After my previous post, Anti aging creams: are they effective or not it's time to write about an eye contour gel.
I found these claims on their official site:
- They were the first french company in 1987 to ban animal testing and has also banned the use of cellular extracts of animal origin since 1991
- Clarins set a global objective to reduce greenhouse gases by 20% by the year 2012.
- The safe use of every Clarins product is at the center of the Laboratory’s concerns.
- Clarins prefers to use raw plant ingredients, natural ingredients from organic farming practices, and plants grown locally or from a Fair Trade program
- Overall weight and volume is reduced, recyclable material is reused, new printing techniques are always being investigated
- Today, if given a choice between a synthetic ingredient and its plant-derived equivalent, we always choose the plant
- etc
It sounds so amazing, doesn't it? A company who puts their consumer's interest into the first place, uses plant-derived equivalent, raw plant ingredient and natural ingredients from organic farming practices is rare treasure lately.
This is why I couldn't wait to try this Eye contour gel (and check its ingredients).
The first disappointment was when I tried to find the full ingredient list on the Clarins official site. For some reason they provide just the key ingredients and proudly say all of them are organic. Organic can be a good sign, but it’s not a guarantee of safety and if I don't see any logos, like USD certified, then I become careful. It's like saying about something is natural just because it contains 1% of natural ingredient, but the rest is synthetic.
100% Organic means: Product contains only organically produced ingredients and can display the USDA Organic Seal.
Organic: Product contains at least 95% organically produced ingredients, remaining ingredients are approved non-agricultural substances and can display the USDA Organic Seal.
Made with Organic Ingredients: Product contains at least 70% organic ingredients, but product may not display the USDA Organic Seal.
Products with less than 70% Organic Ingredients can't use the term organic, cannot display USDA Organic Seal, but may identify ingredients that are certified organic.
I don't see any seals which shows me this eye gel is real certified organic. Even if I believe that they use organic ingredients, I doubt it's certified. Maybe I am wrong. But where are the logos then, like USD certified? I don't see it on the label. It has (maybe) some organic ingredients, but how it can be certified with no logos? It can use an organic label that says, "Made with Organic Ingredients", but it's far from certified organic.
This is what I found on a real USD certified organic site (Bubble & Bee) about certified organic labeling: "No matter if it's a food or a cosmetic, labeling and marketing an agricultural (ie, plant-based product) product as organic or 100% organic without certification is illegal. Check out this screen shot from an actual website. While the ingredients may check out, the company doesn't have certification, so there is no way to verify if the claim is true or not. This is an apparent illegal organic claim.
Well, I checked Clarins' site, I looked at the product 100 times, but there is no seal, no logo, nothing. Do you see stars beside the ingredients that indicate that it's certified organic? I didn't see it. What should I think now? Is it a misleading? Are they lying to us? Is it just a marketing trick? Honestly I think this is what's called Greenwashing.
As you will see soon this Eye contour gel contains benzyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, PEGs, etc. What does it matter if the product is certified organic, if it contains toxin ingredients like those?
Rosa Damascena Flower Water and Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Water:
My problem (with these ingredient) is that Clarins doesn't provide us information about them.
CI 42090/Blue 1:
My question is why Clarins doesn't use plant-derived pigments?
In one word: it wasn't not effective for me.
It didn't do anything for me, my eyes weren't better just because I used it. It didn't do anything for puffiness.
If you want a real cure for your dark circles which is actually free, then sleep a lot and drink at least 2L water/day. You can also put a slice of cucumber, because this gel won't fix the problem.
I, personally don't even like the smell of this gel.
I found it more liquid than gel.
My point is right now not to prove that synthetic ingredients are bad and harmful (everyone who reads my blog knows my point about it anyways), but to show that this Eye Contour Gel has more preservatives than actual effective ingredients. I want to bring to your attention that Clarins claim that "they prefers to use raw plant ingredients, natural ingredients from organic farming practices, and plants grown locally or from a Fair Trade program" as well as "if given a choice between a synthetic ingredient and its plant-derived equivalent, they always choose the plant, when it looks like it's not true.
It contains 14 ingredients that don't have any benefits to the skin and out of this 14 ingredients 10 are dangerous. The other 4 synthetic ingredients are just neutral to the skin. There are only 7 ingredients that actually could make some good, but those synthetic ingredients can kill their benefits and their purity is questionable. Besides, many DIY beauty recipes calls for the same natural ingredients, but since you buy them the end product is much-much cheaper, totally safe and actually can show some improvements.
Harmful chemicals, expensive price, not even effective. But I gave it a try. I used it for few weeks, but it was absolutely ineffective and I decided to stop using it, because I didn't want to risk my health.
The other thing is the preservatives. I know that products need preservatives, when they contain water, but there are many natural ones. I still don't understand why a product needs so many synthetic preservatives? (In this case 8.) Why?
Yes, I know also that nature produces some toxic substances too, but we can chose the safe ones instead of choosing synthetic substances. I think natural ingredients are always much closer to our body organs than synthetic ones.
The FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors has a very limited role in policing the manufacturers of body care products. So much so that over 90% of the ingredients used in every day cosmetics (like shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, perfumes, fingernail polish, moisturizers, makeup, etc.) have never been tested for safety by any publicly accountable organization.
The FDA states on their website that it relies on the manufacturers themselves to test their products for safety before marketing. The FDA also expects them to properly label their products.
What do you think? Can we really trust the companies that are selling these products? I don't think so.
Natural products can be both very effective in promoting healthy skin and more environmentally friendly. Synthetic skin care products are often produced in ways that can harm the earth.
And don't forget that what you put on your skin usually ends up in your body.
Although we shouldn't ingest any product that is meant for external use, natural skincare products generally contain less toxic chemicals which make them safer.( Especially if there are children around.)
So what I say here is: safety first. If there is a synthetic ingredient which is non-toxic, than we don't have to worry of course, but don't forget: even if a product is full of amazing, harmless ingredients, but there is just only one that is harmful- isn't worth to buy and use it.
I am not affiliated with this company. I purchased this product myself for personal use unless otherwise noted. My opinion is completely honest and based on my own experience.
Sources: Livestrong, Nirogam.com, Truth in aging, Skin care logic, How to boost your immune system, FDA, Natural News, scicasts.com
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