NadiaZ Ximenia Nectar Face Serum Review on Beauty Almanac by Barbara Valentina

https://www.beautyalmanac.com/article/nadia-z-ximenia-nectar-face-serum-product-review/3194

Ximenia Nectar Face Serum is a product designed for practically all skin types and all skin ages, except, maybe, oily skin. I have been using it for a couple of months and I must say I like it very much. I have dry and reactive skin, especially in winter, so I usually end up using products from pharmacy brands like Avene or La Roche Posay. Unfortunately, these don’t treat my long term skin problems, like skin aging, but they calm and nourish my winter flaking skin.

The brand doesn’t have a complete skincare line, so you have to use the Serum in conjunction with a cleanser and moisturizer from another brand. Nadia Z’s facial products include Ximenia Nectar Serum, Velvet Rose Face Scrub and the Pequi Kiss Lip Balm, but none of them truly complements the Serum.

Ximenia Nectar Serum has a very oily texture. I would say it is more an oil than a serum. It can be used alone as an oil (that is how I use it), or you can still put on a moisturizer afterwards, but I think it would be too much even if what you want is to lock down hydration. Ximenia Nectar Serum is indeed a very thick oil. The product instructions advise us to use it on a damp face, or mix it with water, but I think it doesn’t make much of a difference since oil and water don’t mix unless you add an active agent.

Ximenia Nectar Serum has a lot of vegetable virgin oils and no fragrances or chemical preservatives, so it is good for vegans. The Ximenia Oil in the serum’s name is sourced from Southern Africa Savannah and has a lot of fatty acids that are essential nourishing ingredients if you have dry or dehydrated skin. Due to the fatty acid composition of the oil, it may significantly improve skin’s elasticity. Passion Fruit Oil is rich in Vitamin E that has a lot of anti-aging properties because it is an antioxidant that fights our worse enemies – free radicals. The Yangu Oil is also very rich in antioxidants, while Cucumber Oil has a lot of essential fatty acids (omegas). The Baobab oil (a tree that grows only in dry lands in Africa) is rich in Vitamin A, which is a natural form of Retinol (again a powerful antioxidant), an essential ingredient in treating acne and photo-aging, while reducing fine lines and wrinkles. In a nutshell, what we have is anoil that is very good to nourish the skin and promote skin’s protection against the free radicals, with a lot of antioxidants and fatty acids.

On her site, there is a disclosure for allergies because every product of the range includes ingredients sourced from nuts and unrefined virgin seed oils that might have been in contact with bees and dairy products. I must say that I am very allergic, especially to nuts. But the Ximenia Nectar Serum (as well as another Nadia Z product that I have tried) doesn’t provoke my immune system. However, if you’re prone to allergies, it would be the best to test-drive the products every other day, until the skin gets used to them, or try a small amount on a small patch of the skin before applying it to the entire face.

I use the Ximenia Nectar Serum as an oil, after my cleansing and toning routine at night. I don´t use any moisturizer afterwards as I find it useless. I massage it very well and I even use a massage tool sometimes. My skin feels nourished and calm and it gets much less reactive to weather. It is a bit expensive, but, since you use only three or four drops of the oil daily and it has a 24-month expiration date, I guess you will be using it for long enough that it would really pay off. You just have to be careful because as it has Retinol, so you shouldn’t wear it with another retinol product.

Comment from NadiaZ :

Dear Barbara,

I very much appreciate your review and the time and dedication you have put in it. As many of my brand formulation principles are complex and unique, I would like to add some comments for the best understanding of the users:

– There is no Retinol nor Vitamin A in Ximenia Nectar Face Serum. The products contain tocopherol or Vitamin E which is coming naturally from sunflower oil and is commonly used to reduce oxidation of oils.

– The product has to be used with water. Water and oil emulsify meaning a suspension is created with a very different texture, like when you do a mayonnaise. My brand prefers not to put water in a product and rather ask the user to add it because like this it will not need to add any preservatives for bacterial contamination as is the case when you buy a lotion.

– NadiaZ spends time in formulating the best product for each category rather than multiply them. The focus is also placed on leave-in products rather than washable ones such as soap because those are the ones with longer contact with the skin.

Thanks again to Beauty Almanac to offer a platform to present innovations in cosmetics and to its readers.

Nadia