Mary&May Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence: Guru Score 80%

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored

✓Mixed

"This is a jewel-layered toner with a pretty pink color. It's okay and good enough to empty, but definitely not one I'll rush to repurchase. I think there are nicer milky toners out there. It seems very nourishing [...] when you first apply it, [...] but it doesn't actually leave your skin nourished for a very long time, so it's almost like a fake nourish."

No BS Beauty

89k subs

✓Yay

"The blackberry essence is great. Some of these are just really easy to kind of add in some extra moisture in addition to all these other steps."

All 4 takes from No BS Beauty

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"This one's 20 bucks. It's really nice. This one's great for dry skin in my opinion. In here we've got jojoba oil, we've got blackberry extract, we've got centella, we've got fig, we've got vitamin E, and blackberry is a great antioxidant. I gave it a good shake and it's even kind of purple which makes it pretty. I love it."

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"This stuff is really nice, blackberry and those fruits have great antioxidant benefits for skin. In fact blackberry and blueberry are two of the best, pomegranate's also great. But this stuff is worth checking out and it's really affordable as well. Mary&May has some really good stuff, they're hit or miss, their serums are all wonderful, everything else is check it each list out because you don't know, but the serums are all great."

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"The Mary and May Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence is 20 bucks right now. It's got blackberry essence, centella, fig, camide, vitamin E. It's a really nice essence. You can pat it onto skin or use it with a cotton pad. [...] It's a great antioxidant. [...] It's still liquidy enough where if you wanted to, you could apply it with a cotton pad or you could just pat it on the skin. It's got no scent to it. [...] I like this one from them. I like that lineup, too."

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"The blackberry essence is great. Some of these are just really easy to kind of add in some extra moisture in addition to all these other steps."

Kelly Driscoll

90k subs

✓Yay

"I like this one because it offers a little bit of moisture to my skin, but it still feels lighter and refreshing for this still very hot weather that we're having."

All 6 takes from Kelly Driscoll

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"This is the Mary&May Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence, and I actually would give this a heart eye emoji now. [...] I finished it up and I really enjoyed using it. It's got a really nice balancing quality to it, and I can see this working for a lot of different skin types."

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"I like this one because it offers a little bit of moisture to my skin, but it still feels lighter and refreshing for this still very hot weather that we're having."

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"I love products like this from Mary & May. This is the Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence. And it is two layers. One layer of hydration as well as a silky creamy moisturizing layer. So this is totally geared towards combo skin because it's bringing both of those qualities that your skin needs, hydration and moisture in one bottle. I really like this one because it is a little bit lighter than some of the other essences out there. This has a little bit more light and refreshing feel to it."

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"This is my number one pick. It's actually one of the first Mary&May products, maybe the very first one I ever tried, and it definitely was one that I enjoyed when I first used it, but it slowly grew on me into something I've come to really love and appreciate."

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"It's very balancing, that's such a great word for it, very balancing between the hydration and the moisture layers. It feels really good, hydrating, comforting, it sinks into the skin so nicely. Don't be afraid of that creamy element, I think it still layers nicely with other products you might want to use in your skincare routine. There's an elegance to the formulation here that is so nice, and Mary and May's really been growing on me as a brand."

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"This is so satisfying. I love this."

Nipun Kapur

412k subs

✓Yay

"Since I got the Mary&May products I've really enjoyed the brand. [...] This is a Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence. [...] What you need to do is basically shake it up and then you use it. This is like a toner plus whatever else it is, so beautiful and so hydrating. I absolutely love it. When I was doing my nighttime skin care routine I actually started using it. [...] Look at the shine that you get with this product, it is so cool. And seven skin method, it's really really nice."

All 2 takes from Nipun Kapur

LAYERED - Skincare Live | Nipun Kapur

"Since I got the Mary&May products I've really enjoyed the brand. [...] This is a Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence. [...] What you need to do is basically shake it up and then you use it. This is like a toner plus whatever else it is, so beautiful and so hydrating. I absolutely love it. When I was doing my nighttime skin care routine I actually started using it. [...] Look at the shine that you get with this product, it is so cool. And seven skin method, it's really really nice."

LAYERED - Skincare Live

"This is a Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence. So if you can see, what you need to do is basically shake it up and then you use it. This is like a toner plus whatever else it is, so beautiful and so hydrating. I absolutely love it. When I was doing my nighttime skincare routine I actually started using it. I'm just using it on my hands right now and then look at the shine that you get with this product, it is so cool."

AliceintheRabbitHole

59k subs

✓Yay

"This is also an incredible option, this time focusing on blackberry essence, you're getting antioxidant properties and even some B12 in the formula. They say this is great for boosting your skin barrier and for soothing your skin. [...] It feels like almost the exact same product as the Dr. Ceuracle kombucha essence to apply, [...] you just might find you like one a little more."

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All 5 takes from AliceintheRabbitHole

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"This is also an incredible option, this time focusing on blackberry essence, you're getting antioxidant properties and even some B12 in the formula. They say this is great for boosting your skin barrier and for soothing your skin. [...] It feels like almost the exact same product as the Dr. Ceuracle kombucha essence to apply, [...] you just might find you like one a little more."

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"I absolutely love this blackberry complex cream essence. [...] You shake up the two different layers and get this beautiful cream product that gives you both hydration and moisture. To this day I actually prefer this product category after serums."

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"I feel that it's a little more stable than the one from Dr. Ceuracle. It's so fun to use, you shake it up and then you get this creamy essence, I absolutely love using this product. I love all the disclosure too, and even though it doesn't apply to me, I do love that Mary and May is a clean brand, it proves that clean beauty doesn't have to be at Tatcha price points."

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"This is one of my absolute favorite products, the Blackberry Cream Essence. It's a fully vegan and fragrance free product, and it is so beautiful and so fun to use and so moisturizing. [...] You get two layers, a creamy layer and an essence layer, and [...] when you shake it the cream dissolves into the essence so you get this beautiful creamy essence that quickly absorbs into your skin, so you really get both a hydrating and moisturizing experience."

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"I'm going to be using the Blackberry Essence from Mary and May, which is more of a creamy essence, I like to use it. I'm trying to decide on my favorite essences and I'm a little torn between this and the Dr. Ceuracle. I think I like kombucha more as an ingredient, but my Dr. Ceuracle started smelling funny when I had maybe a quarter left in it, and that's not happening with the Mary and May."

Gothamista

683k subs

✓Yay

"It's that unique combination of mixing essence and moisturizer, and I get an unreasonable amount of joy just watching this mix, it's almost meditative, I'm mesmerized. [...] This is what I mean by light, buildable lipid layers: the moisturizer uses mainly jojoba seed oil, which is not a heavy, greasy oil at all, it's rather lightweight and really mimics the constitution of our own sebum."

What the evidence says.

Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

Ceramides

Ceramides are part of the skin's own barrier, and moisturisers built around them have evidence for holding water in and settling the tightness and flaking that come with a damaged barrier.

Source: DermNet

Humectants and emollients

Ingredients like these draw water into the surface layers and slow how fast it leaves. The evidence is for comfort, softness and hydration rather than for changing the structure of the skin.

Source: DermNet

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and it is often in a formula to keep the other ingredients stable rather than as the active itself. It pairs well with vitamin C, though on its own the evidence for visible change is limited.

Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

Frequently asked.

What is Mary&May Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence?

A vegan, fragrance-free two-layer essence from Mary&May that pairs a hydrating essence with a creamy moisturizing layer, designed to be shaken before use.

Is Mary&May Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence worth it?

Mostly yes. 5 of the 6 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 80%.

What is Mary&May Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence's Guru Score?

Mary&May Vegan Blackberry Complex Cream Essence holds a Guru Score of 80%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 6 expert reviewers we have collected.