When travelling, I always write down a list of brands I can’t get my hands on in Italy so I can make the most out of the trip and, not surprisingly at all, my last visit to England saw Pixi Glow Tonic coming first when doing with my beauty priorities. Loved by an army of bloggers and YouTubers around the world, I have read magic about it on the internet, so I really couldn’t miss the chance and have a precious travel size coming home with me for a well-deserved test. I’m happy to announce though, that Sephora’s #Wanted campaign has just made life easier for us  Italian skincare junkies by bringing some of the most loved foreign brands instore – guess what: Pixi Beauty too! So, which moment best for my Pixi Glow Tonic review?

THE BRAND

Founded in 1998 in Soho, London, by makeup artist & product developer Petra Strand, Pixi Beauty is worldwide renowned for its cutting-edge results when coming to skincare. Since the early days, the core mission of the brand has always been research aimed at enhancing natural beauty and radiant complexion. The main goal: creating a routine that allows women to have luminous and spotless skin in few moves and their multi-tasking products are the key to their success. Pixi Beauty rates also amongst the most known cruelty free brands and is also committed to producing vegan cosmetics – all in all, it’s a little Made-in-England jewel.

PIXI GLOW TONIC

What makes Pixi Glow Tonic this special and famous? An exfoliating toner, it contains glycolic acid (5%) that works as a mild but effective peeling agent intended for toning and brightening the skin. Pores and imperfections are minimised too, while the complexion is left smooth and compact. Amongst the ingredients we also find aloe with its anti-inflammatory and health properties, as well as witch hazel – great antioxidant – and horse chestnut for soothing the skin during the exfoliation. This product has been designed for combination/oily skin as well as for ageing skin but its magic touch also helps when stress strikes in and complexion appears grey and dull.

As I mentioned, you can now easily find Pixi Glow Tonic in Italy too both in Sephora (100ml travel size), on Asos and in Milan in Rinascente (Annex in via Santa Radegonda), selling for around €12.50 for 100ml and €25 for 250ml.

Definitely not a low-cost option but rather a mid-range toner, if you ask me Pixi Glow Tonic is a great product and 100% worth the expense – try the travel size if in doubt.

AM I FOR IT?

Well, cutting to the chase, yes. After a month of profuse use and love the response is my skin is really nailing it, looking brighter and consistent, with less spots and minimised pores (my big affliction). Of course, miracles don’t happen overnight, but I do see an improvement in my complexion – and usually long days closed in the office don’t help with radiance levels.

I regularly apply Pixi Glow Tonic once a day in the evening avoiding mornings for two main reasons:

• While I started applying it twice per day, I then noticed that my skin was getting quite dry and dehydrated – I guess the fault has to be put down to aircon and pre-vacation fatigue too, but we’re always talking about an exfoliating treatment so, you know.
• Glycolic acid is a photosensitising ingredient and applying it before being out in the sun isn’t recommended, particularly in summer when sunbeams are more intense. (Still, you need to match sunscreen and a good moisturiser to your exfoliating routing – don’t forget it!)

This being said, I am the number one fan of Pixi Glow Tonic with its floral perfume and fresh feeling on the skin – no doubt it’s one of those products that will sit in my bathroom cabinet the whole year round. Passed with flying colours!

INCI

Aqua, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Leaf Extract, Aesculus Hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut) Seed Extract, Glycolic Acid, Ammonium Glycolate, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Hexylene Glycol (and) Fructose (and) Glucose (and) Sucrose (and) Urea (and) Dextrin (and) Alanine (and) Glutamic Acid (and) Aspartic Acid (and) Hexyl Nicotinate, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Biotin, Polysorbate 20.