Have you started to feel the pressure of becoming environmentally friendly with your beauty schedule? Are you thinking if the selection of shampoo is poisoning you, or if your lipstick is ruining the earth? Or are you, like me, sick of needing to wade through the high waters of poisonous misinformation permeating our society at the moment? If you’ve flipped through a beauty publication in the past few months, then perhaps you’ve seen their current ad campaign, which targets using scare techniques to imply using natural products is somehow better for you. They do so by juxtaposing the benefits of their product’s key component with an increase of commonly found elements.
I represent no company and am not selling either product, so I’m not frightened to offer the facts. Oil is pretty good. Skin is normally moisturized and secured by the essential oil that is stated in our very own systems. Petrolatum has shown safe, gentle, and effective in study after study. It repairs the barrier of damaged skin and really helps to reduce inflammation and water loss, and it can do about as well as the skin’s own natural defenses.
Beeswax is a thickener which has some emollient properties. Like petrolatum, it can help to seal in the skin’s own dampness, which makes the skin feel softer and more soothed. Unlike petrolatum, it does not help to recover your skin or do anything to reduce inflammation. Another evaluation that Burt’s Bees makes is that beeswax is “naturally replenishing”, while petrolatum is non-renewable.
Another technique Burt’s Bees uses is evaluating it’s apples to the competitor’s oranges. Day Cream compares their key ingredient The advertisement for their Naturally Ageless, pomegranate, to dimethicone, which is situated in many leading anti-aging products on the market. Burt tries to turn you against products that contain dimethicone by pointing out that while pomegranate is a robust antioxidant, dimethicone is a silicon “film” (there’s that nasty phrase again!) that temporarily fills in lines. In fact, dimethicone is put into anti-aging products for the precise benefits that Burt’s Bees condemns- it makes the skin soft and smooth, fills in pores and fine lines, and really helps to lock in moisture.
It is not, as is implied in Burt’s advertising, added to serums to provide protection. Any anti-aging product value it’s salt has SEPARATE antioxidants added to fight the damaging effects of the surroundings. Some, like Murad Energizing Pomegranate Moisturizer SPF 15 and Cosmedicine Global Health Face UVA/UVB, SPF 30 use both dimethicone and pomegranate extract, demonstrating that the two substances aren’t mutually exclusive. While there are several more versions of the “natural-vs-chemical” campaign that I possibly could debate, I don’t want to belabor the idea.
- 1 swatch – its quite pure
- Non-sticky formula
- Topical medications (e.g. proven medications, such as tretinoin, hydroquinone, Obagi, etc.)
- Tarte Blush Palette
Sure, I possibly could talk about the ad where they compare the buttermilk in their Baby Bee lotion to parabens, which are preservatives. I would ask why you’ll even want a cream that contains a volatile dairy ingredient that has no proven benefits. I’d probably point out that preservatives keep products from spoiling- something I would want to ensure, especially on my baby’s delicate skin.
In brief, no. Might I remind everyone that Poison Ivy too is all-natural? Although “natural is better” marketing ploy is obviously not new, Burt’s Bees’ recent campaign seems to have taken it to a new level. If you weren’t alert to this trend, scan the true face mags on your espresso desk.