Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Having worked in the cosmetic industry with cosmetic scientists I'm a bit more aware of things that should be avoided, labeling issues, making something appear natural etc. I bought this on the advice of a friend who told me it had the organic certification on the back. So let's get into what's in here.
First, using the product I noticed a massive amount of foam. Foam is only found in heavy sulfates which are extremely harsh and not in European products where there is more awareness of ingredients and side effects. (European and U.S. GOOD shampoos have little foam but they are far superior due to their lack of stripping sulfates.) However, in the U.S. we incorrectly equate foaming with "clean" in shampoos and other cleaning products so for years it was actually hard to find products WITHOUT sulfates--because they are cheap for companies to create and, unfortunately, they sell products because, marketing-wise the U.S. feels they are "working better" when they see the foam. Now that we've become a bit more schooled as consumers you'll see labels that have removed them proudly proclaiming "SULFATE-FREE!" Sulfates strip everything...they are used in commercial floor cleaners. I've not been to a hairdresser once who didn't go crazy over my hair's health...I wash it daily but I use no sulfates in my shampoos so it shines like mad and the color never is stripped out. So here's the issue. I KNEW it had sulfates in it the minute I used it; I am familiar enough with them to know-- yet my own label did not list any sulfates yet it only said "paraben free" and not "sulfate free" which was a tip off . Now whether you got that label or the on on Amazon this is important: I get on here to write a review based upon some other things and I see on this page the ingredient list DOES have a strong sulfate listed on the Amazon page. So what gives? Did they "forget" to put it on some new labels now that we've become more aware and people won't buy products with sulfates? I already knew it was there and was upset by it and now I'm more upset to find there are two different labels for this product and one is not mentioning what I know is in there and what this product page shows is in there--but I'll get back to the problem with this ingredient in a spell...here's the big kicker:
Secondly, you will see the organic certification at the bottom but when I looked at the ingredients I found lots of very un-natural chemicals. Then I realized there is a tiny asterik after 2 ingredients. Then, just before the big organic certification stamp at the bottom I see a tiny asterik. Oh yes, the old asterik farce...this means those two ingredients have the organic certification. A small bit of extracts. This product does NOT have organic certification. And it can't...it's not natural by any means in spite of some natural ingredients (and not much of them by the amount of sulfate obviously used. Companies can add one drop of an extract or item to a huge batch and still list it in the ingredients, we don't know. That's common too unfortunately so I look at what's high up on the label. And that's the kicker.)
Cocamidopropyl Betaine is synthetic as well, certainly not natural nor organic and it is another surfactant of medium strength
BUT here is the whopper:
Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate is the main ingredient (aside from water) according to this Amazon page listing the ingredients AND the list on all other sites that sell it that I looked at (even though that fact has been removed from the bottle). The Cosmetic Ingredient Review board has found this to be irritating and stripping to skin. However, it has suggested that it can be used in items that one does not use continually and only uses briefly or it should be less than 1% of the ingredients. Now considering this is the top ingredient we know using this daily would not only be bad and stripping for your skin but also warned against by the CIR.
Now lets look at the concentration of Alpha Lipoic Acid seeing as that's in the name of the product. Notice that is comes after extracts? Very low amounts of extracts are used in products meaning there is VERY VERY VERY little of the Alpha Lipoic Acid.
You know what? I stopped looking there. That was enough for me. I'm returning it to Amazon. My lotion hasn't arrived yet and I am hoping for less shock and feeling duped when I read the label. Sometimes companies are known for a good product and go cheap on others and I will hold out judgement on their lotion and not hold the ingredients in this against their other products until I know what's in that.When I heard organic I had big hopes and I should have read the ingredients first rather than allowing them to fool me with a stamp of organic I shoulda guessed.
This is in no way shape or form organic. It has two organic ingredients in it and the asterik on the certified organic stamp shows that stamp belongs to only two things in it. I hate hate hate the practice of doing that. That right there is like a red stop sign to me of what I am about to find in it because I know they are playin' the consumer who knows not to look for the asterik.
This product is not even all-natural. The top ingredient is a surfactant. Many of the ingredients are artificial and chemical and cheap which led me to some investigative work. I went through Whole Foods knowing that they carry this brand and discovered, to my shock, that Derma E makes several levels of product. They have some all-natural ones (none are organic) and these are what they started out with. Then apparently seeing their branding as a way to dive in there and get more profit if they did a switcheroo, they then, by the looks of things, put out several chemical cheap products. These ones, such as this cleaner are forbidden at Whole Foods where they disallow the chemical additives herein. So you have a "level A" product and then a "level D" product by the same brand and some are banned from the natural stores yet shoppers trust the brand NAME and pay more for dishwasher soap they now are putting on their face when they buy it here on Amazon or in other stores that allow the cheap chemical harmful agents it contains.
Shame.
I gave it two stars because it does clean...just too harshly but it certainly will wash off EVERYTHING because of it and they don't test on animals and there are no parabens.
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derma e Alpha Lipoic C-Ester Foaming Facial Cleanser, 6-Ounce Bottle
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