Tatcha Indigo Soothing Triple Recovery Cream Review & Photos
Tatcha Indigo Soothing Triple Recovery Cream ($135.00 for 1.7 fl. oz.) is a rich, deeply hydrating cream that has helped minimize redness in my cheeks and scaliness and flakiness around my nose, while keeping the rest of my skin happy. It is probably one of the more expensive face creams that I’ve actually liked enough (and found effective for my skin) to repurchase.
I’ve had good luck with Colloidal Oatmeal as a key ingredient to soothe my eczema (for my hands and neck, I have alternated between Aveeno’s Eczema Therapy and Cortizone 10 Intensive Healing Lotion for years), so I will be making an effort to try some other (less expensive) options that utilize it to see if they’re as effective for me as this one has been.
It’s supposed to work for “sensitive skin” as an “anti-aging moisturizer [that] is rich in Indigo extract, Colloidal Oatmeal and Sophora Japonica extract, which calm, comfort, and restore skin’s natural resiliency.” Tatcha has a rather detailed FAQ on their site about the product, including results from their own consumer survey (which did not indicate the number of participants). The Indigo range also includes a body cream and hand cream (both of which are excellent), but the facial cream also has the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance. I suffer from eczema on my hands, throat, and eyelids most severely, and it was after seeing fantastic results with Tatcha’s Indigo hand cream on my hands that I wanted to try the face cream within the same line.
My face is normal-to-dry, though I have noticed since moving to Arizona, my skin has been more normal and only gets dryness around and on my nostrils, occasionally on my eyelids, and very rarely along my cheeks. I have some redness in my cheeks (and a bit also around my nostrils) that comes and goes but would describe it as minor to moderate pink-to-red coloring overall–enough that I notice but not something I was actively trying to deal with. After the hand cream worked wonders on my hands, I was curious if the face cream would be a miracle worker and if it would help combat some of the stubborn flakiness I would get on my nose. It absolutely did–within a week of using the Soothing Triple Recovery Cream, the flakiness resolved and did not present again while using the product and for a couple of weeks after I used it up.
After three weeks of use, I noticed that my cheeks seemed less pink, that the occasional redness did not seem apparent at all and how hydrated my skin looked. It was actually the clearing of the redness that made me see a few spots of hyperpigmentation that I hadn’t noticed before.
The cream was a richer one, though I did not find it heavy and would say it had more of a moderate-to-rich feel compared to some very rich, intensive, and hydrating moisturizers out there. The actual texture of Tatcha’s cream had more of a whipped, airy feel to it that kept it from having a genuinely heavy consistency, but this texture helped it spread evenly across the skin without feeling greasy nor taking forever to dry down (but note, it had a light tackiness as it dries down!). For me, I found it typically dried down within fifteen to twenty minutes of application. The cream had a very subtle scent–slightly fresh, slightly herbal but subtle to my nose–that did not linger throughout the day (or night).
It took about twelve weeks to go through an entire jar (using once in the evening), and I enjoyed it to the very last use (and believe me, at this price point, I left nothing behind!). If I was going to commit to a permanent skincare regimen (I still find it hard to totally commit, though I absolutely repurchase and use items more than once, and I have since repurchased this product but am trying out Tatcha’s Water Cream at the moment), this would be a very strong contender as my go-to night cream.
Your experience with this product definitely echos mine – this is the only thing I’ve found that has made my eyelid eczema completely go away. It’s a lifesaver for me. I never thought I’d spend that kind of money on skincare – but it is 100% worth it, and I only use it on my eyelids so for me the jar lasts forever.
I’m happy to hear it works so well for your eyelids, Carson! At least one jar will really last forever for that purpose!
My experience as well. I have the worst eyelid problems ever and am always battling irritated eyelids from pigments etc of various eyeshadows. This stuff is the best and I also only use on my eyelids so a jar lasts a long time for me as well. Totally worth it.
Have you tried Sterilid or any other eyelid cleansers? Sometimes eczema is a reaction to (imperceptible) irritants. For me, I could wear a wool sweater and a week later, get a flare up from it. Or I will get more eczema patches when more stressed than usual. There doesn’t seem to be a commonly-agreed upon reason for why eczema occurs… But this might be useful for you!
https://www.amazon.com/Theratears-Sterilid-Foam-Scrub-1-62/dp/B004AIBFQG
Sterilid is still extremely abrasive if your skin is more sensitive, and it’s not something I would recommend using without physician or dermatologist approval. I actually tried it due to those professionals’ recommendations due to constant outbreaks of what they believed were contact dermatitis with resulting eczema. I waited via their recommendation to use the Sterilid once the irritation went down with the help of prescription medication, but oh my did it burn like crazy and the redness and irritation were back. I contacted my physician and dermatologist and they told me to stop using it immediately because they realized it has tea tree oil in it, which despite its cleansing properties, is not intended or really safe to use on or around the eyes.
My apologies. I had redness and rashes on my eyelids and Sterilid worked for me!
Ahhhh Zoe, no need to apologize! You were just making a suggestion, and that’s awesome that Sterilid worked for you, especially since it’s an over the counter product — I actually really wished it could have worked for me because it could have been that one additional product to help a lot of those issues with eyelid rash we’ve been discussing. I didn’t mean to get super preachy >_< especially because we're all just trying to help out one another.
Thank you for understanding. I am so glad the Temptalia community is so pleasant and informed.
It wasn’t a perfect product by any means! But, it’s too bad it didn’t work out for you. It’s really difficult to have eye issues because it’s such a delicate area and also vitally important.
The ingredient list looks good (that is a high percentage of colloidal oatmeal), but $135 still hurts. Vanicream (and Vaniply) is a great affordable option for eczema sufferers, though it does not contain colloidal oatmeal and it’s not particularly luxurious in feel. Its ingredients are so basic you wonder how it could work, but it does.
Good to hear that those two work well for eczema – haven’t tried them myself! In the past, I have been fairly dedicated to Aveeno for all things eczema.
While $135 is cringe worthy, if it is this effective against eczema, then it would certainly be worth it if nothing else is really working! I suffer from eczema on my face, hands, and also wherever a an abrasion or scrape is healing, it can erupt on that site. Aveeno Ultra Calming Foaming Cleanser helps, so does the naturopathic combo that my daughter had me use when I had shingles. Out of curiosity, I started using neem oil and colloidal silver on the areas of my face that have eczema, and this has helped quite a bit, but still have some in various stages of healing. Perhaps, if I can rein in my color cosmetics purchases, I might just get this cream to use as a spot treatment. Thank you so much for not only your insightful, thorough review, but also your own personal experience with how effective this cream was at treating and controlling your own eczema.
I tend to put more toward a serum or treatment rather than daily moisturizers, so the price point is high for me – I normally try to keep to the ~$50 or so range! I feel more comfortable using as much as I need at that price point vs. $300 where I’d want to use it sparingly.
Interesting about eyelid eczema. Not being ‘attended’ recently, assumed it was psoriasis, as I have that. It has been responsive to Rx corticosteroids, but comes back. And it does not seem very sun responsive. Ergo, maybe it isn’t. Who wants to wait nine months to see a derm? Avoiding the parallel, there. This would be worth the shot, or the sample.
I’m lucky not to have needed anything prescription treatments for eczema in awhile, though when I was a baby and pre-10 years old, I was on some prescriptions for eczema per my mom!
I tried a sample of this but wasn’t SUPER impressed. I’m using the Water Cream right now as well but I feel like I’m running out so quickly!
How are you finding the Water Cream to work for you (other than it going quickly)?
I think it’s pretty moisturizing considering it has a light texture
Would repurchase if I don’t find other moisturizers to be better 🙂
Wow!!!! This sounds awesome!!!
My skin gets Shiny. But it’s dehydrated. So I love to use richer, heavier, creams at night.
I have acne prone skin, so Ill have to see if I can get a sample of this! But I’m very interested in trying this out now!
I love a rich cream for texture and feel on the skin… as long as it dries down for the most part, though 😉
Thanks Christine for a thorough review.
I am using the silk cream once in a while after applying Tatcha’s deep hydration firming serum. I find you can’t wear the firming serum under makeup or it will ball up and come off. I also ordered Tatcha’s ageless renewal cream which I purchased for a lot less money on QVC. It is way too expensive on Tatcha’s website I believe it is 185.00! but it was a lot less on the Q. I haven’t tried it yet I am waiting to finish the silk cream first. I would definitely try the recovery cream at one point after reading your review.
No problem, Maria!
Do you use a water-based primer or foundation on top of it? I wonder if there are silicones in the firming serum that interfere with your makeup (I don’t know offhand).
I tried it with an oil base foundation and a water base. It doesn’t have any silicone in it but I did read other reviews that stated they had the same problem. It has a sticky feeling and it leaves a film on the skin so you could tell when applying it and by the finish that it just would not work well with a foundation but I gave it a try anyway. Both times I had to wash my face to reapply my foundation.
Ahh, gotcha! Glad you were already able to troubleshoot and see if that changed anything.
I hated Tatcha’s daytime moisturizer (I believe they only had one SPF product) for similar reasons – poor under makeup though it also left a crazy white cast on me and spread poorly.
I got it for my eyelids which seem to react a bit to eye products. I did it just to keep that thin skin strong. It’s not eczema per se. But more discoloration etc. I don’t notice a striking change, but it feels like it’s helping.
Interesting to hear how many are using it on the eyelids! What convinced you to try this one for your eyelids?
I have a lot of discoloration on my eyelids and under-eyes and at times it seems like it’s worse. And I always wonder whether it’s a reaction to the beauty products I use on my eyes. And occasionally I will experience some irritation. So the soothing and barrier building properties seemed appealing. And most products I use on my eye area don’t really seem to do anything. Whereas this does have a soothing effect.
Makes sense! 🙂 I am glad this is soothing your lids at the very least – hope it eventually helps with discoloration, too!
Wow Christine I’m impressed to see this review. You don’t normally seem to endorse skin care so this must have impressed you. I have similar skin issues so I’m intrigued and will have to check this out. Thanks for taking the time to share your input on this, it’s very helpful and appreciated!
You’re right – I don’t write too many reviews (though I test plenty!) – usually something has to DO something that I can attest to more than “yeah, it hydrated well…”
After eliminating volatile silicones like cyclopentasiloxane or cyclomethicone, and fragrance from ALL my facial beauty products, eczema on my face disappeared and stayed away unless I accidentally introduce a new product containing it. It’s in a LOT of cream/liquid products, especially eye makeup removers, shadow primers, foundations, and gel liners/cream shadows.
Here are some effective products free of some volatile silicones:
Jordana eye makeup remover
MAC 24hr Extend Shadow Primer
Mac full coverage foundation (pro)
Revlon whipped creme foundation
Tarte hybrid gel foundation
IT cosmetics bye bye undereye concealer
Laura Mercier secret camouflage
Sephora contour eye pencils
I’m glad you found something that worked for you!
Me too! For the longest time, stopped wearing makeup and then went through meticulous ingredient elimination before I figured it all out. Wanted to mention my experience bc the experts don’t seem to discuss this ingredient as a potential irritant but it definitely was for me. Save someone from some frustration.
It can be hard to nail it down, so you are lucky that you were able to!!
It’s great when an expensive skin cream actually works for you. It justifies the expense.
So true! Better you feel like you’re paying for something that works!
That’s great you found something that’s worked so well for you. Such finds are few and far between.
It can be hard!
Great review! I love the addition or more skincare to the site!
If you have persistent eczema (like me), I recommend seeing a dermatologist to get the prescriptive corticosteroids. I know that this sounds like obvious information (or that you probably already went down this route), but I struggled for years to find something that worked. I thought that I could solve it on my own with all-natural, organic stuff, like from Lush or Burt’s Bees, but nothing made long-term impact. I tried everything. And when you get eczema on your hands, it’s hard to not use them long enough to avoid washing them (which just dries them out more, necessitating lotion, and starting another cycle of soap and moisturizing).
Cortizone and collodial oatmeal are great for managing between flare ups. But the only thing that actually gets rid of eczema, for me, is clobetasol propionate (for body only, not face). I also found that using Cortizone on my face (b/c you shouldn’t use clobetasol propionate on the face), and glycolic acid (Paula’s choice) regularly (4-6 times a week), really helps. I use Paula’s Choice Skin Recovery line and it has completely changed my face. No more red, itchy patches or flakiness. Clinique’s moistrue surge is good in a pinch but I don’t use it frequently (jar packaging).
I do not mean to sound condescending! I do not want to come off that way. Good luck!
For me, my eczema is really random and short-lived, so it has not yet warranted a prescription – but I have discussed my concerns with multiple doctors over the years.
I have a sample of this in my drawers. Now you have me curious, but kind of afraid to try it, in case I fall in love with it, as it’s quite a pricey one. But really glad you found something that works so well!
I am both pleased and displeased about it, LOL!
Intensely moisturizing and eczema-friendly sounds right up my street. I might have to wait til I’m making this lawyer money to try it though. Maybe I’ll ask for a sample at Sephora
btw Christine I’ve been a reader for years and would have never thought you have eczema, I’m surprised! You seem to manage it really well which makes me all the more interested in this product. Thanks!
I have more mild eczema, and I’m pretty good at managing it so I don’t get major flare ups. I get more redness/itchiness and usually, if I leave it alone, it doesn’t progress beyond that (possibly some scaling). When I was a baby/kid, it was a lot more severe, but luckily, a lot of it has calmed down and even my seasonal allergies have gone way, way down. I think the area that is most sensitive is my neck, so I’m careful about using softer fibers and avoid anything like wool or cashmere too high up on my neck. I also use a milder soap without fragrance for laundry, which has helped a lot (a couple of years ago, my neck started flaring up constantly, and after a lot of trial and error, I realized it was a switch to Tide Pods).
Yeah same, I’m susceptible to chronic eczema but it’s been well-controlled for several years now. I think taking multivitamins with adequate vitamin D in them has been the biggest factor in keeping 98% of it at bay for me personally.
I do have a prescription ointment that I need to get involved when scaly spots are being stubborn, around every 2-3 months. Thankfully my face skin does not seem to be as sensitive as the rest of me is, though she is pretty dry!
Thanks for the tips, as always!
Happy to hear you’ve found a good regimen to combat it! 🙂 I added allergy meds (just OTC) per my eye doctor (for allergies she saw under my lids), but I think those are also helping me in other ways.
I DO need to get better at moisturizing my whole body, though. I’m just so lazy!
It worked so well for me on my inflamed areas but on others it gave me little whiteheads! I’ll probably get another sample in the winter as a spot treatment for flakes. Though I suppose the sample jar at Sephora might have had bacteria in it.
Happy to hear it at least worked for something but sucks that it gave you whiteheads!
I noticed that the second ingredient it squalane which really gets me interested. I’ve been using pure squalane oil on my face day and night and I love how hydrating it is! I really can’t wait to get my hands on this cream <2
Squalane can be a great ingredient 🙂 What brand do you use for the pure oil?
It’s from a newer brand, Biossance carried at Sephora. I’ve really been digging it!
Want to say thank you for discussing the eczema issue. I’ve not been to a dermatologist as I thought it was just a reaction to certain eye colors and definitely to cream or metallic shadows as it happens on my lids. In fact, I know that’s what it’s from since it happens like clockwork depending on what shadows I use. I cannot use anything of ColorPop on my eyes or lips because it gives me like a sunburn so it must be certain ingredients. I never thought it was eczema, although i have had my lids turn red. I get like a burn with rough patches that starts to flake. I happened to have fractionated coconut oil that says it was approved by the Eczema foundation so I used it in combo with Aveeno. It is improving. But I wanted to thank you as I never thought it was any more than a reaction. I would typically use vaseline until the flaking etc went away. I’m now going to get the colloidal oatmeal!
It could be both – it could be an allergy that triggers eczema, so certainly a possibility!
I am happy to hear that that the coconut oil and Aveeno are working so far. Hope you’ve healed up since!