When we sold out of our Nourish & Care cream I was all of a sudden faced with a situation that I hadn’t been in for over 2 years: the challenge to buy a face cream.
If you are anything like me then finding the perfect face cream is like finding the perfect jeans (or even like finding Mr. Right..?). Anyway…it is a major undertaking that is not to be taken lightly.
I hadn’t shopped for face cream for a while, for obvious reasons, and I don’t really find talking to overzealous sales people at the cosmetic counter enjoyable. So, I started my search on Sephora.com where the selection is huge, and where the ingredients for most of the products are listed.
I was looking for a natural product without fragrance, without alcohol, without parabens, and without dyes (did you ever notice how many pink and baby-blue creams are out there..???!).
Shopping for skincare products with me is my friends’ nightmare as I read the ingredient list of every single face cream in the store, and then bitch about it. When it comes to skincare, I turn into a snobby elitist.
While most people may find this habit rather annoying, it is actually not completely unjustified. Most skincare products on the market today contain at least one or two ingredients that are potentially dangerous for the skin, and I have seen many face creams that contain tons of skin irritants.
When I talk to my customers or to friends about irritating ingredients, most of them put preservatives on top of the list, followed by fragrance, then alcohol. While some creams still contain potentially harmful preservatives, most preservatives used in skincare today are mild and food-grade. (for more in-depth information go to the Skindred Soul preservatives page )
On top of my list are actually ingredients of natural origin (i.e. essential oils). Many plant extracts, herbs and fruits may smell awesome, may taste really good, or may be a heaven-sent cure for internal problems, such as stomach pain; but they have no business being on the ingredient list of a face cream, especially if the product is labeled for sensitive skin.
According to numerous clinical studies, essential oils have been found to contribute to tumor development and other harmful changes in the body. Most essential oils can be damaging to the skin, liver and other organs, even in concentrations as low as 3%. They most often include a mix of alcohols, ketones, phenols, linalool, borneol, terpenes, camphor, pinene, acids, ethers, aldehydes, and sulfur, all of which have extremely irritating and sensitizing effects on skin.
Be very careful with products that contain the following ingredients, especially if they are high up on the ingredient list:
- Essential oil blend
- Natural fragrance
- Rosemary extract
- Thyme extract
- Peppermint/ Menthol/ Spearmint
- Lavender (Research also indicates that components of lavender, specifically linalool, can be cyto-toxic, meaning that topical application causes skin-cell death (Source: Cell Proliferation, June 2004, pages 221-229).
- Lemon oil/ Mandarin/ Sweet orange oil (these oils are usually obtained as by-products of the citrus industry, and are really cheap ingredients.)
- Clove
- Linalool
- Geraniol
- Citronellol
- Cinnamon
- Camphor
- Lemon Balm
- Vetiver
- Eucalyptus
- Ginger
- Basil oil
- Myrrh
This list is not complete but it contains the essential oils and irritating plant extracts most widely used in skincare.
Many face creams are a mix of good and bad ingredients which I find very unfortunate. Too often I start getting excited about a product because it lists really amazing ingredients, such as Evening Primrose oil and White Tea extract; just to become really disappointed when I also find alcohol, essential oils and irritating plant extracts on the label.
On top of my official “Shun List” of face creams for use of irritating ingredients are the following brands:
- Jurlique
- Juice Beauty
- Lancôme
- Dr. Brandt
- Ole Henriksen
- L’Occitane
- Pangea Organics
- Clarins (their Super Restorative Serum is a Super shocker: alcohol, perfume, parabens, essential oils…)
To end this post on a positive note: YES, there are some skincare gems out there; one of them being the Repairwear line from Clinique. Also check out the moisturizers from MD skincare or Aloe Vera Eye Defense from The Body Shop which I used allover my face.
Oh, I almost forgot: Skindred Soul’s Energize & Care and Nourish & Care are chock-full of absolutely amazing ingredients, and they don’t contain ANY of the ingredients I always bitch about… LOL
Be good to your skin.
G-gal
(PS: our reformulated Nourish & Care will available soon!)
