Jodoll asks…My mother bought me Simengdi Bio-Gold pearl Cream from China, telling me its what everyone uses and its really popular over there. In Canadian dollars, she bought one jar for 30 bucks. That is pretty expensive for creams, especially in China! Do you know if this cream really works?
The Left Brain replies:
According the information I could track down on this product, Simengdi Bio-Gold is indeed very popular, in fact one source described it as “the most famous skin care brand” in China. Here’s what the website says about Bio-Gold Pearl cream.
Bio-Gold: Beauty Science or BS?
- It effectively lightens and/or removes spots, reduces wrinkles and moisturizes skin.
- It is rich in BioGold (what ever that is), Pearl amino acids, and Ganoderma which has been described as the King of Herbs and the Gods Herb in the East.
- Today, scientists have proof that Ganoderma can provide relief for acne, fine lines, age spots and the sun damaged skin.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this cream is a decent moisturizer that can moisturize skin and even help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. But when I read the claim that scientists have “proof” that Ganoderma is good for acne, etc., I became suspicious, so I did some more digging.
Ganoderma (from the Latin for “shining skin”) is actually a type of mushroom not an herb. And while it does have some interesting medicinal properties when ingested I could not find any reports on Pubmed indicating it has benefit to the skin what so ever. The closest reference I could find did prove that Ganoderma has antibacterial properties, which at first glance gave me hope that it could be effective against acne. However, according to the study, it is only against gram negative bacteria where as the bacteria that causes acne (p. acnes) is gram positive.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Does this cream work? Sure, it looks like a good moisturizer. But I can’t find evidence that it provides any benefit that would make it worth more than a regular, much less expensive, skin cream.
What do you think? Have you know anyone who’s used this product? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
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The picture with today’s (May 4, 2010) question and answer is disgusting and offensive. Was it meant to be funny? In my opinion, someone has a rather pathetic sense of humor. Can you not discuss the science of beauty without resorting to those types of props?
i think its funny. everyone enjoys a mindless dirty chuckle every once in a while
Thanks for the response! I was wondering if the pearl in the cream actually does have whitening properties? thanks for everything beauty brains!
as for the picture, i’m pretty sure its of the Ganoderma fungus and i had a little chuckle. =)
How is it gross? It’s just a mushroom. It doesn’t look a thing like a penis. (Yes, I assumed that’s what you were thinking.) It just looks like a mushroom.
lol, Pam, really? Disgusting and offensive? Last I checked pictures of mushrooms in and of themselves are nothing to be offended by, if you’re seeing anything else in the picture maybe it’s just your own corrupt mind and obscured interpretation of innocent fungi that is disgusting… It’s just a mushroom, what’s so offensive about that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29
Ganoderma mushrooms have tyrosinase inhibitory activity, and so are skin lightening.
Mycopathologica 166:117-120, 2008
Ladies, I am a 60 year old grandmother. Please, let’s not play games, the picture of the mushroom was meant to look like exactly what it does. I stated that I found it disgusting and offensive and I do. Whether or not you do is your business. I fail to see how my personal opinion warrants your ugly responses. Besides, I thought the comment section was for the article, not a forum to trash people you don’t know because they see something different than you do.
afraid I don’t believe you, sPam
Not that it matters much Miss Emily but, you are welcome to become my friend on FaceBook and you can see for yourself. I have four grown children, 37, 32, 28 and 22. Two are deputies and two are housewives. I have six grandchildren and one great grandchild on the way. You can see all this for yourself…oh but then, you would owe me an apology for being downright rude and ugly and calling me a liar. What’s it gonna be?
I dont think the Beauty Brains ment to offend anyone, its their style to post “unusual” photos. Its a mushroom with penis shape that actually exists (its scientific name is Phallus impudicus), big deal.
@ everyone: We’re sorry if we offended anyone with this picture but since the post contained a reference to a fungus, we thought that an oddball picture of a mushroom seemed to fit with our theme of unusual post pictures, as Alejandra pointed out. (Ok, maybe “oddball” wasn’t the best choice of words, but you get the idea.)
@Pam: Our apologies to you, Pam, if you found this offensive. But to address your comment about what “warrants ugly responses” you did sort of set the tone by declaring that we had a “pathetic sense of humor.” You’re certainly free to register your disgust with whatever we post, but when you call someone “pathetic” there is always the chance that you’ll invoke an emotional response in return.
Having said all that, thanks to everyone for reading our blog even when we get a bit off topic like this!
The picture is hilarious AND scientific. Boo yah.
Haha, I don’t think I want to ingest anything that means “shining skin”…I’m oily enough already…
The picture really drew me in. Took me a while to figure out what it really was (I knew right away what I thought it was, though).
Wow, that’s interesting about the cream.
So now I’m really curious about the original question. If anyone has tried it, personal experience is worth quite a bit. How does it feel, smell, and has it actually had any positive effects on the skin?
Yeah, the picture threw me. Can’t say I was offended, although I can see how some might be.It sure made me curious if there was a mushroom shaped like that! How weird!
hi all..i’m really interested about this cream, as after i got pregnant there are a lot of discolouration and dark spot in face. Does it safe to use for breastfeed woman?
O.K. , I am actualy at the end of my first 2 jars. I have the silver and gold. They each have slightly different ingredience but they smell the same.
I love how it feels on my skin. It glides on and it is absorbed quickly. I have combo skin and worried it might make me feel greasy. I had hard time using many creams and lotion b/c of it.
I noticed my few age spots on my chest got lighter, my dry skin and redness around the nose is gone. I’m not sure about wrinkles-didn’t notice diference. Top of my hands and my elbows are really soft.
My face loves this stuff! I use it at night, alternating the gold and silver. I first found this stuff on ebay and was wondering and scarred ordering it from Singapore but it was great transaction, got fresh product and free shipping.
I just ordered more tonite.
I found more products from this line on the web but it was expensive and ebay doesn’t have it yet. I would recomend it, even if you buy a trial size. I got one for my 75 year old boss and she likes it too.
I am 50.
I think it’s funny how body parts (or resemblance to body parts) can offend people so easily.
Lol… i thought it was a penis too… I was looking for reviews for the Simengdi, as I’ve been thinking I should start early with a moisturizer now that I am thirty.
I am working on my little 10inch notebook, I had to pick it up and put closer up to my face and look at it to be sure. What an interesting fungi… lol
Well, anyway… guess I will give the simengdi a shot because there’s tons of it on Ebay, plus I still suffer from zits from time to time. I’ll come back and post my experiences in the next month or so.
Okay, well I got the Simengdi pearl cream for evenings but I figured I’d come back anyway. I just re read the review about the Ganoderma and I don’t really know anything about it, but I do know that pearl does clear up acne. I stumbled onto this by accident when I bout these little $1 sticks of white eyeshadow on ebay that are made from pearl. I was interested in trying the white eye shadow look, and there is an Asian technique where they apply the white eye shadow to the t zone in order to brighten up their skin. I did this and my zits were gone the next day. I also suffer from chronically, dry, chapped, peeling lips. I am one of those people who fears smiling in front of people, for fear my lips will split and bleed and it’s all thanks to two does of accutane. Anyway, this particular white eye shadow stick supposedly doubles as a lipstick (but its white and there’s no way I’d wear it outside), so I applied it at night and my lips were healed within a couple days. I no longer sit and pick lip skin all day, everyday and this is not an exaggeration, even my husband notices my lips are “whole” now.
I do seem to see a major improvement in the little wrinkles under my bottom eye and I have early lines coming in on my forehead. There is one that is a little deep and its been there since I was a teenager and it is smoother but not entirely gone. Yet, there are two new ones that just started to come in a year or two ago and the creams seem to have reversed it because I can’t see them on my forehead. Also, the rest of my skin is finally clear (with the exception of an occasional pimple here and there) and my skin does feel better and look better.
The only thing about pearl products, that I’ve noticed, is they are nourishing to the skin, not lubricating, and it leaves skin healthy, soft and elastic-like. The only thing is it doesn’t lubricate the skin like other creams. I think this may be a shock to some American women because we are used to putting on thick, heavy, or extremely moist creams. With pearl products, one shouldn’t need a moisturizer, but if one has dry skin, one might elect to use an additional moisturizer.
Most sites give a one to five rating on products. I would give the Simengdi a five because it cleared up the rest of my face, where I wouldn’t dare put the white eye shadow. Plus, my skin feels so much better and I really do see a difference. It’s not a miracle thing, but it definitely seems to work. There are some strange Asian herbs and remedies, but the Dong Quai and Pearl theories seem to be legitimate.
Lately, I am only buying Asian products now because if one reads their ingredients and our cosmetics and skin care ingredients, its really no wonder there is a stereotype about Asian’s aging better. Their average basic, cheap, foundation has real vitamin c and plant extracts rather than half sentence long chemical names.
When my children went on a trip to China, they brought me back a few jars of Simengdi as a gift, saying that the salesgirl at the pearl product factory they visited demonstrated it and swore their youthful looking skin was due to this. Well, I tried it, if only not to waste their money, and also because it looked like fun to scoop out transparent gel with a little white ball of cream in it. This was towards the end of spring break this year. Four days later I was back at work. I was chatting with two friends and mentioned this odd-looking gel with little balls of cream neatly arranged and floating in the jars. They both shouted at the same time: “No wonder your face looks so smooth and shiny!” What? I thought they were putting me on. They swore they’d been wondering what I’d done to my face since the beginning of the conversation. Anyway, I ended up having to give them a couple of the jars.
My eldest daughter who was then on a one-year study program in China, brought me back 6 more jars when she returned home (of which I had again to give away some.) Apparently, they cost a fraction of what we buy it for online over there.
Recently, after having used the product now for over 8 months, I looked at my good old Yves Rocher creams (I’ve been using them since I was in my 30′s, over 20 years ago) and thought I should finish them before they mold or something, so I put on some that day. I was amazed at how oily and sticky it felt, something I’d never noticed before. Then I went on to do some yard work. The sweat started pouring, and by the time I came in for a shower, my eyes were stinging. What had happened was, I had gotten into the habit of massaging a bit of the Simengdi gel/cream in the area around the eyes (to work on those crow’s feet and bags) with no problem whatsoever, and had done the same with my regular cream! That’s when I remembered you don’t do that with regular creams.
So, in conclusion, does it help? well, I always get the regular comments on how youthful I look (being Asian, it’s a given), but now I get gasps of surprise as well. (hahaha) I didn’t know about the claims regarding Simengdi and acne, but now that I think back, yes, I haven’t had major issues with pimples anymore since I’ve started using it (I never seemed to have really outgrown puberty, and they kept popping up now and then). I have two really dark spots on one temple that have been there for years and I could be imagining it, but they seem much lighter now.
I don’t know whether it measures up scientifically or not, but I like the fact that there is ginseng (in the gold one) and licorice (in the silver one) and other herbs and vitamin E. And the fact that after rubbing it on, it feels like you never put anything on (no stickiness or oiliness). Also, it is very safe around the eyes (saves you buying a separate cream for the eye area).
I actually stumbled on this site while scouting e-bay for more jars since I’m now down to my last jar. (I have been very thrifty and using only one scoop a day, skipping the night dose…) I was very happy and surprised to see that generally, prices have gone down since I last searched for them. The cheapest were around $40 a jar 8 months ago. I just now got a smoking deal for $70 for 6 jars, and free shipping. Who knows, might get even cheaper as competition among sellers heats up. I keep asking my kids how much they paid for it in China and they can’t remember exactly (kids!!!) but it seems to be between $3 -$10 a jar at the factory.
I haven’t used the pearl cream, but I have been using the night and day cream by Simengdi and I have noticed a difference from my standard moisturizer and eye cream. My skin feels silky smooth. I used to put on moisturizer, then lotion, sometimes more lotion and I find with the Simengdi products, I use less, and only have to apply it once and I feel fabulous. And I have gotten compliments on my skin. Also feels great on my hands.
i ever use this product n it’s really work
my face soooo flawless
my mother use to n she love it, in my country indonesia difficult to get this product
My granny (104 yrs old, born Dec 1906 – still alive), she definately does not look her age. I am not an expert on all asian beauty secrets, but I am from a mixture background of Thai and Laos.
$30 CAN, that’s too much. It should be around $ 10 or so at most. But then, many women will pay much more for maintaining their beauty. So over all, $ 30 is a good buy for a wonderful lady such as yourself.
The cream seems to work for me as well, almost 38 yrs old (shy of a few months). Many times annoyed that I am still mistaken for a 20 yr old (sometimes even for 17). My granny used to put it on me all the tiime when I was younger of course, mainly for my sun burns and winter dry skin. I just started to use the product again the last few years, due to sun burns and blotches from being a happy camper.
A little about the cream:
Known to have an incredible effectiveness for beautifying your face, especially for removing freckles, pimples, blotches, sunburn and wrinkles. It does slightly feel greasy, is an inexpensive way to moisturize, and it shouldn’t smell weird either. But remember ladies, we all get older every year… so we can only do so much.
To all the Ladies / Women:
Come on, we are all grown. Since when do women in general, act like that? Let’s not post anti-social comments back and forth. Instead, let’s help one another. Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion, as it is a discussion group/opinion blog. But let’s try to be stick to the subject and get to the point. At that is, a point is made a lot faster, if we all do not get or take it too personal.
I’d be more than answer any questions, if there are any about the product and also can find out about other asian products from my mom.
Please feel free to email me: [email protected]
Sincerely,
The Happy Camper!
I to have gotten this Simengdi as a gift from China. And my outcome is AWESOME !!! It has smoothed out the lines, dark spots. I am in my 40′s and now am trying to figure out how I cant get more.
Never mind the picture!!
My sister who just got back from a holiday in China bought me a range of Simengdi products but what interest me most is the Bio-Gold Pearl Essence due to its interesting feature. I like the fact that I have to scoop out one pearl shape like cream out of that clear real gold flake gel and mix them with my fingers and spread it on my face neck and chest. And it absorbs into my skin really well. But I don’t dare to put it on during the day or before I go out… the smell puts me off!! My children complained the weird smell it caused and how it filled the whole house when I first started using it. But now a week had passed and I guess they are getting used to the smell and quite interestingly I also begin to consider it as something like oriental aroma. But does this cream really work? For me that is yet to be discovered since I haven’t used it for that long but what does a woman feel like when her skin is spread with pearl and gold!! I feel luxury in and out, and for me.. that is beauty!! 