Emma Lewisham Sustainable Skincare Review

Looking for a review of the Emma Lewisham skincare range before you splash out? I’ve tried out the Illuminating Face Oil Cleanser, the Illuminating Brighten Your Day Face Cream and the Skin Reset Serum. Here are my honest and unbiased thoughts.

If you’ve seen Emma Lewisham’s distinctive purple packaging, or read any celebrity endorsements from people like Margot Robbie, you may well be wanting to know more about this sustainable luxury skincare brand. Specifically, if the products work and if they are worth the money.

I was lucky enough to receive a couple of Emma Lewisham products to try out well over a year ago now. There was zero expectation to share these. Plus, I like to thoroughly try any skincare products for a long time. They’ve got to work and they’ve got to stand up to all the Scottish seasons! So here are my honest and unbiased thoughts.

Who Is Emma Lewisham?

First up, you might be wondering who is Emma Lewisham. This eponymously named luxury sustainable skincare brand was founded in New Zealand. Blending high-performance and natural ingredients, these work together to create luxurious formulas that have seen the brand quickly become a cult favourite.

But what makes Emma Lewisham sustainable? For a start, the brand is B-Corp certified. This means it meets high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.

To help cut waste, the brand operates a handy refill system for all of its products. This means once you’ve bought the initial product, you can buy cheaper refill pods and pouches. Through its global circularity programme, ‘Beauty Circle’, it then takes back all of its used packaging to be refilled or recycled.

Packaging aside, careful consideration is made so that you don’t use too much of a product. Each product is dosage controlled. There’s no chance of using too much.

You can find Emma Lewisham products in the UK at:

• Emma Lewisham (UK orders are shipped from the UK and don’t attract any customs or duties)
• Space NK (where you can also get 15% off your first order)
• Liberty London (again, with 15% off your first order)

Is Emma Lewisham Cruelty-Free?

Before we go any further, for me, it’s incredibly important to know whether a brand tests on animals or not.

I’m pleased to say that Emma Lewisham is a cruelty-free brand and is PETA certified Animal Testing Free and Cruelty-Free. Emma Lewisham says “We have a zero-tolerance policy for animal testing, including on any singular ingredient that make up our formulas – not just on the finished product.” 

The website goes on to say that “We review every ingredient in our products, to ensure that at no point in its development was it tested on animals. We also promise to never sell our products to retailers in countries who will then independently test our products on animals prior to sale.”

All Emma Lewisham skincare products are vegan, apart from its Skin Shield sunscreen. This contains a small amount of beeswax.

Emma Lewisham Skincare Review

Here’s what I thought of the products:

Illuminating Face Oil Cleanser Review

Let’s start with my favourite Emma Lewisham product – the Illuminating Face Oil Cleanser, which retails for £48 for 115 ml.

To be honest, I didn’t know anything about Emma Lewisham when I got sent this cleanser. I had no idea how much it cost, and I was shocked when I found out. As someone who has never spent more than £8 on a cleanser, I was blown away by the fact that people would pay so much for something to clean their face with. And then I tried it…

Oh my, this is the holy grail of sustainable cleansers. The sleek glass bottle has a handy pump dispenser, rather than a pipette, which means you only use the exact amount each time.

I’ve used homemade facial oil before, so it’s no stranger to me, but if you haven’t it works a little different to conventional cleansers.

To use, simply massage 1 to 2 pumps of the refreshingly scented oil onto dry skin (using dry hands) for 45 seconds. This dissolves makeup, sunscreen, sweat, dirt, oil, grease and impurities with ease. Once you’ve massaged the oil in, add a tiny bit of water to your face. This creates a milky emulsion that you rub in a little bit more, before rinsing off.

The end result is a beautifully cleansed face, that doesn’t look or feel stripped. Instead, your skin feels soft and supple, without feeling oily or greasy. It’s such a treat for dry skin – it keeps it feeling soft and balanced – even in the winter. I couldn’t believe the difference in my skin just from using a cleanser.

You can sometimes feel all your makeup, sunscreen and anything else on your skin forming little balls as you work in the oil. This happens because the oil bonds to the oils and dirt on your skin – lifting it away as you massage it. It’s incredibly satisfying!

Because you use so little oil at a time, the bottle lasts a long time. Mine lasted almost six months with morning and evening use, so despite the high initial price, it felt good value.

I ended up going out and buying a refill pouch (£41) once I finished the bottle – I don’t think I can be without it now. I shopped around and used the new customer discount at Space NK. It came to £34.88, plus free delivery.

Supernatural Day Creme Review

The Supernatural Day Creme (£72 for 50 ml – previously known as the Brighten Your Day Face Creme) is another that I’ve been trying out for a little while now.

To be honest, for the price, I’m not a massive fan of this cream.

What I do like is that it is a click doser, which means you are only dispensed the exact amount of cream you need. This helps stop you from applying too much. And it means you don’t have to put your fingers in the pot, and potentially introduce bacteria into the jar.

The cream itself glides on and rubs in easily and doesn’t leave a white cast or a greasy finish. It has a subtle citrus scent, but nothing overpowering. But I wouldn’t say my skin feels particularly moisturised. I’m not convinced my skin looks any brighter, despite daily use. It has a tiny bit of ethically sourced mica (here’s why sustainably sourced mica is important) in it to help give you a glow. In daylight, you don’t notice it, but at night under overhead lights, I was shocked to see that my face looked very glittery.

The biggest kicker for me was the packaging. I’ve tried out a lot of plastic-free facial moisturisers. Whilst the packaging is, for the most part, reusable and recyclable, I was disappointed that it’s all plastic. The dispenser is plastic, the refill pod is plastic, and the outer pot is plastic. It would have been good to see the outer pot being made of glass. And I feel like the refill pod could perhaps have been made of metal.

I’m not sure if I would repurchase this cream. Whilst the refill is £10 cheaper – at £62 – it’s still A LOT of money. I’ve tried out some more affordable moisturisers with more sustainable packaging, that I feel give better results.

Skin Reset Serum Review

Emma Lewisham’s Skin Reset Serum (£85 for 30 ml) is the brand’s top-selling product. Targeting hyperpigmentation, it’s an all-natural formulation, which avoids potentially problematic ingredients such as hydroquinone. As someone who has melasma, this is an exciting discovery.

I had two 10 ml sample-sized serums to try. A full-sized serum holds 30 ml, so I’ve only tried two-thirds of a bottle. I found these lasted around one month each with twice daily use, so a full-sized product is likely to last around three months if you use it night and day.

I really like the serum. It feels lovely on my skin, and feels very moisturising – more so than the actual moisturiser! And unlike other serums I’ve tried, it has a thick and creamy texture rather than an oily or gel-like one. It goes on without any stickiness, and there’s a very light floral fragrance to it. My skin tolerates it well, and I haven’t broken out or developed any redness.

What about my melasma? Sadly, I haven’t seen much difference in my melasma after two months of use. This is despite twice daily use, using SPF 50 every day, and wearing a hat when I’m out in the sun.

Would I buy it again? I don’t think so. It does make my skin feel amazing – and I feel a difference when I don’t use it – but it hasn’t helped to fade my hyperpigmentation. This makes it difficult to justify the high price tag.

Is Emma Lewisham Worth Investing In?

I’m new to the world of luxury skincare. After testing lots of budget and mid-range eco-friendly skincare products I honestly didn’t think there was any need to spend more than £20 to find the perfect product. However, with the facial oil firmly now being a key staple in my beauty routine, I can confidently say that some Emma Lewisham products are well worth the spend.

Others, not so much. The serum makes my skin feel amazing, but so far hasn’t helped tackle my hyperpigmentation so I don’t think I would re-buy it. The moisturiser was ok, but I feel there are better moisturisers out there with more sustainable packaging, and that deliver more moisture at a more attractive price point.