As you know Zoe I too recently fell victim to age paranoia and purchased the Nivea Q10 Eye cream!
I've been using it regularly and it's been working well. Superficially, anyway. But I did an analysis of the ingredients and found them to be not terribly effective! In case you don't know the higher in the ingredients list something is, the more the product contains.
Ubiquinone - or Q10, the supposed active ingredient - is halfway down, right after tapioca starch and Nylon-12 (whatever that's used for!).
What is most alarming is the silicone content. Cyclomethicone and dimethicone are right up the top. Silicone is used in shampoos and skincare as a film to seal the hair or skin over and prevent moisture evaporation. It's by no means a bad ingredient, but it's only a superficial temporary fix!
Finally, the sunscreen component is negligible. It has an SPF of 4! Why even advertise that? Thankfully the active sunscreen ingredient is Titanium Dioxide, a physical sunscreen rather than chemical absorber, as many commercial products contain. Chemical-based sunscreens have been shown to be far less effective than physical products, and can even deteriorate the skin's resistance to UV rays over time!
As a preventative anti-aging eye cream, this won't do. I am extremely vain. So I'm definitely going to have to upgrade to something with effective ingredients once the income starts coming in again!
On a different note, budget skincare is not all bad.
Of all things, Aldi's face cream range sparked a frenzy when it was released in the UK and is regularly compared to high-end brands such as La Mer and Sisley.
I've only tried the Night Cream version as it seemed to have the highest concentration of active ingredients - ubiquinone or Q10, panthenol which is vitamin B5 and retinol. It's also mineral oil-free! On the downside, it stinks like old lady perfume and is a bit heavy. I mainly use it on my forehead because that seems to have sustained the most sun damage over time.
I bought it for $4.99 about six months ago. I went to Aldi yesterday and it's $8.99! I guess they know they're onto a good thing.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
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2 comments:
For face cream, I really like Ultraceuticals. Ever since I started using it, I have had several comments on how nice my skin looked. (Although it could be because of the MD cleanser or both) However, I noticed too much use can make the face a bit oily.
What would you suggest for an eye cream that has sunscreen protection?
I wish I knew one that had non-chemical sun filters :( ever since I read up on sunscreens I've been dabbing a little bit of Natural Instinct's Mineral Sunscreen (they sell it at the chemist for about $7) around my eyes & on my forehead. I can't wear it anywhere else because it gives me pimples. But it's one of two physical sunblocks on the market - the other is Elle Macpherson's Invisible Zinc, which unfortunately contains carcinogenic preservatives! >:(
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