The Beauty Pie Club & Retinol Hand Cream Review

Beauty Pie is a subscription only beauty buyers’ club; members can purchase luxury makeup and skin care (& candles) at factory prices, plus basic shipping and handling.

Members will receive the same premium beauty products, bought at the same factories as the high-end brands, but everything is in plain packaging.

I have the £5 mini-monthly membership, this gives me a £50 a month spend allowance.

However, I would say this £50 a month buying allocation is a little bit misleading. This doesn’t mean you can buy up to £50 worth of goods (and you would get an awful lot for £50, my online basket was brimming until I read the rules properly). It’s £50 of what it would have cost to buy them at the original price.

I dipped my toe into the water anyway and bought a jar of Superactive Capsules Hyaluronic Acid and Biopeptide Microspheres Serum – which I thought at first were supplements (review to come), and a tube of Super Retinol Anti-Ageing Hand Treatment for £6.29.

This is how the price of the hand cream is broken down:

• Product + packaging = £3.47
• Warehousing = £1.33
• Safety + Testing** = £0.44
• VAT = £1.05

TOTAL FACTORY PRICE £6.29

*Our non-members prices have been set based on a range of premium branded products of similar quality, currently available in the marketplace.

** We do not test our products on animals. Safety testing referred to includes efficacy testing (on people panels) and product compatibility and stability.

You have to take a leap of faith here that the products are indeed comparable to similar luxury brands, but the only way of doing this is to try them out for yourself and start small.

SUPER RETINOL ANTI-AGEING HAND TREATMENT

An overnight, sensational, all-in-one anti-ageing, moisturising hand cream.
A rich, deeply hydrating anti-ageing hand treatment with gentle, microencapsulated retinol to help reduce the visible signs of lines and uneven pigmentation

• Reduces the appearance of age spots
• Helps even out and brighten skin tone
• Fragrance-free

HOW TO USE

Massage generously into your hands each morning and evening, and follow with sunscreen as needed during the day. For best results, use every morning and evening for at least six months.

REVIEW

I cannot lie, my hands have aged horribly, I think it’s partly because I don’t keep sunscreen on them for long enough. Plus, I can’t bear the feeling of product on my hands.

Also, and this is a bit embarrassing, but hand cream ruins the handles of leather bags and discolours them, so that put me off as well. (Shallow? Me?)

If you are looking for a quick fix for your old lady mitts, then you can’t beat L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream, not cheap at £21.50 for 150ml, but it instantly smooths and hydrates wrinkly hands.

However, I’m looking for long-term improvement, and of course anything with the magic word ‘retinol’ in it is going to appeal. TOP TIP: Caroline Hirons has produced a comprehensive guide here to retinol, aka Vitamin A.

The tube is a bit soft and squishy for me, i.e. a lot of product comes out in one go and the tube is going down faster than I would like.

The unscented white cream massages in well, although I find it takes a little time to sink into my skin. I’ve been using it for only a week (it’s recommended to be used regularly for 6 months to see improvement) but there’s already a noticeable difference.

The papery texture of my hands has improved so much and they look and feel a lot softer. I haven’t massaged any cream into to my cuticles yet, but I will do.

Can one really see a difference in just one week? Or is it wishful thinking? I’m not sure, but I know I’m going to buy as many tubes as I can before it sells out again and I’ll come back to this post in 6 months’ time.

OTHER PRODUCTS THAT CAUGHT MY EYE

It makes me wonder if I have any of these products already – perhaps in a different guise?