Review: TECA 1% Barrier Cream (By Wishtrend)

This product was sent to me by Wishtrend for review purposes. I was not paid for this post but please note that affiliate links are used on my blog. These go towards supporting Oh My Stellar and future content.

As someone who didn’t suffer from too much acne back in my teenage years and, to this day, generally only gets a few pimples now and then, I really didn’t think that break outs would be an issue for me – not so suddenly! However, since returning from my trip to Vietnam, I had an area of really badly damaged skin (pimples, scarring). My skin hadn’t agreed with the weather there and, while cleansing my skin with the Wishtrend Green Tea Enzyme Powder Wash did help, I wasn’t using it frequently enough to completely prevent break outs.

What great timing it is that Wishtrend came out with another product for me to try and – I swear – they are tracking my lifestyle! This time, they have released the TECA 1% Barrier Cream which is targeted to post-acne recover and weakened skin (i.e. me).

This product will be launching on their website on December 12th but, while I usually aim to have these reviews tested and ready by the launch date to tell everyone about it, I decided to take my time giving this a real test.

Let’s go onto the review!

The product comes in a really pretty metallic box that has an almost regal sort of teal colour. The design is very simple, as always with their products, but it looks really classy and straightforward – personally, I’m a fan! The product also comes in a tube (pictured below) which is great for dispensing this sort of cream product. It is light and travel friendly, and you know that you can get every last drop of this product. Although bottles are prettier, and I am admittedly more drawn to that sort of packaging, I really like that Wishtrend is more functional.

This cream contains TECA 1% (Titrated Extract of Centella Asiatica), the ingredient which is scientifically evidenced to help the heating of wounds. According to the Small Molecule Technologies website, “Asiaticoside has been reported to promote wound-healing activity by increasing collagen formation and angiogenesis, as well as increasing cellular proliferation at wound sites.”

For those who, like me, don’t look into these ingredients too deeply (mostly because I get confused), Centella Asiatica is a really popular ingredient for soothing and calming skin, especially in anti-acne treatments. Rather than getting rid of break outs, it generally helps to repair the skin afterwards and prevent scarring.

According to the Wishtrend website, this product is suitable for all skin types, and is especially recommended for problem skin or people with damaged/weakened skin barriers from acne or laser. It also claims to:

• Helps regenerate damaged skin due to collagen synthesis.
• Prevents acne scars, lightens pigmentation.
• Prescribed the same content of centella as ointments.

The tube is fairly small, coming in 30mL but you really don’t need a lot of it. It is another one where a little goes a long way. It has an ointment like texture, so it takes a minute to fully sink into your skin. The recommendation is to use it as a spot treatment, applying it just over the problem areas, though I sometimes apply a little extra over dry spots too.

The product has no scent, no colour and generally seems very good for sensitive skin – I don’t think that there is anything that you will get sensitive to.  When I was checking out the ingredients on COSDNA, I did notice that two of them have a 2-3 rating for Acne and Irritant, but I think I will leave that for someone with more experience to analyse.

Testing out this product, I used it twice a day as a last step of my skincare routine. The first thing that I noticed is that it really does hydrate my skin instantly and I didn’t have any issues with wearing it under my make up – which is great! Secondly, I noted that it delivered what it promised, and it did so rather quickly.

After just three days of use, the broken skin that I had on my chin had visibly healed and the other post-acne scars that I had had lightened quite a lot. The darkest one is still there, but the lighter ones are barely visible – I attribute this to using the ointment quickly, which meant that the pigmentation didn’t really get a chance to settle in. My skin is feeling a lot softer too and, aside from the one large scar that has 80-90% healed within the span of three days, everything else is almost fully recovered. Of course, the deeper pigmentation is taking a bit longer but the results are truly visible.

Underneath this product, I also used my usual FTE (the Missha First Treatment Essence) and my serums, including an anti-acne one that was needed to prevent any more spots from coming up. This had been my routine for the week prior to testing out this product, and I observed that results were markedly faster once I added the TECA 1% Barrier Cream into my routine.

All in all, I think that this is a really great product – it’s simple and delivers what it promises. I don’t think that this is something to use every day but it is still a great product to have on hand for when you do get spots or have scarring to tackle. For people with acne prone skin, of course, you’ll most likely use this more often. Personally, I’ll definitely keep using this until my skin is completely clear again and I’ll be looking to keep this in my vanity drawer; it’s like an emergency go-to!

Here’s the verdict!

WHAT IS IT?

An ointment to help recover skin and aid in fading scars.

THE GOOD

• Lightweight and simple packaging
• Travel friendly
• A little goes a long way
• Suitable for sensitive and acne-prone skin
• Visible results
• No scent or colouring
• Easy to work into your skincare routine

THE BAD

• Regular usage is needed (at least once at day, preferably twice)
• Average price (not cheap, but also not too expensive)

RATINGS

• PACKAGING | 5/5
• PRICE POINT | 3/5
• RECOVERY | 4/5
• SCAR FADING | 4/5

OVERALL RATING? 8/10

WOULD I RECOMMEND?

Highly! I don’t believe that this is a product that will help prevent or get rid of acne and so it would be best to continue with your current routine (if it is working for you). However, for when your skin is weakened and needs a little bit of help, then this is a simple and effective addition to make. I think that this would be especially useful for people with acne prone skin who worry about scarring.

WHERE TO GET IT FROM

This product was sent to me for review by Wishtrend and you can get it from their website. It is available at 20% off for the special event (USD$22) or is USD$27.50 at full price. It is also available in two different bundles – paired with the Pure Vitamin C21.5% Advanced Serum or with the Pure Vitamin C21.5% Advanced Serum and Natural Vitamin 21.5 Enhancing Sheetmask.

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