How do all-natural skincare and beauty products compare with their not-so-natural counterparts? We recently found a big-name product that’s very similar in concept to one of ours — but quite different in what it contains and what it costs.
From time to time, we highlight specific beauty product ingredients and how they benefit your skin. The calming properties of lavender, for example, help you relax and sleep better – which is why it’s an essential ingredient in our Wrinkle Free Perfection Night Moisturizer.
Likewise, lavender is a key ingredient in an anti-aging night-time moisturizer from a leading department store cosmetics brand. (It even comes in a blue jar like ours.)
The brand’s web site says that their moisturizer is clinically tested, hypoallergenic and dermatologist tested. At the same time, it contains propylene glycol, parabens, artificial fragrances, artificial color and dimethicone, which gives skin a silky feel but can clog pores.
For half the price, our Wrinkle Free moisturizer uses lavender essential oil for its relaxing scent, and there are no artificial fragrances or colors, parabens or propylene glycol. (See a full comparison of product ingredients below.)
Most importantly, our tests and our customer feedback prove that a product doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective – it really works.
Our point is not to criticize other companies’ products, but rather to present the facts about what’s really in skincare and beauty products that people buy. We believe the more natural the ingredients, the better because what you apply to your skin, you ingest in your body.
How important to you is a product’s ingredient list when you’re deciding whether to buy it? Which product ingredients do you try to avoid?
Here’s the complete ingredient list of the high-end moisturizer (retails for $38):
Water (Aqua), Di C12-15 Alkyl Fumarate, Diisopropyl Dimer Dilinoleate, Dimethicone, Methylheptyl Isostearate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Steareth 2, Butylene Glycol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Glycerin, Steareth 21, Stearyl Alcohol, Oenothera Biennis Oil (Evening Primrose), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf, Borago Officinalis Seed Oil, Citrus Aurantium Amara Peel Extract (Bitter Orange), Humulus Lupulas Extract (Hops), Lonicera Caprifolium Flower Extract (Honeysuckle), Palmaria Palmata Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Piper Methysticum Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopheryl Acetate, PEG-8/SMDI Copolymer, Propylene Glycol, Sodium PCA, Trehalose, Urea, Allantoin, Polyquaternium-51, Panthenol, PEG-8, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Polyethylene, Triethanolamine, Disodium EDTA, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Ethylehexyl Methoxycinnamate, Ethylexyl Salicylate, Dimethicone Copolyol, Phenyl Methicone, Fragrance (Parfum), Lavandula Angustifolia Extract (Lavender), Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Hydroxyisohexyl 3 Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Limonene, Linalool, Benzoic Acid, Methylparaben, Phenoxyethanol, Propylparaben, Chlorphenesin, Red 33 (CI 17200), Violet 2 (CI 60730)
Here are the ingredients in BodyVerde’s Wrinkle Free Perfection Night Moisturizer (retails for $19.99):
Olive Oil, Vitamin E, Vitamin A, Rose Flower, Soy Protein, Shea Butter, Glycerin, Jojoba Oil, Coconut Oil and Lavender Essential Oil. Also contains: purified water, steric acid, cetyl alcohol, glyceryl stearate, phenoxyethanol, capryl glycol and sorbic acid.
