Lainez asks if Juice Beauty Products are really worth it. The Right Brain responds mercilessly:
I think the Juice Beauty products are way over-priced for what you get. For example, let’s look at their Nutrient Moisturizer. Their ingredient list is MASSIVE and makes it look like the product is stuffed full of goodies. But when you read it carefully, you can find a lot of fluff. Here’s how I break it down:
Making Sense Out Of Juice Beauty Product’s Ingredient List
1. Organic/Botanical Ingredients That Don`t Do Anything:
Organic juices of vitis vinifera (white grape) juice, daucus carota sativa (carrot) juice & aloe barbadensis leaf juice, organic botanical extracts of calendula officinalis flower, matricaria chamomilla flower, tilia europea (linden) leaf & rose canina (rosehip) fruit, organic honey, vitis vinifera (grape) seed oil, organic algae extract
2. Typical Moisturizer Ingredients That Are Actually Functional:
glycerin, hyaluronic acid, squalane, hydroxypropyl starch phosphate, glyceryl stearate, potassium sorbate, phospholipids, palmitic acid, stearic acid, cetearyl glucoside,
3. Organic/Botanical Ingredients That Could Help Moisturize At The Right Concentration:
organic plant oils of butyrospermum parkii (shea butter) & simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed, organic essential fatty acids of oenothera biennis (evening primrose), linum usitatissimum (linseed) seed & borago officinali (borage) seed, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil
4. Vitamins That Don`t Do Anything At Low Levels:
tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), retinyl palmitate (vitamin A), magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (vitam:in C), panthenol (vitamin B5), beta carotene
5. Stabilizers, Preservatives, And Other Control Agents:
xanthan gum, disodium edta, sodium hydroxide, benzyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol
6. Stuff To Make It Smell Good:
litsea cubeba (may chang), cananga odorata (ylang ylang), boswellia carterii (frankincense) & commiphora myrrha pure essential oils.
It looks to me like most of the ingredients are Marketing filler make you think it’s worth spending $40 on 2 ounces of moisturizer. Something like this Neutrogena product would work just as well (and maybe better). The fact that Juice Beauty products are organic will have no impact on how they work.
Loading ...
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Crystalized or semi-crystalized honey, whether organic or not, feel to have an exfoliating effect if there is a lots of it (and by lots I mean like a third) in the product. I think it is the sugar crystal that can mechanically rub the skin.
Yes, sugary crystals (honey or plain sugar) can be effective exfolliants. However, since sugar is so water soluble, that really only works in anhydrous formulas (products without any water.)
Isn’t it an accepted fact that aloe barbadensis soothes and hydrates chapped skin? And practically the only moisturizer I can use on my irritated skin in the winter is a Calendula baby cream that was recommended to me by an herbalist during a skin consultation. I have also used honey as a mask, and my skin feels noticeably plumper and softer afterwards. I’m not saying they necessarily put enough of these ingredients into Juice products to make a difference, or that its necessarily worth $40, but plant based ingredients can be tremendously helpful, they are often the only things besides prescriptions that really help my very sensitive, dry skin. I use them in purchased products and homemade formulas and I notice definite effects.
—————
I guess most people do accept that Aloe will soothe and hydrate chapped skin, but according to this peer reviewed published article only “green and black tea, soy, pomegranate, and date have published clinical trials for the treatment of parameters of extrinsic aging.”
From a practical standpoint Aloe is traditionally used to soothe and hydrate but it’s not nearly as effective as ingredients like petrolatum and mineral oil. If it were, you would find companies that make their lotions based on it. Nobody does.
I work with Aloe. It is commonly used in the industry. Do you know how much really gets into the final product? Well, raw material suppliers sell it to us at a 1% dilution. Then it goes into products at a level of around 0.1%. Which means there’s almost no Aloe in the formula at all despite what it says on the label.
The same is likely true of the Calendula product you use.
You certainly may notice effects from plant ingredients. They can be effective. But they are just not the most effective ingredients you can use.
Left Brain
Sorry to get up on my soap-box so much, in general I really value your advice, brains. But lots of people prefer organic products because they are better for the earth and no harmful byproducts are produced in making them. For example, You mentioned in a related piece that mineral oil is safe for the skin…but it is a petrochemical biproduct- ie, the leftovers after making gasoline. Have you ever visited an oil refinery? The mineral oil might not cause me to break out, but the process of making it might give me cancer.
Elizabeth, thanks for your comments.
I understand that lots of people believe that organic products are better for the Earth and in some cases they may be.
But is it better for the Earth to use up farmland for making cosmetics when there are people starving in the world? Wouldn’t it be better for the Earth to use that land to feed people?
The process for making natural compounds (organic farming still uses pesticides) can also potentially give you cancer. But you don’t put the “process” on your face. You put the compounds on your face and those have never been shown to cause cancer. They are as safe as cosmetic chemicals can be.
And with this article and your subsequent responses to comments, I’ll no longer be reading this blog. “Wouldn’t it be better for the Earth to use that land to feed people?” Holy good God you have to be effing kidding me. Wouldn’t it be nice if the people who are starving in third-world countries where there’s plenty of land to raise crops just not enough money to do so could make money to buy or raise their food by selling their organically farmed products to conscientious companies who purchase them at fair trade prices for customers who don’t want to put gasoline left-overs on their faces? Seriously – this blog should be called “Chemicals have friend our brains” because you obviously drank the Kool-aid long ago and can’t be open-minded enough to see there might be an alternative to your ridiculous chemicals.
Emmy,
Thanks so much for your comments. I stopped drinking Kool-aid long ago because processed sugars aren’t good for me. Perhaps you might want to lay off the organic coffee.
Your ignorance and complete lack of compassion for people in third world countries is disgusting. Something awful must’ve happened in your life to make you so callous. I’m very sorry for you. Please, feel free to continue to indulge in your crusade to rid the world of non-organically derived chemicals and poor starving people.
As to your claims of my lack of open-mindedness. Please, show me the proof. What proof do you have the organically grown materials used in cosmetics is better for you than non-organically grown compounds? I’d be happy to change my mind with evidence. Would you? Is there anything that could ever happen to make you think synthetic, petrochemicals are good for you? Any bit of research? An open-minded person would be able to change their mind. I can. Can you?
Incidentally, what does “Chemicals have friend our brains” mean?
“Lack of compassion”? Emmy was explaining how the rising popularity of organic products can serve to better the lives of those in 3rd world countries. Sure, organic can be expensive but the suppliers of the organically produced ingredients (more and more often those farmers in the third world) stand to benefit.
Don’t drink the Kool-Aid! Priceless! I think someone wasn’t around for the 1970s…
Organic farming doesn’t produce as much food as standard farming techniques. If the world tried to implement it on a large scale, we’d run out of food.
I think you missed my point. The idea is not for those in the third world to grow organic food small-scale BUT rather to grow the organic ingredients used for cosmetics, sell them, fair trade, to companies and then in turn use that money to raise food for themselves. Organic cosmetics are more expensive but as long as we proactively support and insist upon fair trade practices with those growing the ingredients, a lot of good can come of it.
Of course there are issues with fair trade, but a rising interest and concern about where we get our fancy products from cannot be knocked. Yeah, people still shop at the Gap despite the proven link to sweatshop/child labor, but knowledge truly is power.
A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.