Circ-cell Skincare ABO +|- Blood Serum

Erhh...what? What do you mean, blood serum? Like a blood oath? Do I need to prick my finger and add a drop of my blood into the serum, and then it'll make my skin flawless?

Ohh, I get it. Blood serum as in it's bloody expensive, costing something like $168/30mL!

[insert expletive]

This 4mL sample of Circ-cell Skincare ABO +|- Blood Serum was part of the BeautyHabit "cult favorite" GWP I received over the holidays. Like everyone else, my first reaction to this product was a whole spectrum of disgust-sarcasm-outrage. Reading the Circ-cell official website and some other blogs did help some, as in they all swear up and down there's no actual blood in this stuff. So I finally opened up the jar to take a look.

***Screencaps from Circ-cell Skincare and BeautyHabit.

Well, let's just say after taking a peek, my second reaction was to contemplate tossing the whole thing into the trash. The appearance of the serum worsened the impression. It looks like--hmm, what's a nice way to put it?--melted animal fat. You know, when you skim off the greasy top layer while cooking, and the next warm morning it looks like ivory-colored runny fat? I looked at the Circ-cell website again and the stock photo only corroborated what I thought was a sample gone bad.

And then I smelled it, and thought it was actually melted buttercream cake frosting instead. WTF? They're really messing with me, aren't they? Anyway, despite looking super greasy, the serum actually isn't any greasy at all. Quite the opposite, in that it absorbs very quickly and completely. And yes, for a while I was thinking of testing it on my feet first, or may be I'd brave the back of my hand. In the end, I just took a deep breath and put it on my face.

Of course I was being totally silly, because the serum didn't turn me into an orc or anything. It didn't turn me into an elf either, although it did make my skin velvety soft immediately after application. My skin is generally clear and tolerant, so I haven't observed any miracles if that's what you're thinking. In short, I won't be selling my blood for a bottle of this stuff anytime soon. And come on, who the hell came up with such a ridiculous name?

BeautyHabit Holiday 2015 GWP promotion.

I bought Decleor Soothing Aftershave for hubby and Jurlique Rose Moisture Plus Daily Moisture Balancing Serum for myself. Will review later.

Among my freebies, I passed this Klorane Extra Gentle Dry Shampoo 50mL and BeautyBlender Blotterazzi on to J., as they'll have better chances of getting used with her than with me.