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.