Saaf Skincare Review

I was offered the opportunity to review a product from Saaf Skincare and after looking through the site I chose the Super Hydrating Body Balm.

 For the past two years I’ve had really dry, flaky and itchy skin on my arms. It became so bad that I was scratching throughout the night and waking up with sores and scabs all over my arms. Last summer I did not wear short sleeves and I was expecting the same this year. I’ve been to the doctor and was prescribed steroid cream which helped a lot, but because of it’s nature it can only be used for seven days then you have to take a break. So, although it was effective for a while it didn’t help long term. In-between I’ve been using a BP cream, which doesn’t really help much and is very greasy.

After reading about the Super Hydrating Body Balm from Saaf I thought that it may be the product to help me. The ingredients are: Safflower oil, sesame oil, beeswax, shae butter and black seed oil. Ylang ylang, patchouli, lavender and clove essential oils are added for their softening effect and fragrance.

It claims to provide care to prematurely ageing skin, to soothe and repair skin and to hydrate and restore suppleness.

The packaging is very classic looking, you get a mostly white box with a green stripe and a beige stripe. The logo is in gold and their is a gold trim around the inner jar giving it a luxurious look. The jar holds 150g of balm which is a fair amount for the cost.

The first thing I noticed on opening the jar was that the balm was solid, not a cream, this is because of the beeswax. The second thing I noticed was the smell, the essential oils were quite strong and I did worry that they may be a little too strong. It was a nice smell but I usually go for products with little or no smell, I don’t like things to smell like perfume. Once applied, however, the smell is much less noticeable and is really pleasant and soothing.

The balm is easy to apply, although at first you may want to warm your hands a little to melt the beeswax. It sinks into the skin beautifully and leaves behind no lasting residue, just a soft silkiness and a delicate smell. I have used the balm on my arms only so far but it is meant to be used all over, paying particular attention to especially dry areas like elbows and knees.

Saaf skincare is very pure and made with natural organic ingredients and no alcohol, fragrance or chemicals. Even the name Saaf is persian for pure. They sell products for the face, body and haircare.

I love beeswax products so as soon as I opened my balm I was happy. I was worried about the strong smell, but it did fade a little once applied, and it was actually an nice smell of essential oils which have a relaxing therapeutic effect. I found the balm easy to apply and it was not greasy but left me with a soft silky feeling. I noticed straight away that it calmed the poorly skin on my arms and the itching fading dramatically after just a couple of uses. Two weeks on and I am happy to report that I have not been scratching and I have no scabs or sores on my arms. My skin is softer, in fact my elbows are the softest they’ve been in many years. My skin feels soothed and supple rather than dry, flaky and itchy. I still have the scars from before but I am hoping they too will fade in time. I will wear short sleeves this summer and hopefully a little sun will darken my arms and make the scars less noticeable. It is such a relief not to be itching all the time, even my family have commented on my lack of scratching my arms. I am so happy that I had the chance to review this product, I would recommend it to anyone with dry, itchy skin.

I was given a jar of Saaf Hydrating Body Balm for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.