I tried UK cult-favorite skincare brand Balmonds, and here’s my honest review

For half of the year, my skin is more or less fine. But once fall and winter come around, it’s dry city. My hands, nails, and cuticles start to crack, and while I don’t have an official rosacea diagnosis, my cheeks become semi-permanently flushed and red. Honestly, sometimes my cheeks will just hurt because they’re so dehydrated. Twice daily moisturizer, vitamin C, and hyaluronic acid help but don’t fully do the trick to provide my skin relief.

With fall just beginning, my dry, red cheeks are already starting to make their annual appearance. I was looking to find something to keep my skin nourished and hydrated, which is why I was excited to find out that Balmonds was launching in the U.S. Their products check my two main skincare boxes: they’re made with high-quality ingredients and each individual item is under $40.

What is Balmonds?

In case you haven’t spent a lot of time in the UK, Balmonds is a cult-favorite skincare brand that was developed for people with eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, and other sensitive, dry skin issues. It was first developed in the kitchen by a mother looking for a soothing, natural solution for her daughter’s eczema. The result was Skin Salvation, Balmonds’ beeswax-based emollient that is designed to reduce inflammation and rehydrate dry skin.

Today, Balmonds has a whole skincare line including balms, creams, and oils for the face, scalp, body, and hair. It’s a true sensation in the UK, with plenty of media buzz and a cult following (including plenty of love from Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh), and now Americans can buy it stateside — and we even have an exclusive discount code.

My experience with Balmonds

I got four Balmonds products: Skin Salvation, Intensive Facial Oil, Daily Moisturising Cream, and Bath & Body Oil.

The first thing I tried was the Intensive Facial Oil. This vegan oil is formulated with 12 ingredients that are easy to understand and include grape seed oil, rosehip fruit oil, sunflower seed oil, vitamin E, and a few other floral and plant oils and extracts. Combined, these are meant to nourish and moisturize dry skin and even out your skin tone. Its made with lavender, Roman chamomile, marigold, and palmarosa which are said to keep your skin supple and soothed.

To use it, I misted my face, rubbed three sizable drops of the oil onto my hands, and patted it gently onto my face. I’m not going to lie, my initial reaction was that this stuff had an extremely botanical scent, led by the lavender oil. Inherently, this is a calming smell but it is on the stronger side, and the smell certainly lingered for a good 20 minutes or so. Also, make no mistake, this isn’t a serum, it’s an oil, so you’ll feel the dewiness on your skin immediately.

I’ve been using the facial oil for a week now as a part of my nighttime skincare routine, and I can say that I’ve been waking up with baby soft skin. I have yet to see it move the needle when it comes to my uneven coloring, but I look forward to seeing what this oil can do as I continue to use it throughout the fall and winter.

The next product I tried was Skin Salvation, Balmonds’ signature product. Meant to be used anywhere on the body to relieve itchy, dry skin, this salve is made with olive oil, beeswax, safflower seed oil, hemp oil, and other all-natural ingredients. Initially developed by a mother wanting a natural solution for her daughter’s eczema, Balmonds says that Skin Salvation is suitable to use for those with eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, and other dry skin conditions.

Unlike the facial oil, this balm borders on unscented, though it does have a slight nutty smell to it. I rubbed the Skin Salvation on my hands, which are already getting a little dry. It was a little bit thick initially, but I quickly realized that just meant a little bit of this balm could go a long way. I could sense the hydration almost instantly and was impressed with the beeswax’s ability to lock in moisture. My hands still felt supremely soft hours later, even after washing my hands.

I think for everyday use, however, I’ll turn to Balmonds’ hand cream. It has a lot of the same powerhouse ingredients as Skin Salvation like olive oil, hemp seed oil, and botanical extracts, but it has a base of shea butter, which isn’t just hydrating and nourishing but easy to spread. The easy-to-use pump bottle makes this easier to apply than the salve, and I also found the lotion to be truly scentless.

The final product I tried was the Bath & Body Oil. It’s not quite bath season yet, so while you can add this to your bath, I rubbed it on my legs after shaving and exfoliating for an extra dose of hydration.

This vegan product is made with sunflower seed oil, safflower seed oil, hemp seed oil, and other botanical ingredients, and it has the same lavender scent as the facial oil. However, this didn’t bother me when applied to my body. On the contrary, I actually found the floral fragrance to be pleasant in this application and hydrating for my skin.

How to try Balmonds at a discount

Whether you’re looking to combat simple dry skin celebrity style or you are seeking relief for eczema, rosacea, or another condition, you can try Balmonds now at a discount. Use the discount code MIC15 on www.balmonds.com or www.balmonds.co.uk for 15% off all products on a one-time purchase.

There’s no minimum purchase required, so it works just as well on the $12.50 Skin Salvation as it does on the $82.35 All-Natural Starter Set with four different products. All customers can use the discount code now through November 1 one time, but you can’t combine the 15% off offer with other discounts.