Part of a good beauty routine is a good moisturizer. Think of your skin as the canvas for the makeup, you want to prep the canvas properly or it doesn’t matter how much paint you slather on, it just won’t look as good as it would if you had stretched and mounted it, then properly primed it. A good cleanser, exfoliant, and moisturizer are important to your beauty routine!

My skin is combination and acne prone. My pores are naturally quite large and they block pretty easily so this makes finding a moisturizer that hydrates well but doesn’t cause problems difficult. All my favourites for hydration have blocked my pores and have sadly been demoted to body lotions. For this reason, I try to buy samples to try out before I buy a full size. The sample for this weeks review is Holika Holika’s Cera cream.

This cream is supposed to help protect and restore the skins natural barrier with the ceramide ingredients. Ceramides help the skin’s water-retention capacity and are necessary for cell regulation. When added to products such as creams and lotions they help restore the skin’s natural barrier system, which helps it keep moisture in and regulate what enters through you epidermis.

First Thoughts:

The cream is very thick but doesn’t feel heavy when applied. It smooths into the skin really well and it was like my skin felt it and was like, “Yup! I want this!” and sucked it right in! It absorbed pretty fast and left my skin looking dewy and soft.

It has a light scent, almost like a pine forest although that doesn’t quite describe it. It’s a light and fresh smell with a hint of spiciness. I’m not very good at scent notes, can you tell? I am sensitive to scents but found this to be nice; it wasn’t too strong and it faded after application so I did not experience a headache or nausea like I usually do from scents.

After a week:

My samples lasted a week so I was able to get a pretty good idea of how this cream worked for me. I really liked the way it felt and how my skin looked after applying it but unfortunately I found that it blocked my pores. I was really sad to see those bumps appear on my cheeks as I really do like this product.

Final Thoughts:

I loved this product but I will not buy a full size as it did block my pores. I was really disappointed since I really liked the texture and the scent. It was nice and thick, didn’t feel too greasy, and applied easily. My skin looked soft and glowy, and it worked really well under my makeup. Sometimes moisturizer balls up a bit when I apply a primer or BB cream and this didn’t. If it didn’t block my pores I would definitely buy it. I would highly recommend getting a sample and trying it for yourself but I wouldn’t buy the full size before seeing how your skin reacts to it.

(All reviews and statements are my honest opinions, and all products are purchased by me unless otherwise explicitly stated.)