Amy asks: I am wondering if you know of somewhere to find an ingredients list for Yves Rocher products or if you know what else is in their stuff. They boast 150 botanical ingredients but do not provide a list of their other ingredients.
The Right Brain responds on Rocher:
Yves Rocher makes me want to vomit. Scientifically speaking, of course.
Rocher, in case you didn’t know, is the self proclaimed leader in botanical beauty care. (At least according to his website.) His claim to fame is the 150 different botanicals used in his formulations.
I took a peek at his website and couldn’t find any active ingredients listed but he is, as Amy points out, very quick to mention the key botanicals in his formulas. The first product I looked at was his Phytum Extra-Volume Long Lasting Hair Spray. The only ingredients I can find mentioned for this product are Chamomile, Corn Protein, Wheat Protein, Soy Protein.
Now look, Rocher: there’s nothing wrong with adding vegetable and grain proteins to your formulas. In fact, at a decent concentration, proteins can be effective film forming agents that can contribute to hair (and skin) moisturization. But there is NO way that these botanicals are really doing anything in a hair spray. Why not provide us with some USEFUL information? For example, here are three things a cosmetic company SHOULD tell us about their hairspray:
1. Does it contain water?
For aerosol hairsprays, it’s critical that you know whether or not the product contains water. Water is bad because it increases drying time and causes your style to droop. Why would a company add water to hairspray? Because (in the US) there are legal limits on how much of certain ingredients (known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs) that can be be used in hair sprays. VOCs include propellants and solvents like alcohol. We don’t want to bore you with all the technicalities (we’ll leave that to the Left Brain), so all you have to know right now is that some companies have chosen to add water to their hair sprays to meet these VOC regulations. Other companies have decided to add more expensive chemicals in place of water. These product cost more, but they make the hairspray work much better. So, the bottom line is, you should be looking for aerosol hair sprays without water. (To be fair, this point doesn’t really apply to the Yves Rocher product because it’s a non-aerosol and all non-aerosol hairsprays contain water. But in general, this is an important point to understand.)
2. Type of hold
Hairspray formulas contain different holding agents (known as resins or polymers). Depending on the type of holding agent used, the product can give a very rigid, crispy hold, or it can provide a very flexible, soft, brushable hold. The type of resin also determines how water proof it will be.
3. Level of hold.
The hold level of a hair spray is not only determined by the type of resin, but how much of the resin is in the formula. Mega hold, or freeze hold formulas generally require more resin, which can increase the cost. You should know what the product is supposed to do so you can make an intelligent decision about buying it.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Note to Yves Rocher: instead of hiding behind a façade of botanical ingredients, why not share some meaningful information with your consumers?
What do YOU think? Are you generally satisfied with the product information that cosmetic companies give you or would you like to see more? Share your comments with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Honestly, the only way I found out the ingredients to some of their products was buying them…and even then the information wasn’t always listed! Luckily Yves Rocher has a great return policy but still, I put them on the level with Aveda. They claim they’ve got all these *amazing botanical ingredients* when in reality, they’re so far down on the list that they serve no purpose.
There is a French site that lists the ingredients for some of their products so hopefully this will help Amy or someone else:
http://membres.lycos.fr/leflacon/marque.php?fiche=1
yves rocher is the worst customer service i have ever experienced. that alone means i will never buy anything or buy in to their claims.
i ordered something from them and checked my status and it said “payment withheld.” i called to verify WHAT that meant (since i knew i had done nothing and i had money to pay for it) and was informed that my credit card had denied the payment, supposedly. only NO ONE called to verify anything. yves rocher didn’t inform me of anything – i checked the website for my status.
just adding my two cents… because i agree with the right brain. makes me want to vomit.
oh, forgot to add. after all that, they wouldn’t let me cancel my order. i had to wait “approximately a week” to talk to a manager to cancel.
ridiculous.
nice post
In my experience, manufacturers rarely give a full list of ingredients on their websites. However, many internet retail outlets *do* list them. So you can actually find Yves Rocher ingredient lists if you search internet beauty retail sites. Here’s a good example of a site that gives the full list of ingredients:
http://www.ecomtrack2.com/shopcart/shops/568/DRTVJAN06_TEST_YRDISCOVERY/About.asp
I actually really like Yves Rocher products! But the whole “bio-organic-botanical-extracts” business is ridiculous. They are just pretty effective products, at good prices (when you catch a sale). Certainly nothing revolutionary, “wheat germ of Arabia essential vitamin extract” or not.
I do despise their mail-order system. Not because I had any real problems with it, but rather with the truck-loads of catalogues and ads they send you. For a company who claims to be all natural-this and organic-that, they sure kill a lot of trees…
I still love the beautybrains site, it is VERY informing and that is something we all can use in this time of hype verus truth.
Thank you..
I order some great products from Yves Rocher – i love the self tanning facial firming creame.. but, I too don’t know all of the ingredients and I always try to use natural products but I don’t think they have too many natural ingredients in their products.. They have some good prices too.
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I stumbled Shielo’s Flexible Hair Spray during my vacation to New York City in a salon. I needed a hairspray while on that trip and held my breath as I paid $20 for the bottle. I am so happy I didn’t put it back on the shelf! I wish I bought online though cause its cheaper – shielo.com
This hairspray goes on light but holds so well. On a day when my hair is flat or not looking so good, I style it .. spray the front then lean a bit forward and slightly upside down to let the spray set. When I look back up in the mirror the spray holds the “lift” in a very natural way. I wish I’d had this spray years ago.
It also fights humidity, and being from Tennessee .. humidity is a big hairday killer.
I agree with Martha!!
I have thin, fly away hair that can’t handle a lot of product. What works for me is the Shielo Flexible Hair Spray. This hairspray is perfect – it’s super light and smells great. You can still work with your hair afterwards. If you are looking for a stiffer hairspray, I would not recommend this. This one is great for curls that you don’t want to douse in nasty stick hairspray or weigh down.