The product: Graydon Holiday Gift Set (2020) — includes Berry Rich Face + Eye Cream (full-size), Face Food Mineral Mist (full-size), and Fullmoon Serum (trial size)

It’s rare that I fall in love with a skincare set. There are just so many factors involved, and, well: I’m pretty picky. This year’s Graydon Holiday Gift Set ($75 CAD), however, flaunted my expectations — as much of the brand has.

Usually, when I’m looking at a skincare gift set, there are one or two products that I love. They’re paired with one or two (or more) that I’m not interested in, or that I can’t use for some reason or another. As a result, while I love the premise of a skincare kit, it’s usually cheaper for me to buy each product separately.

But this set? This set is perfect. It contains a full-sized version of one of my favourite skincare products, a full-sized version of something that I can always use (a non-sticky face mist), and a trial size of a product that I’ve been meaning to try for ages. Each product is vegan and silicone-free. Each product comes in perfect, beautiful packaging. And most importantly of all, each of these skincare products is something that I’ve used routinely since I opened the set. There are no weak links here!

Berry Rich loses its potency (and colour) with time. The vibrant blue (top) is from this bottle, while the lighter green (bottom) is from a bottle I purchased during the summer.

Graydon Berry Rich Moisturizer review: The love story continues

This is my third (fourth? Fifth?) tube of Graydon Berry Rich Face + Eye Cream. I love sticking with a product once I know that it works, and Berry Rich works! Not only is it perfect for my dry, dehydrated skin, but it’s done some pretty spectacular things for my partner’s dehydrated, ageing skin, too.

Berry Rich is creamy and, well, rich. It features blue-green algae (which give the moisturizer its distinctive colour) and a probiotic blend, and there’s just… something about it. I’ve tried dozens of moisturizers during my tenure as a beauty blogger—if not close to the hundreds—and this is one of the only moisturizers that’s ever stuck out to me as perfect. It goes on creamy but sinks in to the skin grease-free, making it a beautiful base for foundation and colour products. Plus, it’s crazy hydrating: Berry Rich alone has done more for my skin than any other moisturizer plus face oil plus hyaluronic acid combination ever has.

I don’t know what it is that makes Graydon Berry Rich Face + Eye Cream so magical, but I like to think it’s its concentrated formula. The first ingredient is Blue Majik algae extract, and there’s lots of cocoa seed butter and blueberry seed oil in there, too.

Graydon Face Food Mineral Mist review

As any skincare lover knows, the thing that really makes a mist is its packaging. You don’t just want a nice formula when it comes to face mists; you need a dense, soft mist that comes out consistently. That’s what will make me re-buy time and time again.

Graydon has a hit with Face Food, and they know it: you can buy 240ml refills for this bottle on their website, which is awesome for both financial and ecological reasons. The Graydon Face Food Mineral Mist formula features silver, magnesium, copper, zinc, and malachite to do everything from help reduce redness to mattify your complexion. The mist has a beautiful vanilla scent from real vanilla extract, with a barely-noticeable touch of peppermint extract as well.

I’ve been using this mist on my face, but it’s really flexible. I think it really shines as a post-waxing mist, where it serves to immediately soothe the skin without making your pores feel stifled. Graydon advises that you’re not supposed to use products containing silver and/or silver salts on broken or abraded skin, so I’ve been using two drops of Fullmoon Serum after shaving or waxing to soothe and prevent clogged pores, then switching to the super-soothing Face Food the following day!

Graydon Fullmoon Serum review

Graydon’s Fullmoon Serum is an unexpected product. I’ve heard amazing things about it (and, of course, I’m enamoured with its jewel-like colour), but I’ve held back on trying it for ages. My skin is so happy with Graydon Berry Rich as it is, and the brand’s Fullmoon Serum is unexpectedly pricy.

This serum looks like a basic hyaluronic, water-based product, but it isn’t — so the pricing looks steep at first glance. However, when you start to look at its ingredients, it begins to make more sense. Instead of just adding basic hydration and soothing, the Graydon Fullmoon Serum also contains botanically-derived retinol and blue tansy extract, both of which are pricy (and super trendy) ingredients.

Fullmoon is, I think, an anti-ageing serum first and foremost, but the Graydon Holiday Gift Set was designed to be flexible. The brand recommends all three of these products for all skintypes; it just recommends using them in different proportions. For dry skin, for instance, it recommends two pumps of Berry Rich, two pumps of Face Food Mineral Mist, and two drops of Fullmoon Serum. For ageing skin, it recommends one pump of Berry Rich, two pumps of Face Food Mineral Mist, and four drops of the anti-ageing Fullmoon Serum.

Just like this gift set on the whole, the Graydon Fullmoon Serum defies my expectations. Rather than being a sticky hyaluronic acid serum that you use by the dropper, it’s a super-lightweight retinol that you use just a few drops of at a time: a bit of the magic that we desperately need this season.

The Graydon Holiday Gift Set verdict?

I love Graydon Skincare, and I love their Holiday Gift Set. Its natural ingredients and customizable combinations (almost like a dining menu) make it a great gift idea for almost all skin types. The set takes the guesswork out of skincare gifting, and each of these three products is incredibly beautiful in their own right.

At $75 CAD, Graydon’s Holiday Gift set is a luxury steal. It makes a great, last-minute gift idea, and it’s an excellent way to stock up on some Graydon for yourself in 2021!

Availability: $75 CAD ($134 CAD value if sold separately) at Graydon Skincare. Graydon’s shipping times vary from 1-4 days within Canada, so order now if you need a last-minute gift this year!

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Disclaimer: The Graydon Holiday Gift Set was sent to me for editorial consideration upon request, but I truly do believe in it. My last few Berry Rich purchases (one of which was the mega-sized pump bottle; no regrets) were made on my own, and I am sure to re-purchase again in the future!