Kihoutei~ Ma'Umi Bespoke Facial Serum Review

Bespoke Ma'Umi Facial Serum by Kihoutei

 

 

Order your bespoke serum (50ml) blend HERE

 

Who?
Based in Sheffield, Kihoutei offer a bespoke facial serum blend service, designed entirely around the needs of your skin using only vegan, cruelty-free and certified natural ingredients. They are a small-batch brand, with a maximum of 12 bottles made per day.
100% of profits from the blend go to charities which empower women.

 

I first started noticing Kihoutei on Instagram in early December and was completely fascinated by the brand and their concept having seen nothing like it before!

 

A lot of store is put in transparency in brands with consumers (quite rightly) wanting a lot more readily available information about ingredients, packaging, values and ethos about their products and the brands who make them.
I think this is one of the reasons that we're seeing such an upsurge in the popularity of small, natural Indie skincare brands - through social media, you feel a much stronger and transparent and almost personal connection with the brands and their products.

Even if you don't buy the serum, I would seriously recommend that you go follow Kihoutei on Instagram - their posts are brutally and openly honest and transparent, incredibly funny and most definitely engaging!

How it works:

 

Go to the website and fill out six basic questions about your skincare needs - skin type; skin goals; any allergies or sensitivity; what scent you prefer; habits which may have some bearing on your skin (for skin fortification and protection against free radicals) and other products you use in your routine (so your serum can be crafted to work in conjunction with them).

 

Choose what you pay:

 

Although not a new concept, I've never seen a skincare brand let you decide what you want to pay for their product! I'd consider myself somewhat overly polite, in that "Oh no, really I couldn't" British way! So I'm relieved that at the time of ordering my serum, this option wasn't available. The quoted price was £20, but I was offered an 'early Christmas present' reduction of £15. I was more than happy to pay that price - plus it included postage.

However, if Kihoutei are offering this option then all power to them! In principle it's a bloody brilliant idea, but I'd personally be embarrassed of offering too little. I'd prefer that there was a 'suggested amount' or a ball-park figure.





 



My personalised Ma'Umi Serum:

 

 My base ingredients were focussed on combating and reversing the signs of aging and environmental stress.  Antioxidants and moisturizers: Jojoba, Papaya, Argan and Baobab were used to encourage cellular turn over, leading to healthier, more elastic skin with less fine lines and wrinkles.

To further firm and plump my skin and give it a dewy youthful glow, frankincense, rosehip, sandalwood and patchouli were also added. And finally, because I stated that my skin tended towards oiliness, Watermelon and Cucumber were included in my blend.

 

Thoughts:

A pale light oil, with a faint but pleasing scent. My personalised Ma'Umi serum is quite a dry oil and despite my preference for misting before applying oils, has enough slip to be applied directly onto dry skin too. It absorbs incredibly quickly too, so if you don't have time to let a product sit for a while before applying the next in your routine, this oil is a perfect timesaver.

I've used this in both my morning routine (as a last step before SPF) and at night (last step before a sleeping pack) but I think because of it's lightness, I think I prefer it more for daytime use. It sits really well under makeup and although I can be prone to oily skin, this absolutely does not make my skin get any oilier throughout the day.

The stand-out feature for me when using this oil is that it does give immediate firming and tightening results. Okay, so it's not like a face-lift in a bottle, but I just look altogether less tired and dare I say it, even reasonably perkier, or as perky as my 48 year old skin will allow, when using the serum!

I really like the plump little rounded glass bottle with it's pump disperser but it does slightly leak so I wouldn't really be able to take this when travelling. But I think I'm right in saying that Gambinga changed the packaging shortly after I received my oil to address this issue (he really does respond incredibly quickly to customer feedback!) and so the current Ma'Umi serums have different packaging.

 

 

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