Sweet Black Tea Eye Creme

I received a sample of this and loved how lovely it smelled and thought it was even amusing that it felt like pepper-spray (as in "prickly", like cactus). LOL. I had a chance to meet some of the company people and they said it was normal (as the natural ingredients would have felt the same on your skin). I trust them when they say it's "natural" because it goes bad REALLY fast, like within less-than-6-months after opening the tube (it probably needs a better emulsifier in its formula, like the E ones on BBC Knowledge Asia that they use for food, as the oil and the cream begin to separate before the 6 months after deflowering the tube). Which is disappointing because it's in the same price-range as "Orlane Anagenese 25+ First Time Fighting Care Eye Contour" and "Kiehl's Line-Reducing Eye-Brightening Concentrate", but it couldn't last the 6 months. Also, I get that this is supposed to be "exotic", but it was ridiculously hard to re-stock on it (while I liked this product), I'd literally have to attend a post-FW private viewing to obtain a tube. And then it started smelling dull/dusty. Too bad, it smelled really nice when it was new. Because it was SUPER CREAMY and SUUUPER RICH and lovely. Was. Everything in past tense with this one.

I bought this eye cream last November (2010) and finally got around to reviewing it in April. I used it daily for about two months straight (late November to January) and didn't experience much of a difference. The texture was like a gentle lotion, my skin absorbed it well, and the skin under my eyes felt smooth for a little while after application. Contrary to its 'fragrance-free' aspect, it did smell like sweet black tea, but the scent wouldn't linger for long after applying. I should point out that I absolutely loved the smell of this until recently. I picked up this cream again in order to photograph and swatch it last month (March), but the texture and smell had changed. Firstly, it had somewhat separated in the tube, and now felt waxy and sticky on my skin, and that smell I loved was, well, very off. Granted, I did stop using it for a few months, and the eye cream is composed of mostly natural ingredients (with key ingredients being rice and fermented sweet black tea), but nevertheless, I was not expecting such a drastic change from before. Ever since the changes in texture and smell, I did try to use it twice, but have not used it (or wanted to) since. I'm disappointed because I feel like I can't even try to use it up and not waste it because the product has changed so much. Although personally, I did get this eye cream at a much discounted price through HauteLook, the retail price of 37$ for 0.5 oz is definitely not worth the product changing in smell and consistency in less than 6 months.