The Sunscreen Project, Part 20

All righty, so after all of those hunts, I've gone back to the drawing board to look for more sunscreens.

Here's a new one!

Origins Brighter By Nature SPF 35 Skin Tone Correcting Moisturizer

I went to Origins awhile ago and decided to look around at the various items that the store had. One product that intrigued me was this moisturizer, which, according to Sephora's website, is formulated without "parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes, petrochemicals, phthalates, GMOs, and triclosan."

All right. That sounds nice. From what I can discern:

• Triclosan can be an irritant - it is often used a detergent/cleansing agent in various soaps. I guess such an agent shouldn't be in a moisturizer, right?
• Synthetic... I really don't like that term. Technically everything is "synthesized" from something - different carbon molecules, oxygen molecules, hydrogens, etc. This can be thought of as "fluff" words in a sense, though there are designations for such "synthetic" things - aka things that you can manufacture in a lab versus finding in nature. But the thing is, a lot of things that are found in nature can also be manufactured in a lab. Think about it; in the Miller-Urey experiment, laboratory setups that simulated conditions that were thought to exist at the time the early Earth was formed generated many of the 20 amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) - that are the building blocks of life. What do you think about that?
• GMOs - I like that there are no "genetically modified organisms" in the moisturizer. Thank goodness.
• Petrochemicals - There is a lot of contention about this. A lot of contention and misinformation about this; one of the main petrochemicals used, petrolatum, has gotten a lot of bad press. There have been claims stating that it clogs pores, is carcinogenic, causes premature aging, etc. These are all false (see articles 1, 2, 3 and the primary references listed in them for more information).

Bottom line, I can objectively state that a lot of these words are words that appeal to certain consumer categories. For me, I'd rather look at the ingredients list, test out the product, and see how it works on my skin before making any true conclusions. From what I've seen here, I can tell that Origins really tries to appeal to its market and has made a nice effort in trying to distinguish itself from other skincare brands. However, I don't promote products due to just hype; I want to judge based on actual results.

All righty, I'm gonna get off my soapbox now. Onward with the review!

Ingredients list: I could not find the full list on either the Origins website or the Sephora site. I had to go to NIH's DailyMed Current Medicine Information website. I guess perhaps this is because substances with SPF are considered to be drugs in the US, not just cosmetics, so thus are more controlled by the FDA.

Anywhere, here you go, word-for-word quoted:

Active ingredients: homosalate 5.00% [] octisalate 5.00% [] avobenzone 3.00% [] octocrylene 2.70%

Inactive ingredients: water\aqua\eau; citrus aurantium amara (bitter orange) flower water, anthemis nobilis (chamomile) flower water [] butyloctyl salicylate [] methyl trimethicone [] jojoba esters [] butylene glycol [] polyester-8 [] ethyl macadamiate [] lauryl peg-9 polydimethylsiloxyethyl dimethicone [] peg-100 stearate [] butyrospermum parkii (shea butter) [] glyceryl stearate [] citrus aurantifolia (lime) oil*, citrus grandis (grapefruit) peel oil*, cymbopogon schoenanthus (lemongrass) oil*, mentha viridis (spearmint) leaf oil*, salvia sclarea (clary sage) oil*, ormenis multicaulis (chamomile) oil*, pelargonium graveolens (geranium) flower oil*,  lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil*, thymus vulgaris (thyme) oil*, coriandrum sativum (coriander) fruit oil*, citral, geraniol, linalool, citronellol, limonene [] gentiana lutea (gentian) root extract [] hordeum vulgare (barley) extract\extrait d'orge [] paeonia albiflora (peony) root extract [] sanguisorba officinalis (burnet) root extract [] cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit extract [] perilla ocymoides leaf extract [] pyrus malus (apple) fruit extract [] hydrolyzed rice bran extract [] scutellaria baicalensis root extract [] triticum vulgare (wheat) germ extract [] polygonum tinctorium leaf/stem extract [] curcuma longa (turmeric) root extract [] palmaria palmata extract [] trametes versicolor extract [] sodium grape seed extract phosphate [] micrococcus lysate [] mangifera indica (mango) seed butter [] silica [] potassium cetyl phosphate [] cetyl alcohol [] ethylhexylglycerin [] arginine [] ascorbyl glucoside [] caffeine [] salicylic acid [] cholesterol [] behenyl alcohol [] tocotrienols [] linoleic acid [] sodium hyaluronate [] squalane [] magnesium ascorbyl phosphate [] phospholipids [] ammonium acryloyldimethyltaurate/vp copolymer [] caprylyl glycol [] tocopheryl acetate [] glycyrrhetinic acid [] dehydroxanthan gum [] sodium stearate [] sodium dehydroacetate [] phenoxyethanol [] mica

Yeah. I concur with you. That is one looonnng ingredients list.

Cool things that were added: jojoba esters, salicylic acid, caffeine, sodium hyaluronate, cetyle alcohol, arginine, vitamin C, vitamin E, cucumber, etc.

Things that could be comedogenic/irritating/cause allergic reactions: all of the essential oils, flour water, mica.

The thing is that in US labels, you actually don't know exactly how much each ingredient is added in the overall, final product; you only know the relative amounts of each ingredient; e.g. the further up in the ingredients list, the higher percentage of the product that is composed of that ingredient. Thus, for example, water makes up a great composition of the product than jojoba esters (which is farther down the list in the list of inactive ingredients). So technically you don't know exactly how much each ingredient might be truly affecting you if you do have an allergic reaction to one of them.

Anyway, here we go. I got a really nice sample of this from Origins and have been using it for a week. Here are my experiences:

• Used as an AM eye cream w/ SPF: really irritating on the eyes (not sure of exactly what ingredients causing this, but perhaps the essential oils or a synergistic effect of a bunch of them and some other materials)
• Used as an AM sunscreen (on my face): MAJOR BREAKOUT! Not cool. Too oily. It felt as if I had smeared body butter all over my face. Way too emollient, even for my cheeks, which are not particularly oily on most days.
• Used as a neck moisturizer: Pretty nice. I just had to let the moisturizer dry on my neck for about 1 hour before I felt as if it was not sticky anymore.

Bottom line:

Pros:

• Really emollient
• All of the claims made by the product (listed above) and the disclaimers I gave about them
• Really appeals to the environmentalist, or a person who is into "green" products
• Really hard to apply makeup over it - the makeup, even waterproof makeup, just smears
• Has SPF 35, which is above the SPF 30 suggested by FDA
• Active ingredients cover both UVA and UVB rays
• Super emollient and moisturizing

Cons:

• Bad for acne-prone skin (causes breakouts easily with all of those ingredients, as described above)
• Super pricey ($45 for 1.7 oz)
• Jar packaging (more likely to introduce microorganisms in)
• May be bad for extremely sensitive or sensitized skin - cause rashes, breakouts, etc

Overall, I think this would be a nice product for people who do not have sensitive skin, are looking for a nice moisturizing product, and do not have acne-prone skin. For me personally, I do not think I will be purchasing the full-sized version of this product. It is pretty nice as a neck moisturizer but takes a tad too long to dry.

Sources: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 

Note: During this and every other future edition of The Sunscreen Project, I will no longer put up links of past posts at the end of every post. It seems that it just takes up too much space and unnecessarily clutters the post. Instead, I will have a separate page (accessible via tabs on the top of the page, near "Home", "About me", etc) that will list all of the posts as well as list articles that I've looked at, read, cited, etc. I believe that this will make the posts much more enjoyable to read!