Brand Spotlight - Ziaja





Polish brand Ziaja (pronounced Ji-Ya) is a producer of pharmaceuticals and high-quality cosmetics based on natural ingredients for face, body and hair care. It is a family-owned company, established in 1989 in Gdansk by pharmacists Aleksandra and Zenon Ziaja.

 

They have over one thousand products within many, many different ranges. The ingredients read similarly to many high end brands ( hyaluronic acid, squalane, ceramide, marine algae  - to name a few) but the price point definitely falls in the range of budget beauty.

 

I first heard about this brand on Instagram (where else?!) when someone reviewed a Ziaja Goat's Milk eye cream stating that it absolutely worked for them (which is unheard of, generally in eye product reviews) but the biggest eye-catcher for me was when they mentioned that this eye cream cost under £2.50!

 

I of course headed straight over to the Ziaja retailer on eBay (Love Little Prices) and was pretty impressed and amazed at the range of skincare, body and hair products on offer and at how crazy cheap they were!

 

 

I initially bought some Parsley Eye Cream (£1.99 BUY HERE) for smoothing and to reduce fine lines and wrinkles and some Sopot Spa (30+ range) Micellar Water (£3.17 for 200ml BUY HERE).

 

 

First Impressions:

 

Eye Cream with Parsley (£1.99 for 15ml) - Suitable for all skin types, this eye cream targets fine wrinkles and prevents further formation; smooths, firms and moisturises the delicate eye area and brightens the eye area.

Notable ingredients include Provitamin B5 (D-Panthenol), Parsley Leaf Oil and

Vitamins E and A.

 

I'd previously been using Filorga Time Filler for Eyes and at first, I thought that I'd found the elusive eye cream 'One'. But after a couple of weeks using the Filorga, I stopped noticing any difference or improvements. The Filorga costs £45 for 15ml whereas this parsley eye cream costs just £1.99 for 15ml!

 

This eye cream is fragrance-free and the texture is similar to most eye creams although I think this feels less greasy than other eye creams I've previously tried.

It absorbs extremely well - very quickly and without leaving any product sitting on top of the skin. I've also not experienced any irritation at all - no eye-watering or blurring if you accidentally get some in your eye and no sticky, gummy or uncomfortable feeling when you wake up. It has not caused any milia under my eyes, which can sometimes happen with an overly heavy eye cream. I've mostly been using this in the evening but sometimes also in the morning if I feel that I need a little bit more than my usual serums. It's certainly light-weight enough to wear comfortably under make up.

 

I haven't been using this for long enough to notice any long term effects, but for instant results I do notice that it's either slightly reduced any under eye darkness or has brightened my under eyes noticeably, even if only temporarily. I've also noticed that my under eye concealer has been reacting well over the top of this eye cream - sometimes an under eye concealer actually accentuates fine lines rather than hides them.

Sopot Spa 30+ Micellar Water (£3.17 for 200ml) - I've been using this as a morning cleanser. It's fragrance-free and generally non-irritating if I just swipe lightly over my eyes. However, compared with my previous Garnier Micellar Water which I was using as an eye make up remover, I have noticed a slight irritation on my eyes if I use this as an eye make up remover (maybe I would need to use a Ziaja eye make up remover rather than a micellar water). So I've been tending to stick with this as a face-only micellar water. I'm happy with using this bottle up in this way, but probably wouldn't repurchase this one as I like my micellar water to be able to tackle eye make up removal without irritation to the eyes.

 

 

Eva reached out to me on Instagram and asked if I'd be interested in trying out Ziaja's Anno d'Oro 40+ range - and then very kindly sent me a box of this range and some other goodies to try out.

 

The Anno D'Oro range currently consists of a day and a night cream, an eye serum and lifting microdermabrasion face masks.

 

 

Anno D'Oro Firming Night Cream* ( £4.83 for 50ml) - This anti-wrinkle night cream is from the Anno D'Oro range which has been formulated for the 40+ audience - suitable for mature, non-elastic or wrinkle-prone skin. Key ingredients include Micro-collagen, Biopolymer from sweet almond proteins, Provitamin B5 (D-panthenol), Ursolic acid and Vitamin E.

It claims to re-build internal skin structure; Smooth out dynamic wrinkles; reduce surface wrinkles and provide optimal lifting effects. 

 

I'd never heard of Ursolic acid before, but a little bit of Googling tells me that it's a naturally-derived compound found in fruits and plants such as apples, basil, prunes, cranberries, rosemary and lavender and that it's used in skincare products for it's anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties. It also has anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties too.

 

So onto my initial feelings about the night cream. I'll be honest. I haven't used a night cream in many years as I never really liked that overly heavy, rich cream texture (like body butter). Something that heavy on my face makes me feel a bit stifled, almost claustrophobic. So I wouldn't have personally chosen to seek out or buy a night cream myself.

 

But obviously I wanted to give every product that Eva sent me a fair trial.

Unfortunately for me, the consistency of this night cream wasn't able to dispel any previous doubts I have about night creams in general. It's just as thick, heavy and creamy as you would expect.

 

The scent was of a generic, slightly perfumed face cream - not overpowering or lingering. Application-wise, it took a while to sink into my skin but didn't feel oppressively heavy once it did absorb. I'm a big face-toucher after my evening skincare routine - I know it's probably not ideal to go touching up your face after you've applied your products, but I like to feel how my skin physically feels (texture and softness) as well as how it looks and behaves after my routine.

 

In the morning I had hoped that I would wake up with my face feeling as hydrated as when I use an overnight mask, but it didn't feel any more of less hydrated than usual. In fact, my skin felt slightly greasy around my nose and I opted to use a facial wash in the morning as opposed to my usual micellar water morning cleanse.

 

So unfortunately, the night cream didn't do too much to change my mind about night creams in general. Although I will try this again to check that I wasn't just having an off-night!

Left hand side - Anno d'Oro Day Cream
Right Hand Side - Anno d'Oro Night cream


Anno d'Oro Lifting Day Cream 40+* (£4.83 for 50ml) - The lifting day cream from the Anno D'Oro 40+ range is suitable for mature and wrinkle prone skin. It also provides SPF 12 (but I would personally always use a separate SPF on top of this). Key ingredients include micro-collagen, provitamin B5 (D-panthenol), ursolic acid, UVA/UVB organic filters and Vitamin E.

As with the night cream, the scent was similar - a generic, lightly-perfumed scent that didn't linger. Consistency was a light cream (luckily a lot lighter than the night cream).



 Here's where I have to do a bit of comparing - My current day cream is the Figs & Rouge Hydra Activ day cream, which I've really enjoyed using - so much so, that I would re-purchase in the future once I've gotten through more of the moisturisers in my stash.

However, the Anno D'Oro day cream was nigh on identical to the Figs & Rouge - so much so that I'd be very hard pushed to name which was which in a blind test. And that's actually a very positive thing because I really like the Figs & Rouge!

 

The Anno D'Oro applies exactly like the Figs & Rouge - nice and creamy, with an initial white cast which then sinks in very quickly and well, but leaving behind a definite glow and radiance to the skin. The Anno D'Oro doesn't claim to be a brightening cream, but I would certainly add 'brightening effect' to it's list of attributes.

 

It sits very nicely under foundation (no need for a separate primer) and I felt that it also works (for me anyway) as a sebum regulator - I didn't become oily or greasy throughout the day, which can often be a problem I have with some richer moisturisers.

 

So whilst my initial impressions of the night cream weren't great, the day cream definitely gets a huge thumbs up from me.

 

Eva also sent me a back up of the Parsley Eye Cream and the Anno D'Oro Lifting serum for eye and lip area (£7.10 for 30ml). I'm sticking to the Parsley eye cream for the time being in my routine but I couldn't resist having a little test of the eye serum.

 

The consistency of the eye serum is a lovely lightweight fragrance-free gel.

Light enough to wear in the morning (under make up) but with enough moisturization to wear at night. Non-sticky and very refreshing.

I did notice that at £7.10 this is one of Ziaja's more pricier items (but seriously, £7.10 for an eye serum is still ridiculously cheap!) but then noticed that it's a whopping 30ml tube - most eye creams come in 15ml tubes, so that makes it even better value or money.

 

 

Anno D'Oro 40+ Microdermabrasion Face Mask* (£1.99 for 3 x 7ml sachets) - I'm trying not to physically exfoliate as much so I was slightly nervous about what to expect with these microdermabrasion masks. Luckily, the grains in this mask are absolutely miniscule. The mask is a rich white cream with just a very fine grain. There is probably enough in each sachet to get two face masks from but I loaded up and used the whole sachet. I only slightly rubbed as I applied and then used it as an in-shower mask, removing with warm water afterwards. The mask came off easily with only a gentle rub and left my skin feeling very smooth and brightened and not dry or sensitive at all.

 

 Key ingredients - ursolic acid, oligopeptides (micro-collagen), provitamin B5 (D-panthenol),Vitamin A and vitamin E.

 

 

 

 Olive Oil Lip Balm *(£1.93 for 10ml) - Eva mentioned to me that she loved the Olive Oil range and popped a tube of this Olive Oil lip balm for me to try. I can certainly see why she loves it so much!

 

 

 It has an oily-balm texture and has a very, very faint citrus smell - luckily not olive oil scented as I think that would be a bit strong. Key ingredients are Olive Oil, Vitamin E,Canola Oil, Lanolin and Vitamin A.

  Despite the balm/oil-like consistency, it's not as heavy or sticky as you might imagine.

It's also very comfortable on your lips - smooth and lubricating but not sticky, gummy or too heavy. This would make a great base for drying matte lipsticks. I've been applying this throughout the day as and when needed and it's keeping my lips comfortable and soft in this cold weather. I think this would also make a great lip sleeping mask - although I haven't tried it in that way yet.

 

Argan Oil Protective Hand Cream (£2.19 for 100ml)

I used to be of the opinion that a hand cream is a hand cream is a hand cream - but not all hand creams are created equally!

This super rich hand cream is suitable for very dry, chapped or cracked skin and can soothe any epidermal redness.

However, I don't have particularly dry hands at the moment (possibly because I have been intensively treating my hands and nails recently) so you might imagine that this cream would be too over-powering for your hands if they weren't too dry.

I absolutely love this hand cream! It applies like a dream, very rich and nourishing but it absolutely sinks right in without leaving my hands feeling greasy or with excess product. Within moments I can pick up paper or anything without leaving any residue from the hand cream - which is essential during the working day (I work with books and paper so absolutely CANNOT be leaving smears behind!!).

I've also noticed that is has a brightening effect on my hands, which is an exciting development for me as I've never noticed that attribute in a hand cream before.

I'm keeping this on my desk to reach for at least twice a day. It's a fantastic product.

 

 

 

 

* These items were gifted by the brand.