Blog Awards and Tags

Before I start this Blog Award thing, let me tell you, I didn't know anything about awards and tags among bloggers until my blog friend Lynn from LovelyCosMe just gave me one. Yeeey! I have 1 award! So nice of her, thank you so much Lynn!

So I asked her what to do, how to do it and now it's my turn to give some awards to my blogger friends. The reason why I give awards and tags for them is because their blog is very informative and their goals are the same just like mine: fight against bad and harmful products, open consumers' eyes, educate them and help to change their lifestyle and skin routine to a natural and better one.

Top 10 Award Rules:

1. Thank for being tagged (done)
2. Put in the link to the blog of a person who tagged you (done)
3. Put on your blog the logo Top 10 Blog Award (done)
4. Choose 10 bloggers to be tagged by you
5. Put links to their blog
6. Inform them about it
7. Create the list of your top 10 cosmetics

The 1, 2, 3 steps are done.

Product review - Biore Moisture Lotion SPF 15

If I think about Biore, the statement: beauty before healt comes to my mind first . I tell you why I think this. Usually people don't really care about what they use for their face, body and hair, but they care about just to look good or pretty. My friend is raving about Biore, she loves it and I still don't understand why...

Biore claims that Biore Moisture Lotion SPF 15 "features moisture-binding ingredients for a nourished look and feel all day. A broad spectrum sunscreen helps guard your face against both UVA and UVB rays without the heaviness of typical sunscreens. With conditioning anitoxidant vitamins A, C, and E, plus natural extracts of wild yellow poppy, rose hip, chamomile and aloe, this lotion helps your skin look and feel soothes, moisturized and nourished."

It doesn't say what skin types it's good for. I am just guessing it's for oily skin, since Biore has products only for "problematic" pores.

What is Greenwashing?

Greenwashing is "the act of misleading a consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a products or a service."

In skin care it means when a company claims that their products are natural or organic when they're not.

The main problem with Greenwashing is that consumers will lose their faith in natural brands. I've heard from lots of people that they bought a "natural" product and it wasn't good for them. Usually it happens because they thought the product was natural, but it wasn't and the harmful chemicals had a bad effect on their skin.

Don't be fooled by false advertising.

Natural lifestyle became very popular lately (which is good!), but companies take an advantage of it. Also, they (companies) know exactly that consumers will not check the ingredient list, because they believe their claims. Thus, saying about a product that it's natural, it's a big business.

When I went shopping I used to check the beauty section. Every single time when I found a product that said it's natural or organic I was disappointed. Although the bottle was perfect with those natural images, the ingredients weren't even close to being natural.

How to choose natural skin care products?

You are standing in front of the counter and you can't decide which product is really natural. There are so many green bottles and labels saying 'all natural', 'organic' or 'herbal' that you are just so confused and puzzled.

Unfortunately lots of beauty products are falsely labeled as "natural" or "organic". Just because they contain few natural ingredients, they say the product is natural (eg. Aveeno who claims that they are "the leader of active naturals"), when it's not. It's called "greenwashing".

Companies are not required by law to disclose all their ingredients on product labels. This means they can put anything in a product what they want. And they even can call it natural when it's not! According to Dr. Sarah Lantz "Manufacturers may also apply for ‘confidentiality’ or ‘trade secrets’ exemption in relation to the formulation of the product. If successful, the manufacturer only has to list the patented name of the formula and not its specific ingredients. The exemption process effectively denies consumers the right to access information about the ingredients in the product."

Product review - L'oreal Skin Genesis Night Cream

Claims and product details (from their official site):

Creates an improved environment to care for new skin cells. After seven years of research, L'Oréal introduces its latest innovation for younger-looking skin. The formula combines patented Pro-Xylane ® with Hyaluronic Acid.

At night, the skin is less exposed to daily aggressors and actively recovers and recuperates.Derma Genesis Intensive Night cream helps to nurture skin with moisture during this time. When you wake up your skin feels revitalised, tautened and appears plumped-up. Your skin looks visibly younger.

A unique lightweight night treatment that works deep within skin's surface layers to accelerate the strengthening process while you sleep. Skin wakes up smoother, better hydrated and fully recharged.

Product review - Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash: what's behind the label?

The following statement caught my eyes:

"Neutrogena, a leading dermatologist-skincare brand, offers a variety of beauty and skincare products and Neutrogena Body Wash is one of the best products they boast of.

So when I was reading this I felt I had to post about it for 2 reasons: 1. there is too much hype for this product and 2. I used it on my back with no results.

Yes, maybe it smells good, but when I took a shower and I used it, the harsh chemicals in it caused me eczema.

Since you can't really treat acne or any pimples from outside, this product won't be a cure for any acne prone skin. (And it didn't help me either.)

On the bottle you can read the following: "NEUTROGENA® BODY CLEAR® Body Wash is a refreshing clean-rinsing body wash that cleanses acne-prone skin on your back, chest and shoulders. This effective, yet gentle formula contains salicylic acid that penetrates deep down into pores, removing oils and impurities without overdrying or irritating your skin. The foaming lather rinses completely without pore-clogging residue, leaving your skin feeling clean."

I checked their website and I clicked on the "Why Neutrogena?" and I found these claims:

• The strong relationship between Neutrogena Corporation and dermatologists gave the company an exceptional competitive advantage.
• (...)a new emphasis was directed toward marketing and research efforts to create a line of safe, mild, premium quality skincare products.
• Member of Johnson & Johnson companies
• Neutrogena the #1 Dermatologist Recommended skincare brand

This sounds very nice and very promising to someone who wants to purchase any Neutrogena product.

Why professional skin care products are better than the drug store ones?

I have read somewhere else that "If they (estheticians) glower at you when you mention you use drugstore skincare, I would not return again. Nothing irks me more than snobby estheticians who try to profit by making you feel less, looking down on because of how much you spend on your products."

As all of you know already I use just 100% natural and certified organic products. Therefore I can't agree with that claim above 100%, because drugstore brands usually contain synthetic and harmful ingredients that are really bad for the skin and our health.

Your esthetician should tell you why she wouldn't suggest those drugstore brands. It's not fancy, or being snob, it's aware you about the ingredients and their effect on your skin.

Drug store brands and salon products can have the same ingredients (although it's hard to find), but the amounts of those ingredients are different. Over the counter brands have those effective (if there is any) ingredients in much lower quantities.

While some of these may have benefits for your skin, I think there are not enough of those ingredients (with benefits) in the product to have any real effect, especially not for a long term.