Why Jennifer Lopez would be better off using our L’Crème – and you would too

I recently saw an “article” (really an advertisement) on Yahoo as I was logging out of an old email account. It claims that the secret to Jennifer Lopez’s young looks is the skin cream she uses (rather than all her makeup). Now this is a highly transparent marketing scheme to anyone paying attention, because right in the “article” it says “If you love them too and decide to purchase through the links below, we may receive a commission.” So clearly this is not “news” but rather just a disguised advertisement, for a product she may or may not actually use.

Regardless, she allegedly uses Dr. Hauschka’s Rose Day Cream. Despite the fact that the article was really a commercial, I decided to research this product, and see if there is really anything in it that can result in a 50 year old having the skin of a 25 year old. After reviewing the ingredients, I decided that Jennifer Lopez (and everyone else) would be better off using our product L’Crème instead, and here is why.

Let’s start with the list of ingredients of the advertised product. The following are ingredients in the same order as listed on the label, but I bolded those I’m going to discuss:

• Water/Aqua
• Arachis Hypogaea (Peanut) Oil
• Althaea Officinalis (Marsh Mallow) Root Extract
• Beeswax/Cera Flava
• Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil Unsaponifiables
• Hypericum Perforatum (St. John’swort) Extract
• Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)
• Lecithin
• Fragrance/Parfum (Essential Oil)
• Citronellol, Geraniol
• Linalool
• Limonene
• Citral
• Farnesol
• Benzyl Alcohol
• Eugenol
• Rosa Gallica (Rose) Flower Wax
• Rosa Gallica (Rose) Flower Extract
• Rosa Canina (Rose Hip) Fruit Extract

Right away, I see a problem with the second ingredient of peanut oil. Peanuts, including peanut oil, are the second most common allergen, and the most likely allergen to cause anaphylaxis. There are also numerous other problems with peanuts (and also peanut oil), including that they are typically contaminated with aflatoxins, which cause numerous health problems, including that they are potent carcinogens. Non-organic peanuts also contain several toxic herbicides and fungicides, but I won’t go into that topic here. In addition, peanut oil is high in omega 6 oil, and does not contain omega 3 oil, an unbalanced ratio that leads to unhealthy inflammation. Chronic inflammation is just as bad for your skin as it is for the rest of your body.

The next problem that I see with this product is that it contains St. John’s wort. While useful for some people as an antidepressant when ingested, and technically natural since it is extracted from a plant (image below), St. John’s wort is both phototoxic, and also causes photosensitivity in people with fair skin. Neither of these traits are good in a skin care product ingredient unless it is intended to be applied only at night (which is not the case with this product), and has other offsetting skin benefits (which is not clear in this case).

The third problem I see with this product is that the main ingredient that is touted as being beneficial – rose extracts – are the LAST ingredients listed on the label. And you should really disregard the ingredients “Rosa Gallica (Rose) Flower Wax,” and “Rosa Gallica (Rose) Flower Extract” because most of the components from roses that are beneficial for skin are in the rose hip seeds/fruit extract (the last ingredient), not the flowers. So basically you are getting very little of the benefits of rosehips from this product. And the rest of the ingredients are not particularly noteworthy for skin care. Despite the fact that the ad states that the cream is an avocado and rosehip based product, neither ingredient is high up on the ingredient list. Roses sound good on the label, but the formula is lacking.

To be clear, there are various studies that show that rosehip oil is beneficial for skin. For example, one which was completed on human skin, which showed that rosehip powder may contribute to improve the cell longevity and obstructing skin aging, and this study completed on rat skin showed that antiedema effect was more significant using a higher dose of the extract (more is better). Both studies showed various benefits from rosehips. There are other studies that support the benefits of rosehip oil for various uses. But the key is, you need to use enough of it for it to be effective. Rosehip oil is quite expensive however, especially organic unrefined rosehip oil. Listing it as the last ingredient tells me not much of it is actually used in the manufacture of the advertised product, so the cost of the product is not paying for raw ingredients.

Another concern I want to point out is how far up the ingredient list the Fragrance/Parfum (Essential Oil) is listed. First, it is not clear if they mean that the fragrance/parfum is made from essential oils or artificial fragrance. This wording seems meant to deceive the consumer into thinking that the fragrance is made from essential oils, but perhaps it is not. Instead, it could be any one or a combination of over 4,000 chemicals. In either case, I would like to know which essential oils or which chemicals, as not all of them are safe. The way it is listed makes it seem like combination of essential oils and synthetic fragrance. I always find it concerning when ingredient labels are not clear.

Next, what is Farnesol? Well, that was a new ingredient to me. Apparently it has many uses, including a natural pesticide for mites, and a pheromone for insects (not something I want to put on my face before hiking in the woods). It is also a common flavoring ingredient in cigarettes.

While lecithin is not necessarily bad for you, the source of the lecithin is not listed. It is likely soy lecithin, which is not only a quite common source of lecithin, but also often sourced from GMO soy. In this case, you don’t know what you’re getting.

So why should Jennifer Lopez use our L’Crème instead?

In contrast to the ingredients listed in the Rose Day cream, our L’Crème contains rose hip oil as the third ingredient. Not only did we calculate the best concentration based on available research, but we use a proprietary blend of the three types of Rosa’s, two of which are organic (we can’t find the third in organic – sorry). And unlike the advertised product, we don’t use any ingredients that could harm you or your skin, such as peanut oil or St. John’s wort. Our formula also includes other ingredients that are beneficial for your skin, such as (organic) apricot kernel oil, (organic) jojoba oil, (organic) coconut oil, l-carnosine, and (non-GMO) natural Vitamin E. As a matter of fact, when we were formulating our cream, we agreed that every ingredient we used would have beneficial effects on the skin.

On top of all of that, our L’Crème is half the price of the advertised product (and contains many organic ingredients), so it is a much better value. So if the formula of the advertised product is lacking, yet it costs twice as much, where does all the money go? Probably to pay for Yahoo advertising and J-Lo’s endorsement contract.

When I see formulations like this it makes me think that the people and companies producing these products either have no idea how to formulate products well, or else they simply don’t care. Though given the low cost of peanut oil, I’m guessing it was avarice in this case (peanut oil is cheap). It seems like all that companies like this care about are sly marketing schemes, or making use of celebrity endorsements, to trick an unsuspecting public into buying sub-par products. Don’t fall for the marketing BS. Buy something quality; buy something real. So in conclusion, I’m writing an open letter to J-Lo to make her an offer:

Dear J-Lo,

You likely take your skin care very seriously. If you really do use this product (or any peanut oil based cream on your skin), then you are doing your skin a disservice. I urge you to switch to a skin care product that actually has high quality, innovative, healthy ingredients, and doesn’t contain health harming ingredients.

Instead of setting a bad example for the public to follow (for which you are probably getting paid), set a good example of choosing truly healthy skin care products. We will be glad to send any of our products for you to try, free of charge. We apologize that we cannot afford to pay you an endorsement fee, but we like to keep our prices affordable without sacrificing our product quality.

We recommend our L’Crème as a substitute for the Rose Day Cream you claim to use. Again, you are welcome to browse our store and we’ll happily send you for free, any of our products that you would like to try.Sincerely and for good health,
Rob for Nature’s Complement