27 Wishes has been given its name because it is a multi-purpose balm intended to address a huge number of skin issues and concerns, with dry skin definitely being the issue for me. As you can see from the photo of the box above, Philosophy have suggested a number of common skin issues that this balm can help with & quite a few of them really stood out to me. As well as aiding my dry skin, I wanted to pick a few of these suggestions and test the balm out on these specific areas. The skin issues I chose were dry patches, sunburn, chapped nose & minor scrapes.
Before I go into the performance of this balm against each of these skin issues, I wanted to touch on a few other things that I usually include in my reviews. Firstly I like the simple packaging of the product as I think the design of the cardboard box puts across just how multi-purpose the product is. The tube itself has the typical Philosophy design of being plain but featuring a nice & catchy snippet about the product. The squeezy tube makes it easy enough to get the product out but I can imagine that it might be a bit difficult as I get near the end of the balm. The balm has a nice luxurious smell but one that is still fairly light which makes it great for sensitive skin and sore areas such cuts or scrapes. I found the consistency of the balm to feel quite greasy when first applied but before you know it the balm softens and is quickly absorbed into the skin. Now on to what it actually did for my skin..
Dry skin: I tested the balm on dry areas of my hands, feet & face over the course of the week and I can happily report back that it has indeed helped keep these dry patches at bay. I have very dry hands and fingers but after applying 27 Wishes before bed I woke up with nice and smooth hands which was a lovely change. I also got similar results when applying the balm to dry patches on my chin and cheeks, with the balm doing its magic overnight and leaving me with healthy looking skin in the morning. My feet (and in particular my heels) also saw a difference after applying some of the balm and keeping it covered with socks overnight. It's safe to say that this balm has really helped with my dry skin and for that I'm very happy!
Sunburn: The sun is well and truly out with the current heatwave and although I tried to make sure I was always covered in enough sun cream while sitting out in the garden, my fair skin still managed to get a bit burned and after seeing sunburn listed on the box I was curious to see how it would help. Most of the sunburn was around the chest & neck area and initially looked very red and angry so I was in desperate need of something to calm my skin down. Instead of reaching for my usual Garnier aftersun, I tried a little bit of this balm and after a little while my sunburn had stopped stinging. The balm felt so soothing on the skin and made the rest of that evening a lot more bearable, with the burn looking less red the following morning.
Chapped nose: As a hayfever sufferer, the constant runny nose and blocked up feeling has left my nose looking and feeling horrible. Dry and chapped skin on my nose has been such a pain in the bum and usually takes a good scrubbing and then moisturising to get rid of, but this balm has been a godsend for soothing this dry and irritated skin. I tend to pop a little bit of the balm on my nose before bed and in the morning I'm left with a healthy looking nose.
Minor scrapes: The last of the skin issues I looked at was minor scrapes as my job in a card/gift shop means I'm constantly coming home with paper cuts and other little scrapes which can be pretty annoying as they sting like crazy. It's always the smallest of cuts that hurts the most eh! Anyway, I tested the balm on these paper cuts & scrapes and surprisingly it didn't sting or irritate the cuts, with it instead soothing the sore bits which was nice. While the balm hasn't been a magic product for getting rid of scrapes and cuts super fast, it has done a great job of soothing the broken skin and acting as a barrier over the skin in order to help the skin heal.
As you can see I've really enjoyed testing this product out against a few skin niggles and now I'm interested to apply the balm to even more of the common skin concerns that have been mentioned by Philosophy. Multi-purpose products are so handy to have in the house or in your bag as you never know what could happen to your skin, and I'd certainly recommend 27 Wishes to anyone who is looking to treat a number of skin problems with one product. You get 30ml of product which isn't the largest but I'm sure this tube will last a fair amount of time as it feels as though I've used hardly any of the balm in the past week. The only thing I'd probably want to change about this product would be the packaging as I think a bottle with a pump would be a lot more practical than the squeezy tube, but I can't exactly complain when the product has performed so well. You can find 27 Wishes on the QVC website for £15.50.
