Another Slice | Beauty Pie Skincare Review

Have you heard of Beauty Pie? The brainchild of Bliss Spa and Soap and Glory founder Marcia Kilgore, the brand is a new way of buying beauty products that makes bold promises of 'liberating women' - as well as selling them mascaras and lipsticks at factory price.

I signed up excitedly a couple of months ago, but my first order of products was a bit of a mixed bag, and overall I wasn't hugely impressed  - you can see my initial Beauty Pie review here.

Basically, you pay a monthly membership fee in return for being able to order the products at a low 'member's price'. You can still buy the products if you aren't a member, but it will cost you dear.

The products are supposedly formulated to the same specifications and in the same factories as big name luxury brands that cost top dollar. Beauty Pie won't state which, but a little search engine sherlock-ing will reveal a few products where those who are especially keen have done line-by-line ingredients comparisons and worked it out.

Last time, although there were a couple of products I liked, there were equally a few disappointing ones that left me feeling like I wouldn't be renewing my membership. You have to sign up for three months at a time, but last month I didn't order anything. This month though, I decided to have one last bite of the pie before cancelling my subscription.

The pace at which they introduce new products is quite quick, so there's been something new to try each time I've checked the website, and they've just launched a whole bunch of skincare.

Given that Marcia Kilgore's other brands produce great quality skincare and she must have top notch suppliers, I wondered whether the creams and lotions would impress me more than the makeup did.

Several of the items were out of stock, so they must be proving popular. I decided to make an order and put what was left to the test.

Jeju Daily Antioxidant Superinfusion Essence
£7.32*

I've been so impressed with this serum and after using it for a couple of weeks I can see a massive difference in my skin, which to be honest I wasn't expecting!

It's completely turned my opinion of the brand round, along with the foundation, and I'm now renewing my subscription as I know I will want more of this.

The formula contains Green Tea Glycoproteins to soothe the skin and calm down its stress response to environmental aggressors, and a defence complex of antioxidants that guard against free radicals and air pollution.

It's difficult to describe, but this has definitely given my skin a fresher appearance and more of a glow. I just feel like it looks healthier and my foundation goes on better. After a good sunscreen, antioxidants are one of the most important things you can do for your skin but I wasn't really addressing it in my regime before now.

In contrast to some of the flimsy packaging with the make-up, this feels really luxe. It comes in a heavy glass pale pink opaque bottle with an easy to use black pump – it reminds me of the Bobbi Brown skincare, and it really feels like a premium product.

The serum itself is a pearlescent product that smells delicately of citrus and absorbs really nice. I'm hooked!

Plantastic Micro Peeling Super Drops
£6.69*

Facial exfoliants are a mixed bag for me- I know they are a vital supporting element in a good skincare regime, but I hate the gritty feeling of scrubs and they can irritate my skin. This is a chemical exfoliant which I much prefer.

It gently refines pores, exfoliates, smooths and evens out pigmentation. It feels a little like an essence, as you just pat it on and leave. With acids from banana, caja (me either..) and mango, kiwiberry stem cells and exfoliating black willow bark extract, it's effective but doesn’t feel like its stripping out your skin.

It refines pores and just makes skin look much fresher, especially paired up with the antioxidant serum. Again, the packaging is frosted glass and feels give deluxe, with the product being dispensed via a dropper.

Double Phase Daily Deep Rinse Off Cleanser
£4.92*

I also ordered this cleanser, which is in the style of Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, the sort of cream cleanser that comes with a muslin cloth.

This removes makeup, smooths and purifies skin and it also has more antioxidant skin protectors. It's loaded with passionflower, baobab and meadowfoam seed oils, aloe vera and Vitamin E – over all the formula is 95% naturally-derived ingredients.

I've only used this once, as I already have a cleanser on the go to use up, but I did really enjoy using it. When I rinsed it off my skin felt plumped up and hydrated, rather than tight and irritable, which I must admit my current cleanser is guilty of.

I didn't feel like I needed to go and slather myself in moisturisers afterwards and it was nice to use. I can see myself repurchasing this as one of those staple products that's always in daily use.

Superbrow Colour Mousse
£2.87*

Always on the look out for new brow products, this one caught my eye. I quite liked the brow pencil I ordered last time from Beauty Pie, so I thought I'd see what this was all about. The texture is quite light as you might expect from the name, so if you find pomades a little heavy and dark at times, you'll probably prefer this. Personally, I wish it was just a little bit more pigmented.

There are three shades, and I went for 'Baked Brown', the middle shade. It's a really nice colour and doesn't contain too many red tones – though there is also an 'Ash Brown' - so it looks realistic.

Based on 'the hottest new beauty trend in Korea' they describe it as a 'mousse-like jelly cream'. It does have an almost bouncy texture when you dip into it. This is great for shading and gives a very soft finish that's more like filling your browns in with a powder.

It doesn't have as good a lasting power as something like Dipbrow Pomade, but it’s a nice product, especially for those who want to avoid the drawn on look!

Micro-Mineral Serum Foundation
£4.64*

This was one of the original hero products when Beauty Pie launched, and despite being a bit sceptical after my other makeup buys from the range, I decided to try it out. And I'm so impressed!

Beauty Pie currently offer two foundations – Good Skin, which has a fuller coverage, and this one which is a lot sheerer. 'Serum' is the right description for it – it's extremely liquid and runny. Usually, I'm into quite a lot of coverage, so I wasn't sure what I would think about this.

But even though it is very natural, it just does something to my skin that makes it look great – smooth, rested, glowing. It's made me realise that level of coverage is not as important as the finish of a foundation on the skin. People are comparing this to the Armani Luminous Silk foundation, that I've never tried but I know has a huge following, and I think its also similar to the BareMinerals Bare Skin Pure Brightening Serum foundation -  so if you like those whisper-light formulas, this could be for you.

I combined it with the Beauty Pie Bio-Infusion Breathable Primer (which was my favourite item from my last order) and topped with some of their One Powder Wonder, and although I definitely needed concealer as well, I loved the overall finish. I just looked really well rested and glowing. What more do you need?

This product began to make me see exactly why some people rave about the brand. The formula is oil-free as well, so it doesn't clog skin and it feels beautifully silky.  This has definitely made me want to to try their other foundation offering as well.

I was a bit worried about shade matching, as I won't normally purchase foundations online, but the shade 'Buttermilky' matched seamlessly which was amazing (I'm normally an NW20).

Again, the product finish is quality. Where some of the range is deliberately quite plasticky, this comes in a heavy frosted glass bottle that just feels luxurious and high-end. There's a dropper to get the product out and I've been applying with a kabuki, because I have a feeling a BeautyBlender would just swallow this watery formulation. It's really easy to layer up without looking heavy, so I've been doing two layers for work. This has really turned my opinion of the brand around!

I'm seriously impressed with the skincare and the foundation here and would certainly re-order them, especially the antioxidant serum which has made a visible difference in my skin. I've gone from wanting to cancel to renewing my subscription.

I guess in a way its good that you have to sign up for three months, as it forces you to try a few different products rather than basing your opinion on just one or two. I really feel that the skincare from Beauty Pie is amazing quality and well worth the 'member price', even with the subscription fee taken into consideration (although not the hugely over-inflated non-members prices, which I'd really be surprised if anyone would pay!).

In fact, I've already made another order for some of the other skincare that was out of stock last time I ordered!  The foundation is amazing as well, so my faith in Beauty Pie has been restored completely.

I guess, like any brand, there will be some hits and some complete misses, but I'm happy to stay subscribed just for skincare on the basis of these great products. Looking forward to trying more!

(*members price)