Kimberly’s inquiry: A somewhat new to US product has caught my discerning eye – it is REN out of England it professes to be pure (REN is “pure” in Norwegian or something) and free of toxins like parabens, mineral oil, petrochemicals, dyes, and silicones. Please give me the lowdown, as you see it. Thank you so very much, luv your website yu ROK.
The Right Brain’s REN response:
Thanks for the kind words, Kimberly. I’ve always secretly considered myself the hardest rocking Beauty Brain. Here’s our take on REN.
Scare tactics
First of all, as regular readers of our site know, we’re not big fans of any company that tries to sell products based scare tactics. REN’s website says their products are free of skin-unfriendly ingredients and potential irritants like the ones you sited above, yet in reality, many of the ingredients they avoid have NOT been proven to cause problems. (Mineral oil is a good example.)
But setting aside the ethics issue for the moment, let’s see how REN lives up to their promise of avoiding “nasty” ingredients. We’ll look at their Day Serum as an example.
Revivo-Lift Day Serum ($75 for 1 ounce)
Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Glycerin (Source Coconut Oil), Argania Spinosa (Argan) Kernel Extract, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate (Source Coconut), Rosa Canina (Rosehip) Seed Oil, Palmitoyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Cetearyl Olivate (Source Olive Oil), Sorbitan Oilivate (Source Olive Oil), Vaccinium Vitis-Idaea (Lingonberry) Seed Oil, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate (Vitamin C), Zostera marina Pectin (Source Sea Grass), Hydrolyzed Glycosaminoglycans (Source Corn), Gynostemma Pentaphyllum (Jiaogulan) Leaf Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Magnesium Aspartate, Zinc Gluconate, Copper Gluconate, Phenoxyethanol (Source Aromatic Ether), Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate (Source Amino Acids), Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Seed Extract, Xanthan Gum (Source Corn), Carbomer (Source Polymer), Parfum (100% natural fragrance), Linalool, Limonene, Farnesol, Faex (Yeast) Extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E).
Formula base
By listing “rose water” as the first ingredient, REN is implying that there’s no added water in the product. At best, this is a stretch of the labeling laws which state that the first ingredient should be the one present at the highest concentration, which in this case is “water” not “Rose water.”
Thickener/Stabilizer
Carbopol is an acrylic polymer used to thicken and stabilize emulsions. It’s a perfectly fine ingredient but it’s about as far from natural as it gets in the cosmetic world. It’s a surprising choice for REN.
Fragrance
Here’s a fact that you might not know about fragrance: companies are now required to list any known allergens contained in the fragrances they use. And if you take a look at the bottom of the Day Serum ingredient list, you’ll see two chemicals listed after “Parfum (100% natural fragrance).” These chemicals are linalool and limonene and they’re listed because they are both known fragrance allergens. If REN was really avoiding skin unfriendly ingredients you think they would avoide fragrances with known allergens.
Preservative
According to REN’s website, Good Housekeeping states their products are preservative free. But that’s not true in the case of this Day Serum because it contains phenoxyethanol a common preservative in the cosmetic industry. While it’s not as effective a parabens or DMDM hydantoin, Cosmetic chemists like to use it because it provides a rose like odor that helps cover the odor the other ingredients.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
REN has some lovely formulations and it appears that, for the most part, they’ve gone out of their way to avoid ingredients that people THINK are bad for their skin. But their approach of charging exorbitant prices for their scare tactics doesn’t sit well with us. If you’re concerned enough to pay more money to avoid ingredients that haven’t been proven harmful, then REN products may be perfect for you. But we think you can get more value for your money elsewhere.
What do YOU think? Are you queasy about chemicals? Do you pay more for brands that are “safer?” Leave a comment and share your scare with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
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I used REN facial foaming cleanser because of a recommendation by a Sephora floor attendant. I found it way too harsh and not all that natural feeling once on. It stripped my face of natural oils and it felt tight and itchy (as in allergy and white pimpleys). Never going there again!
REN sure is goofy! Aside from the things you’ve pointed out, they’ve got other known irritants in there like rosehips and grapefruit, things known to make the skin itchy and red. While not nearly as bad as, say, Juice Beauty, it’s still aggravating to see companies pushing their stuff as being so good for you (and consumers buy into the hype!), and then you look at their ingredient panels and they’re like cesspools. You may as well just save your money and apply Lysol to get the same effect. Grf!
I’ve used REN products since they came out in the UK. They’ve always worked fine for me. Their Omega Serum is fantastic, for example.
Note to Jessica: First, I’m surprised Sephora attendants are giving out recommendations. I thought it was company policy (and training) that they not make product recommendations. In any event, that’s what you get for trusting Sephora sales staff. The problem isn’t Ren, but that you were recommended the wrong product for your skin. Try Ren’s cleanser for dry skin, and I guarantee you you’ll have a very different experience.
Note to Lipstick Face: Rosehips and grapefruit are not inherently irritating. It’s a question of how much is used, and whether it is buffered or not by other ingredients.
This highlights the contradiction between ‘natural’ and ‘good for you’. Many natural ingredients, such as citrus juices, can be very irritationg ont he skin, and Ren seem to have gone for the natural choice whenever possible (unfortunately, there’s not really a natural that works as well as carbomer at thickening without stickiness).
I suspect the linalool and limonene are natural components of the oils used in the natural fragrance, and it is very hard to make a 100% natural fragrance without including at least one of these ‘allergenic’ oils.
Also the Grapefruit Seed Extract is probably there as a natural preservative, although there is lots of debate about whether it actually works.
I’ve been using REN Detox mask for about 3 months now, and it works great for me. I have oily skin and I get white haeds more than breakouts. So Sephora staff recommended me this product based on her experience. But she wouldn’t “recommend” one product over the other. For example, when they ran out of this product, she gave me a sample of other company’s product to see if it fits my skin.
Anyways I love this product so far, works great for me. I use it twice a week. I really think it’s the matter of finding the right product for me. There’s no one solution for everyone. Even for oily skin, everyone can differ.
I appreciate any article that addresses the concerns of false advertising and misleading customers, and brings to light information on products that could give pause to fans of “natural” skin care. However, I disagree that Ren is in the business of using scare tactics to sell their wares.
I am a fan of natural products and have been interested in Ren for some time now, and that in turn led me to this article. I do not believe that listing ingredients that are not in products is scary at all! I appreciate knowing what miscellaneous and potentially harmful ingredients are not going to be contained in something I am interested in putting on my body’s largest organ. Let’s face it – if we were talking about ingesting the stuff no one would question these so called “scare tactics.”
Yes, I think companies should be true to their mission statement(s), but I do not think companies should be condemned for trying to bring about products that do not contain things that have been outlawed in other countries for years.
That said, I am still thankful for the brainy insights.
When will people realize that a GOOD product isn’t necessarily for EVERYONE??
What’s all this nitpicking? Compared to most commonly distributed lines this is one of the most effective and satisfying I found. Great quality and a decent price – I love it.
I tried their rose oil only as well as the rose oil body cream during the 40 celsius hot (and extremely dry) Madrid summer – and it was fantastic. Much better than many more commercial brands that do contain mineral oils.
I´ve tried lots of bodylotions without mineral oil, and REN´s rose oil body cream certainly was the best I´ve tried so far. with the pure oil underneath, it´s even better.
I’ve used REN as my only skin regime for a bit more than six months now, and I absolutely love the products! I’ve struggled with my skin my whole life and tried Decleor, Dermalogica, MD Formulations, Weleda, Dr Hauschka and a bunch of other prestigious brands, but none has worked my skin like the REN products do. I’m using a lot of REN’s stuff for dry skin, and it’s changed my complexion. It even helps in calming down my hormonal breakouts, it’s gotten so much better. Even when some hormonal acne appears, it never gets as bad as before. So for me, REN is pure love <3
HI, I am reading about aromatherapy and would like to know a bit more a about creams and shampoos that are TOTALLY NATURAL, without ANY harmful agents, organic, parabens free, animal friendly etc.
I have found various webs for aromatherapy to purchase bases to which I can add essential oils of my choice, but found agresive ingredients in them.
Any chance you could guide me to some good webs with 100% organic etc ingredients and cream & Shampoo bases please? Thank you very much in advance & happy new year to you all.
I have spent basically my entire life trying to clear up my skin and REN is the first line that has worked consistantly over time and not irritated my skin. I have very very sensitive skin. Most laundry detergents, soaps and face washes make me break out into hives. That said, I have tried upwards of 20 brands when it comes to face cleansers to get rid of my acne problems and clear up the red patches on my face. The REN line actually does that for me. I use the sensitive cleanser, the day cream, night cream and the detox mask. I really do love what it does for my skin. My face stays relatively clear and the redness was completely gone after only about a month.