REN Wake Wonderful
I’m all for products that do the work as you sleep – the REN Wake Wonderful Night Time Facial is honestly an absolute cracker for this category. I guess it’s doing the work of a mask, but taking longer about it and being more thorough than a quick ten minutes in the bath would do. It promises ‘a transforming treatment that works overnight to leave skin visibly brighter, more luminous, refined and even-toned by morning’. The first two claims, for visibly brighter and more luminous skin are spot-on – I only needed one go at REN Wake Wonderful to see that, sure enough, by morning, my skin was looking clearer and more glowy than it had the day before. I don’t think I saw ‘refinement’, because that’s a word that can have many meanings and I didn’t really see a difference in tone, but my skin definitely was perkier.
If you have sensitive skin, REN Wake Wonderful isn’t recommended, and that’s mainly because it uses an enzyme complex (which I think is doing most of the work, here.. it’s like a night peel) which can be a little harsh on delicate skin. Glycogen and Magnesium boost cell activity, and Sodium Lactate boosts the skin’s PH for a hydrating effect (yes, my skin was hydrated).
I think that REN Wake Wonderful is a good example of what happens when good, solid, reliable ingredients work together rather than individually – REN is very lucky in that it has one of the best beauty formulators in the world coming up with these beauty recipes for them, and it shows. I’d recommend REN Wake Wonderful in a heartbeat when it launches in June (to SpaceNK) – even at £32.
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I’m sure it’s not news to anyone that REN has been bought by Unilever. It’s at such odds with their other brands (Simple, Dove, Impulse etc) that I think it signals the beginning of Unilever snapping up more premium beauty brands for their portfolio. Unilever, across its beauty brands, is such a bag of mixed messages that I worry for REN. There is absolutely no unity and some of their brands (Dove), I just despair of. Blogs have opened the previously closed doors on how brands and corporations behave within beauty world – we’ll just have to watch and wait to see how this one goes. It’s got to say something to Unilever, surely, that there was an absolute uproar on REN’s FB page when it was announced – and not in a good way!
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All products are sent to me as samples from brands and agencies unless otherwise stated. Affiliate links may be used. Posts are not affiliate driven.
13 comments
June? No!!! I wanted this to use before my wedding in May! Can you recommend any other great overnight treatments, please?
I’d recommend Sarah Chapman’s Overnight Facial Oil.. great stuff x
Thanks Jane! By the way, I’m booked in for a Nano Keratin treatment after reading your review. Can’t wait : )
Hope you enjoy!
REN have gone in with Unilever now, people now happy with the brand. FaceBook went nuts when they announced it the other week.
oh yes.. I will add something in about that. thanks for reminding me. x
Oh Jane – I’m so disappointed, I have literally just discovered their cleansing gel and balm, after my skin had broken out in spots which l’ve never, ever suffered from. It’s cleared the problems and to read this post to find that they’ve sold out to Unilever breaks my heart.
Very disappointed to hear about sell off, especially after what seems to have happened with Liz Earle.
By the way, ” boosts the skin’s PH for a hydrating effect” doesn’t make sense to me – PH is surely not related to moisture? I hope this isn’t the start of pseudo science guff to blind the masses with.
Sodium Lactate actually has two functions, first it raises the PH gentle to bring the skin out of the exfoliation phase from the AHA’s, and it’s also the main component of the skin’s NMF (Natural Moisturising Factor) so in itself attracts water into the skin. Hope that makes more sense.
Makes much more sense, thanks!
Jane, this sounds fab & I love Ren generally but I’m a bit worried as I live in a hot, sunny climate so would thie active ingredients in this product make my skin extra sun-sensitive?
That’s always going to be a personal thing – different skin reacts in different ways so it’s impossible to answer that with any confidence I’m afraid.. sorry xx
Fair enough Jane, I’ll try to get hold of a sample size before splashing out!