In today’s article, I’m sharing my honest thoughts on Three Ships Beauty, an all-natural skincare line focused on radically transparent, dermatologist-tested formulas. Over the last two years, I’ve tested pretty much all their moisturizers, serums, eye cream, and eye masks and am sharing my honest thoughts on 12 of their bestsellers! I think this Canadian brand is making some fantastic natural skincare products that help take care of your skin’s long-term health, while providing some great results in the short-term. Plus, a lot of their products are at accessible price points, so if you want to switch to natural skincare, you can do so without having to make a huge investment. 

A bit about the brand in a nutshell:

⚓️All-natural with plant-derived or mineral-based ingredients

⚓️Clinically-tested safe for sensitive skin

⚓️Always vegan and certified cruelty-free

⚓️Free of over 1,900 potentially harmful ingredients

⚓️Fully transparent with traceable ingredient sourcing 

⚓️Many products are EWG Verified! 

⚓️Female founded and B Corp Certified (yay!)

Three Ships’ mission is to make ‘natural’ mean something by setting their own standard.. There’s actually no legal standard when it comes to ‘natural’ skincare and it’s often used as a marketing buzzword (just like “clean beauty”) so much so that it hardly holds any real meaning anymore!

But at Three Ships, every product must be made entirely of ingredients sourced from nature. Even the ingredients of their ingredients must be fully naturally derived.

If you want to try their products before committing to full sizes, they have a 2-week trial kit for just $15 + free shipping that includes:

⚓️Purify Aloe + Amino Acid Gel Cleanser (brightening gel cleanser)

⚓️Dew Drops Mushroom + Kakadu Plum Hyaluronic Acid Serum (super hydrating serum)

⚓️Skin Hero Calendula + 2% Bakuchiol Bio-Retinol Serum (safe for sensitive skin bio-retinol serum without any irritation)

⚓️Radiance Grape Stem Cell + Squalane Ultra-Hydrating Cream (lightweight cream that wears well under makeup and SPF)

Also, during the entire month of November (2024) Three Ships is doing a super special sale where their entire site is up to 30% off. 

Let’s dive deep into all the products I tested! Note that Three Ships recently when through a packaging update, so some of my photos still show the older packaging but the formulas are the same!

I Tried First Light Vitamin C Caffeine Eye Cream I Tried

This is a very light cream that has a simple natural and vegan formula (and it’s EWG verified!). The formula is sooo light that it tends to spill out easily and really only needs the slightest squeeze.  The Acerola Cherry has 50-100x more Vitamin C than oranges or lemons to help brighten dark circles and caffeine extract has high concentrations of polyphenols and tocopherols along with palmitic acid and linoleic acid to strengthen the skin barrier. Looove the cooling ceramic tip to apply it without having to use my fingers – very sanitary and soothing! The cream sinks in very quickly and absorbs well, leaving my undereye area hydrated and revitalized.

I Tried Brighter Days Biodegradable Eye Masks

The hydrogel eye masks are one of my favorites from the Three Ships line! These are biodegradable and contain Upcycled avocado extract for dark circles and antioxidant-rich red algae extract to help hydrate, depuff and brighten the undereyes. They actually stay put on my face so I can wear them while I work and do other activities. I like the slight cooling effect they have and they really do de-puff. I wouldn’t say they have a major hydration effect, but my undereyes do look and feel more refreshed and “awake.”

I Tried Radiance Grape Stem Cell + Squalane Day Cream

For a budget friendly face moisturizer, I find that the Three Ships Radiance Day Cream feels like a luxury cream. It isn’t easy to find a quality moisturizer at this price that’s truly all natural and packaged thoughtfully! I find the consistency to be that of a silky lotion. It feels so moisturizing thanks to its Squalane oil content.

I also love the pump jar packaging for the most sanitary usage possible. My fingers don’t contaminate the product and it’s never exposed to air. The scent is very subtle and smells faintly of grape.

Each Three Ships product has a breakdown of its key actives. The Three Ships Radiance Day Cream contains:

• • • Grape Stem Cell Extract (0.4%)
    • Squalane (2.5%)
    • Bark Extract Blend (0.25%)

It also contains a handful of nourishing botanical oils and butters, making the Radiance Grape Stem Cell + Squalane Day Cream good enough for nighttime use for me.

I Tried Buttercream Lip Mask

I can’t say enough good things about this natural vegan lip mask! It’s simple yet effective and feels soo moisturizing. It’s got a slick, sorta thinner consistency than many other lip masks I’ve tried and I’m able to scoop it out very easily. I love that it doesn’t feel heavy or overly greasy but still packs a punch. My lips feels so soft and supple after using this mask. It’s got coconut oil, shea butter, avocado oil, sunflower seed oil and a yummy vanilla scent.

I Tried Purify Aloe Amino Acid Gel Cleanser

I love how lightweight and hydrating the Three Ships cleanser feels! But don’t expect it to take off a full face of makeup. This is a super gentle and light liquid-like cleanser, so make sure to use a more heavy-duty oil cleanser first to remove makeup and sunscreen. I find that it feels verrrry hydrating and has a super thin and watery consistency that would feel great on dry skin. It rinses off easily and has a light uplifting scent.

This water and aloe based cleanser contains:

• • • Amino Acids (1%)
    • Aloe Vera (26%)
    • Yeast Extract (2%)

Fun fact: their Aloe Vera is sourced from 40 independent, locally operated farms in El Progreso Guatemala. All suppliers participate in a fair-financing lending hub to ensure economic security and follow sustainable harvesting practices to preserve biodiversity.

I Tried Refresh Papaya + Salicylic Acid Cleanser

I highly recommend their Refresh Papaya + Salicylic Acid Cleanser for oily and acne prone skin. I was pleasantly surprised to find the product comes out as PURE FOAM. It’s incredibly light and airy and feels like literally nothing on the skin, which would make it great for active breakouts. The consistency is a thin watery foam that feels very gentle. I would not use this to take off makeup, but to really deep cleanse pores after skin has already been thoroughly cleansed. True to its name, my skin really does feel refreshed after using this.

I Tried Dew Drops Mushroom Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C Serum

I love how goopy and thick the Three Ships Dew Drops serum is! It’s perfect for dry skin but I did not notice much brightening. I’d consider this to be more of a hydrating product than a true Vitamin C serum. It sinks in well, leaves my skin feeling super hydrated and I experienced zero pilling! The scent is very subtle and comes from the Kakadu Plum.

The key actives in Dew Drops are:

• • • Tremella Mushroom
    • Hyaluronic Acid
    • Kakadu Plum (Vitamin C Blend)
    • Red Algae Extract (0.5%)

I Tried Replenish Ceramides Blueberry Barrier Repair Serum

I used the Three Ships Ceramides Barrier Repair Serum after I had a chemical peel done, since I needed something super reparative and healing. This is a very creamy and goopy serum that comes in a dropper bottle. It’s EWG verified and filled with ceramides to strengthen the skin barrier and upcycled Blueberry Extract to deliver barrier-boosting lipids (exactly what I needed after my strong peel!). I found this serum to be wonderfully hydrating, fast absorbing and exactly what my skin barrier compromised skin needed to heal quickly.

I Tried Three Ships Superfruit Exfoliating Mask

I’m soooo impressed by the Three Ships exfoliating mask, especially for how affordable it is. This is just as good as the $50 and up masks made by bigger clean beauty brands. The Superfruit Lactic + Multifruit 8% AHA has an impressive ingredients list and a potent formula that I can feel working immediately. (Of course, sensitive skin types should proceed with caution.)

This is absolutely PACKED with actives, like 1.76% lactic acid and 2% rice powder along with soothing barley seed extract and aloe vera leaf. The consistency is a hybrid cream-gel, so I find it to be a great option for dry skin. My skin feels so smooth and baby soft after using this mask for a good five to ten minutes. (Sensitive skin should only use this for 2 minutes.)

I Tried Skin Hero Bio Retinol Serum

I found the Three Ships Bio Retinol Serum to be a creamy serum that’s pleasant to use. It has Bakuchiol to help reduce the look of fine lines and blemishes, and fade post-breakout marks along with a generous 3% Calendula to help soothe skin. I think this would be a great natural alternative retinol serum for sensitive skin since it’s so gentle and for dry skin since it’s creamy. It’s also suitable for young skin under age 30.

I Tried Dream Bio Retinol + Shorea Butter Night Cream

The Three Ships Bio Retinol Butter Night Cream is one of my absolute favorites from the line! It truly is just so buttery and rich enough for extremely dry skin and a product I constantly reach for during winter. It has a plant alternative ingredient for retinol called Picão Preto, an herb native to Brazil, along with vegan squalane and Shorea and Murumuru butters. I feel like it gives my skin long lasting moisture throughout the night and I wake up with soft skin.

I Tried Glow 49% Jojoba Oil Serum

The Three Ships Glow Jojoba Oil Serum was one product I didn’t like sadly. This was my least favorite product because it was just too simple in formulation for $35 US dollars. It has organic Jojoba Oil, Camellia Oil and Vitamin E and a very lightweight consistency. I wish the Jojoba Oil Serum had more actives included, because it feels overpriced for a couple of oils that could easily be purchased for much less.

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