebiotic (aids probiotic bacteria) that is also a natural inflammatory. This means that in addition to having this cleanser feel physically cool to the skin, it will also help soothe any redness.

Tula Skincare Review

I am sad that I didn't take photos of the Dual Phase Skin Reviving Treatment Pads* before I used them, but if you are a lover of exfoliating, these chemical/physical peel pads are truly a treat! This double-sided "glove" contains the probiotic strain, lactococcus ferment lysate as well as lactic acid (AHA), papaya fruit extract (AHA) and willow bark extract (BHA). The glove itself is made of cotton fibers so your skin will also get a light physical buffing too!

One thing to note is that when buffing the serum into the skin, there will be little white fibers that start to come off. At first I thought it was dead skin that was being sloughed off since there are peeling gels that do this, but in actuality it was the 100% natural cotton plant fibers, so don't be scared! Whenever I use a liquid chemical exfoliant, I always assume that there will be some tingling, but there really wasn't any with this formulation so for a peel that immediately left my skin glowing, I I didn't feel like I had to "suffer" for it!

Tula Skincare Review

Moisturizers are usually the most boring part of skincare for me because I feel like they are just the "cap" to seal in all of the goodness that serums bring to the table. Moisturizers can never contain anything TOO active because the texture of creams just don't allow for the same type of potency. The Hydrating Day & Night Cream* is gel-cream moisturizer featuring the probiotic bifida ferment lysate as well as the naturally hydrating squalane amongst a host of seed and fruit oils for added hydration. While I enjoy this moisturizer during the day for its non-greasy finish and light texture for easy makeup application, it does contain dimethicone so I don't use it at night.

Tula Skincare Review

Final verdict: This trial run with Tula has left me very interested in the "meatier" products of their line in terms of their serums and exfoliators. The cleansers, while enjoyable, are never what I use to judge a skincare line because they are rinsed off the skin, but that Kefir Cleansing Oil was really something! I look forward to trying out more from Tula because I would love to see how using probiotic skincare will have an effect on my skin's health and overall condition as probiotics can help quite a bit with dryness.

Tula Skincare Review

Tula can be purchased at www.TULA.com  Use code "COSMETICPROOF" to save a whopping 20% on your purchase!

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