Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream

In the past, bees hadn’t exactly left the best of impressions on me. The elementary school I went to had small gardens that would often attract bees, so a buzzer usually ended up inside the classroom. Someone would yell, “Bee!” and the class would be disrupted for a good 10 minutes. I didn’t care so much about honey at the time, so the only positive thoughts I had of bees stemmed from the popular fast food chain, Jollibee.

The 2010’s, however, is a very different time. I am a fan of “virgin” honey on my smoothies, and I’m more open to trying out bee-centered beauty products because of the natural-living trend. One of my finds from Watson’s is Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream (PHP 195).

The Ancient Kamitians’ Secret Magical Cream—sounds supernatural

The box may look big, but it’s on extreme close-up in this shot. Your PHP 195 gets you all of 5 ml of the actual cream/oil.

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Beeswax, Honey, Bee Polen [sic], Royal Jelly and Propolis Extract

Egyptian Magic Cream is primarily composed of olive oil, so don’t be surprised if it smells exactly like that with its mild fruitiness. I use this all-purpose cream mostly on my face as a moisturizer and occasionally on my dry patches such as elbows and ankles. The first thing you’ll notice about the actual cream is the consistency that I can only describe as mushy.  There are waxy bits that make it grittier-looking than a balm, but everything fully dissolves into oil once you rub it between the fingers or directly on the face.

The tiniest of jars

Pros:

• Because the cream doesn’t turn liquid unless you rub it, you could say this neat little jar was made for travel. There’s even a stopper at the mouth of the plastic jar to prevent messes.
• The scent is not bad. It doesn’t emit a nutty or raw odor, unlike other varieties of face oil.
• It moisturizes well. There is not a hint of dryness to my skin.

Cons:

• I wake up in the morning with a greasy face. It’s not the type of oil that the skin just laps up.
• I’ve read that you should rub this between the fingers to warm it up until it turns fully liquid, then massage on to the face. I feel like this is a wasteful method. It’s as though all that oil might end up getting absorbed by the fingers instead. That’s why…
• …I tried rubbing the mush directly on my face in an attempt to save time and product. Guess what, I still end up having to rub small circles around the skin just to melt it, and there was a lot of pulling involved to get it to spread evenly. Not the easiest to slather on when you’re lazy.

Verdict: Find the best application method for you. That was a real turn-off for me. I couldn’t just slather this on quickly without pulling at my face.