Grace is not gullible: I’m watching QVC and they are featuring 100% Pure Cosmetics. Everything sounds so wonderful… earth based, all 100% natural,fruit pigmented, vegan friendly, no preservatives, no harmful chemicals, fragrance free, full of antioxidants, no animal testing, it is like organic food for your face, etc. etc. I’m wondering what is really in their products????
The Left Brain responds:
Good question, Grace. Looking at the ingredients in their products it appears that they do indeed have simplified, formulas that avoid the use of many traditional surfactants, preservatives, thickeners, and fragrances. How do they do this? By providing very basic formulas that rely on naturally-derived functional ingredients surrounded by a lot of non-functional natural ingredients that sound good but don’t really do anything.
100% Pure ingredients
For example, here is their ingredient list 100% Pure Organic Lavender Foaming Shower Gel.
All Natural Ingredients: Organic Lavender Hydrosol, Organic Lavender Honey, Gentle Coconut Cleanser (coco betaine), Organic extracts of Jasmine, Chamomile, Calendula and Rose, Organic White Tea, Organic Lavender Essential Oil, Vitamin E (a-tocopherol), Vitamin C (ascorbyl palmitate), Natural Food Preservatives from salt and cranberries (less than 0.1% of Sodium Benzoate, Potassium sorbate)
They take some liberties with the labeling guidelines and try to hide the ingredients that actually make the product work. If you strip away the nonsense you get…
Water, Coco Betaine, Salt, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate
These ingredients are found in many other products. Coco betaine is chemically derived from coconut oil and is a very close cousin of cocamidopropyl betaine which is found in almost all mass market shampoos and cleanser. While it’s milder than some other foaming agents (like sodium lauryl sulfate) it is also not as effective of a cleanser.) Interestingly, they say their products contain no preservatives but then they have Sodium Benzoate & Potassium Sorbate which are both preservatives.
Go figure.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
I’m sure these are fine products but they aren’t any better for you than the much less expensive products you can buy at your local grocery store. It’s really your choice – if you like these products then buy them. But don’t be tricked into buying them just because 100% Pure tells you they’re more natural.
What do YOU think? Would you be willing to sacrifice performance just to get a product that’s more “natural?” Leave a comment and share your thoughts and concerns with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
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{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Don’t ever believe what these people who try to sell you stuff say! I always read the ingredients and if I feel that it is a gimmick then I won’t bother. In cosmetics there are active and inactive ingredients, you will find that the active ingredients aren’t different from those other brands.
It would be great to have a reference list of the best non-toxic cosmetics so that people could be assured that the ingredients are safe and that the product is effective.
That’s interesting about all the non-functional products in the 100% pure product line, like honey for example. So, when I do my honey masks (just honey and water) I’m putting nothing functional on my face? That’s weird, because for me, my honey masks are absolutely essential.
I don’t use that particular product but in general I think that the 100% pure line is great and I recommend it a lot. I also think that (for most products in the line) it’s a great value.
That was supposed to be “non functional ingredients”. This correction makes my post much less diffucult to decipher
I totally agree with this post – more often than not, people are just being fooled by the marketing, not the actual effectiveness. Many so called chemical ingredients are derived from natural products anyways, so what difference does it make if you buy “pure” product? What would be more interesting to me is whether the product is produced using environmental & sustainable techniques and doesn’t test on animals.
how is the company taking liberties with the labeling guidelines? they’re stating everything that’s in the product, aren’t they?
does anyone know how effective something like the 100% Pure eye creams are? do anti-oxidants that are in a cream actually make a difference when applied to your skin? here are the ingredients for the acai berry anti-aging eye cream:
Organic White Tea, Organic Cucumber Juice, Organic Rose Hydrosol, Extracts of Organic Calendula, Organic Chamomile, Organic Blackberry, Organic Blueberry, Organic Pomegranate and Organic Acai Berry, Vitamin C (ascorbyl palmitate), Vitamin E (a-tocopherol), Organic Acai Berry Oil, Organic Pomegranate Oil, Beeswax, Organic Avocado Butter, Organic Cocoa Butter, Extracts of Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Golden Seal, Cinnamon and Lavender
“Naturals” are often given ominous sounding labels such as B6 is pyrioxidine and ordinary table salt lists as sodium chloride.
Nothing is perfect but the pur”er” the better.
MizzJ,
I don’t use that particular eye cream, but I love the 100% pure caffeine eye cream. In general I think eye creams are a scam but this one is an exception, IMO. It’s a good value for an eye cream- less than 20$ for a 1 oz pump. I like that it’s a pump instead of a jar. It’s not irritating and I think it does work a little on the under eye circles. Most of all though I love how it smells- the vanilla coffee smell is just so yummy, and I don’t even like coffee.
I love this line I use their products, and before I had found I tried pretty much everything out there natural and not. A lot of the products I had tried were more expensive. This is the first time were I loved what was happening with my skin. You can also tell the products are different from what’s typically on shelves, there thinner since they don’t use all the thickeners, and you you don’ need high lather to be effective that usually just stripes you of necessary oils drying out your skin and leading to things like wrinkles and even acne. The little bit of perservative are important, as anyone who has made there own face mask knows natural products don’t last very well. So without the Sodium Benzoate the product would be in the garbage in a week.
Natural does not equate to good – think snake venom, belladonna, lightning. But, more to the point, what can 100% natural mean when one is discussing a product produced in a factory for the ultimate purpose of being smeared on the face to supposedly reduce the effects of aging. Where’s the natural in any of that?
I looked at the ingredients that Cyn posted for the 100% Pure eye cream and can’t seem to find the emulsifier/stabilizer they use to keep the cream from phase separating. Can someone enlighten me?
for those of you talking about how this line is like any other drugstore brand, get a freakin life. obviously you have not used these products. they all smell amazing, are full of antioxidants, chemical free and do what they say they will. the make up line is far superior to high end department store brands and are actually good for your skin, get rid of acne and last ALL day.
How can something be full of antioxidants and be chemical free? Antioxidants are chemicals.
I’ve purchased a few of “100% Pure” products for myself and my family. They are definitely over priced and the ingredient list isn’t really the best thing for you.
As a general rule of thumb–if the cleanser is described as “foaming”, it has harsh chemicals in it, otherwise, it doesn’t foam…
Personally, I prefer Aubrey Organics for my shampoos and facial cleansers/lotions–their ingredient list is simpler and I’ve noticed they less harsh than other cleansers. They cost more than Suave and generic shampoos, but they’re worth it. Also they are cheaper than 100% Pure products!
The one item that I liked from 100% Pure was the Moisturizing Cheek Tint. It didn’t cause me to break out and the ingredient list seemed descent.
I liked the Fruit Pigmented Eye Liner (in Cocoa) until I rubbed my eyes and some got in them–it burnt!!! So that sorta freaked me out. Then again the ingredient list includes pigments of coffee bean, black tea, and extracts of Cinnamon, Thyme and Oregano… Yea, doesn’t sound too eye friendly, but I bought it anyway, so bad on me.
Aubrey has a line of makeup, but I haven’t tried it yet. I did purchase some stuff from SunCat –she makes natural mineral make up. The eye shadows are nice (no burning!) and so are the blushes. Not a big fan of the foundation powders, but I’ve never really been able to wear foundation, so it’s probably just me.
I work in television, and I know that the FCC is much stricter than the FDA! Anything you say on TV better be substantiated by numerous testing and certification, etc… I’ve heard that QVC is extremely strict about claims being said on TV, because they report to the FCC, so I would be very surprised if anything was not true! QVC has a lot to lose if they weren’t so strict! I also use 100% Pure eucalyptus sea foam and peppermint toner as aftershave and love it! It cleared up my skin and I think it makes me look younger too!
I am an Aesthetician, and being in the skin care industry, I can tell you for certain that those little one ounce jars you buy in the department store for $200 aren’t worth a dime, and you’re only paying for the label. Anyway, if you want to check out the safety of any ingredient, you can go to http://www.ewg.org. At the bottom right corner of the home page, click on: “Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database”. It will take you to a page where you can type in any ingredient or company’s name, which will then give you the results, on a scale of 1 to 10 of its safety (1 has the lowest hazard, 10 has the highest). Parabens, for example, are in tons of cosmetics…check out its safety score on ewg’s web site – pretty damn scary. Parabens are known carcinogens and have been linked to cancers, yet they are still used in thousands of products. How is this even legal? Don’t listen to people that tell you that since you’re only putting it on your skin, it can’t harm you…My thoughts? If you wouldn’t eat it, you probably shouldn’t put it on your skin, as your skin absorbs most of what you put on it. How do you think “the patch” works?! If you want skin care products that are truly natural, try “Aubrey Organics” or “Eminence Organics”. I get Aubrey’s stuff at Whole Foods or my health food store. Eminence is a professional product, which you can only get in spas/salons, although I have seen it for sale on the ‘net. Eminence is totally edible; it is made ONLY of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. And, their mineral powder is AWESOME!
They do not list their ingredients accurately. My friend is a chemist for a large skin care company (NOT a competitor of 100% Pure, so don’t even go there please) and told me that 100% Pure selectively “skips” ingredients such as emulsifiers / stabilizers in its creams. They are clearly there or it wouldn’t be a cream — it’s not possible without one even in the most natural of products, yet it’s not listed. And, their surfacant in the body washes is NOT all-natural and they use preservatives so thus the products cannot be 100% natural — it’s simply not possible.
Also, the claims they make on their Web site and on TV:
“Hydrate and Nourishing your skin with all natural body creams rich
with 15% Vitamin C, 15% Vitamin E, organic fruit oils and anti-aging antioxidants.”
ARE AGAIN SIMPLY NOT POSSIBLE. The above claim would mean that 30% of the overall product is vitamin oils — it’s a ridiculous and laughable claim. It would be so expensive and the formulation would be a greasy, goopy mess. Seriously put 30% oil into cream you have and see what happens.
I’m sick of no one monitoring all these bogus natural and organic claims.
I have tried several natural brands and never found any that really compared to Aubrey Organics.
Finally I have found something.
Everything I have purchased (skin care and cosmetics) have been perfect from 100% Pure.
I have made my own natural cosmetics so I am a stickler for good quality and real ingredients. The biggest problem is in the preserving and a lot of homemade products have to be made in small batches and refrigerated. The grapefruit seed extract (purest option) has failed a few times.
The tiny amount of preservative in 100% Pure is still a lot less and far less toxic than most of the ‘natural’ and drug store products. A lot of companies use cheap fillers and chemicals in products in order to pad their profit margin. More effort and money goes into packaging and advers.
100% Pure labels have a shelf life date on the label.
The emulsifier comment is a good point -but in my homemade cosmetic experience emulsifying is a process and the finished product stayed stabilized.
Interesting post – we should all question labels and ingredients and animal testing on our products.
In the “check and lip” tint (e.g. “pink grapefruit”, “strawberry”, does anyone know what the skipped ingredients are? Interesting post on skipped ingredients.Thanks.
I agree with Valerie – I have made my own homemade products and don’t have a problem with separation. If they are truly not listing ingredients, they should be called out. However, for those who write they must leaving these out because…and have no proof or facts, you are not helping us. Personally, I find their products to work beautifully and they almost all smell so delicious. And all those little extras, like herbal extracts and honey,etc, they are functional…maybe not as cleaning ingredients, but as antioxidants, humectants, etc. They use to use a couple of ingredients I didn’t like, but it appears they’ve changed the formulas for them.
PS Some of those extracts at the end of their ingredients list work as preservatives. They are just not as strong as man-made chemicals and therefore the products don’t have an indefinite shelf-life.
has anyone purchased the 100% pure products….is there actually that label under the shampoo ingredient list?
I have been making the shift to 100$ natural personal care products for the last 3 years. I have tried many expensive alternatives. My skin has suffered from years w/out sunscreen and damage from smoking. I’m 34. After just one week using purely 100% pure eye/face creams and face scrubs, i noticed a visible difference. My skin has a restored glow of youthfulness that my husband has commented on. Even old acne scars are beginning to fade away after only 2 months. These products are superior in quality, and they do not use any artificial frangrances. Since going all natural, I can hardly tolerate the strong perfumey smells of other lotions and soap serious full of toxic ingredients – check out ewg.org. Anyhow, I’ve become a loyal supporter of Susie Wang’s products! Finally a product that lives up to it claims! Hope you all find this helpful.
Gosh, I have so much to say about this subject but I’ll try to keep it short..
I have been using 100% Pure skin care and cosmetics for over a year and I will never go back to what I was using. In fact, I loved this line so much I threw out or gave away most of my cosmetics and all my facial and body care and replaced it with this line.
Some of their products are in fact vegan, however most are organic or vegetarian (I do know the difference) and you have to read the label.
The ingredients and performance in this line are superior and I would recommend it to anyone wanting a change to a more eco/animal friendly product.
I can tell you it has made a tremendous difference in my skin. This line isn’t 100% vegan, nor does it claim to be.
Don’t let the picky, negative reviews deter you from trying something new. After all, I can safely say this line is superior than the one you are using now, except if you’re a vegan reading this ;0)
This is a response to Sarah2.
It appears that your comment might be a little confusing to readers. You make the point that 100% Pure has 30% oil. You said 15% Vit. C and 15% Vit. E — Do you not know that Vitamin C is not oil based? Vitamin C is water soluable! Misguided information can be very confusing to the public, especially when it’s stated as an actual fact.