If ever there was a ‘plain white t-shirt’ of skincare, MIJA’s Celestial Potion might just be it. It is endlessly versatile, multitasking, and works for everything: face, body, and hair. When MIJA announced they were releasing a new product in a completely new category, I was wondering what this nutritionist-founded wellness brand had up its sleeves. Then they released Celestial Potion, and I thought to myself, “what’s the value add?” Because it’s an oil, which is nothing new in 2023. But then I started reading the product page, and seeing the ingredients, and then everything came together: it’s pretty special.
What makes it special?
Firstly, Celestial Potion is a multiuse all-over oil, intended for the face, body, and hair. Basically, it helps all the external places one would benefit from an oil. Therefore, greatly consolidating your need for multiple oils into one streamlined, and purposeful formula. But, it isn’t just a multiuse oil for the sake of being one, the ingredients, like mineral-rich horsetail extract and caffeine-rich cocoa extract (to firm the skin, boost microcirculation in the body, and stimulate follicular hair growth) are each chosen for their multiple benefits that work for the skin and hair system.
Secondly, the ingredients are stellar. In all, there are 25 ingredients, which is quite a powerful proposition. And ingredient quality might feel both vague, and overused as a qualitative statement, but the ingredients in this formula truly are exceptional. Firstly, anything plant-based is organic. And 66% of the formula shares the same superfood ingredients that are found in their award-winning, cult-status ingestible, Superstar (which I’ve reviewed, here). This includes (TWO forms) of green tea, moringa, turmeric, ginger, camu camu, goji berry, all wonderful superfoods that truly correspond positively whether as an ingestible or topical. But what carries Celestial Potion to over-the-top status is its inclusion of a 20% clinical complex of Vitamin A (Bakuchiol + Algae), Vitamin C (Liposomal THD), Vitamin E (Full Spectrum Tocopherols) + CoQ10 (Max Synergy) which gives exceptional performance past what even an outstanding blend of plant actives can bring that makes this truly worthy of consideration as a landmark serum.
Thirdly, the processes. Of note, I was surprised how for a wellness brand, MIJA was able to formulate whole plant infusions into their oil, which I’ve only seen from a handful of top-tier green beauty brands. Plant infusions can be notoriously difficult to get right, and are excruciatingly time consuming. It’s basically as it sounds, infusing an entire plant’s compounds into a base generally into a carrier oil which can better draw out nutritional components. This was important to MIJA co-founder, Sarah Koszyk, herself a nutritionist, who really wanted to make sure the nutrition translated into a topical formula as the truth is that most of the potential is lost during processing. To make this happen, they worked with YÜLI, for their expertise on how to incorporate whole plant infusions that left the plant’s nutrient potential intact in the oil suspension.
Use Thoughts and Results
There is something so delicious about this serum. Whether it’s the hearty serum pump that gets out the nutritious juice, or the way this sweet, herbaceous serum drenches into my skin, I have to say it’s a wonderful experience all around. Performance-wise, Celestial Potion is quite interesting, it feels ‘plush’ and nourishing, yet absorbs rapidly. I think it’s because despite the nourishing, super nutritious plant oils, the carrier base of green tea seed oil, moringa seed oil, and grape seed oil is wisely chosen as they have the finest molecular size of all carrier oils that are amongst the most non-comedogenic (non pore clogging), so it still penetrates super quickly. And because it’s still so densely packed with nutrition, my skin just felt satiated and glowing (though that could also be the Vitamin C doing its part).
I loved using Celestial Potion on my body where it absorbed quickest of all. And it made my skin touchabley soft, removed dry patches, and generally made my skin healthier. The difference was so great that I now layer it under my sunscreen to keep my arms and legs looking healthier, which was always a problem for me before no matter what I layered under the sunscreen.
For my face, I used one pump of Celestial Potion in the morning, and 2 pumps at night. It’s a pure shot of nutrition (take a shot every time I use that word in this review). I mean… just look at the deep, rich color of the serum, you can tell it’s really unlike anything else. And sure enough, it doesn’t just quench and nourish my skin, it delivers that feeling where my skin just feels like it’s in a natural comfort-state, not in need of anything else, which I can’t remember when one singular serum did that. When I used it for just a week, I could tell that my skin looked brighter, more even, and lifted in the way that it does the morning after a nice microcurrent treatment. I credit that to their undeniably powerful 20% clinical complex, in addition to just the array of potent plant actives they’ve managed to pack into the formula. I sometimes apply an extra-heavy layer, almost like an oil facial, and let it absorb to a nice shine before going to bed, and my skin just looks incredible the morning after.
My hair was a new experience for me because I had never been a hair oil girl. However, it didn’t take a lot to convince me to try it because Celestial Potion is made with best-in-class hair serum ingredients like rosemary, pumpkin seed oil, cocoa extract, and horsetail extract that have legions of rave reviews on TikTok for how they make hair fuller, and healthier. I applied this to my scalp and worked it through to the end of my strands, and let it soak for about 20 minutes before hopping into the shower. Let me tell you, after the first time, I became a convert. My hair felt and looked so soft, and healthy, my scalp was never greasy nor dry, just a happy state. After about a month, I went to my hair guy who remarked that my hairline was sprouting new baby hairs, which is one of the benefits of this serum for the hair area.
Final Thoughts
I’m such a fan of Celestial Potion. It’s undeniably well made, a pleasure to use, accomplishes all its purported benefits (moisturizing, nutrition, anti-aging, protects against daily aging, de-stress, and improves hair health), formulated with one of the most powerful and feature packed ingredients lists I’ve seen (and experienced), and an incredible value. At $110 for 2 oz., it’s an absolute steal of an oil/serum, which usually retails at that price point for 1 oz.
As a comparison, Vintner’s Daughter’s Active Botanical Serum, which has 22 ingredients and no clinicals, retails at $195 for 1 oz. A more direct comparison that I was aware of the moment I saw Celestial Potion‘s ingredients deck is, Allies of Skin’s CE15 Bakuchiol Firming Oil, which contains a less potent 15% Vitamin C, Vitamin E formula plus Bakuchiol, with 22 ingredients in all retailing at $145 for 1 oz. Celestial Potion on the other hand, has 25 ingredients, and uses the same form of Vitamin C, a full spectrum Vitamin E, a more complete Vitamin A that incorporates Bakuchiol, plus a more advanced form of Algae carotenoids, in addition to CoQ10 in a more powerful 20% concentration, at a lower cost for double the amount. Absolute steal.
Celestial Potion is a deeply powerful, multitasking serum that truly addresses all three systems: face, body, and hair through a thorough, science-backed, intelligent formula at a great value. For me, it’s one of the best releases I’ve seen in a long time.
So, discounts, which I know you’ve come to expect from me. Because of the relative incredibleness of the formula, combined with the absolute value of the pricing as-is, there aren’t any discounts because MIJA has not even produced enough to share this with their retail partners like Ayla. But because MIJA really wants everyone to experience the 360 impact of their Superstar ingestible with Celestial Potion (for instance, this double team of antioxidants even boosts the skin’s resistance to summer UV rays), the folks at MIJA gave me a code for 20% off when you purchase both products together, with code NEWLOVE. Otherwise, I recommend signing up for a Celestial Potion subscription which is 15% off, or just getting this as-is since the pricing, and everything else about this is just *chef’s kiss*.
