What’s inside Clarins Double Serum?
I’m often asked if a certain product is any good, whether it’s natural, whether it will work alongside one of my products…
I spend quite a bit of (unpaid) time doing the reasearch to be able to answer these questions so decided today to turn one reaseach session into a blog post.
So if you are also wondering about Clarins Double Serum, then so here are some answers to help you make your own decision.
Just so you know, I am biased towards natural AND healthy ingredients that promote skin health. In fact I would make more money if I did not do such a good job and helping skin heal itself, as I would sell more jars! However, it is your money and your skin, and you are free to spend your money as you wish. I can only show you what I see.
After all it is YOUR skin. You can read this, and make your own decision.
Let’s do this…
Does Clarins Double Serum contain hyaluronic acid?
No, not according to the label. (See ingredients listing below)
Is Clarins Double Serum any good?
‘Any good’. Hmmm. Define good. Good for you? Good for your wallet? Good for your skin? Good for the company? Let’s assume you mean is it any good for your own skin.
You live inside your own skin – so you should be able to answer this yourself. Does your skin feel happy? If that’s hard to answer, perhaps you’ve noticed that your skin is getting drier, or a little flaky in places.. those are signs that your body needs something. Be it tweaks internally via improved digestion, or some food supplements or a new skincare product that contains ‘skin-food’… If the product isn’t working as well as it used to, perhaps it’s time for a switch. (I find this happens with shampoos! )
But you’ve asked me.. and maybe you’ve never used the serum before… OK, so this is how I would decide whether it was ‘any good’ ..
My method is first to check the ingredients listing.
But stop!
Not the ‘star features’ though.. if you look at this image from Clarins’ own website you’d assume the entire bottle was herbs, spices flowers and goodness. Tinkerbell herself is hovering over the horizon with joy.
The full ingredients listing is:
INGREDIENTS :
Aqua/water/eau. Cetearyl Isononanoate. Glycerin. Isononyl Isononanoate. Caprylic/capric Triglyceride. Pentylene Glycol. Ppg-3 Myristyl Ether. Ethylene/propylene/styrene Copolymer. Dipsacus Sylvestris Extract. Butylene Glycol. Parfum/fragrance. Phenoxyethanol. Propanediol. Tromethamine. Silybum Marianum Seed Oil. Carbomer. Tocopheryl Acetate. Escin. Chenopodium Quinoa Seed Extract. Ethylhexylglycerin. Squalane. Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract. Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Extract. Butylene/ethylene/styrene Copolymer. Leontopodium Alpinum Extract. Xanthan Gum. Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil Unsaponifiables. Caramel. Curcuma Longa (Turmeric) Root Extract. Salicyloyl Phytosphingosine. Musa Sapientum (Banana) Fruit Extract. Salicornia Herbacea Extract. Actinidia Chinensis (Kiwi) Fruit Extract. Kalanchoe Pinnata Leaf Extract. Sodium Benzoate. Citric Acid. Myrothamnus Flabellifolia Leaf/stem Extract. Disodium Edta. Tocopherol. Lycium Barbarum Fruit Extract. Maltodextrin. Orthosiphon Stamineus Extract. Hedychium Coronarium Root Extract. Mangifera Indica (Mango) Leaf Extract. Potassium Sorbate. Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate. Jania Rubens Extract. Ascorbic Acid. Sodium Citrate. Engelhardtia Chrysolepis Leaf Extract. Ci 14700/red 4. Callicarpa Japonica Fruit Extract [v2925a]
So let’s play Sherlock Holpmes here and see where those pretty ingredients that you know must be sooooo healthy, appear inside the recipe:
Turmeric is Curcuma Longa – waaaaaay down the listing. This means very little is in the product. Admittedly it’s a bright yellow colour, that would stain your face and pillowcases if used in more than a minute dose.
Avocado is Persea Gratissima and its way down the list too. After xanthan, which is is used in small amounts. (I actually use this extract in Heart of Eternity. It’s awesome)
Oats are Avena Sativa but they’re still listed after ‘Parfum/fragrance. Phenoxyethanol. Propanediol.
Cocoa, yum, but again Theobroma Cacao is listed after inedible things like Ethylene/propylene/styrene and CopolymerCarbomer. Would you put those into your mouth?
And the banana Musa Sapientum and other herbals are so far down, they’re almost homeopathic. And considering how BigCorps sneer at homeopathy as a remedy, it’s weird they use the minute doses in their recipes. Surely I’m not the only person noticing the contradiction? Or maybe it’s an Aspie thing to notice the double speak.
What’s the main ingredient?
And so, the next step is to ask, what is the main ingredient in your fancy bottle?
It is Aqua/water/eau.
That is the fancy way of saying Tap Water. Unlikely it will be bottled mountain water. Or shipped in from Fiji or a glacier in New Zealand.
Why ? Made in a massive factory with 10 000 units or more made within a day, they need water that’s available at the press of a button. Transporting bottled water is expensive. Their competitors won’t be doing it either.
This is mass production. Lowest cost is king. The accountants, cosmetic scientists, managers, shareholders etc all live for lowest cost, highest profit.
Isn’t it odd they don’t show a glass of tap water as a Natural ingredient, I mean water is natural!
The second biggest component/part of the recipe is Cetearyl Isononanoate.
I have no idea what that is.. so have to Google it for you.. It’s a clear, slightly yellowish oil (comes from coconut or palm kernel oil) that is used as a traditional, medium spreading emollient. If ingested, seek immediate medical advice
It’s also known as Pelargonic Acid or nonanoic acid. Used as a herbicide to prevent growth of weeds both indoors and outdoors, and as a blossom thinner for apple and pear trees.
OK, well I’m not getting any warm fuzzies about this ingredient. Clarins use this ingredient a lot – it’s in their face creams. I would have to pay £14.50 per kilo, so imagine they’re getting it well under a tenner, probably £7 a kilo. Dirt cheap. Less than a penny per gram. If your fancy pot contained a whopping 7grams of it, it would cost under 5 pence. As the second biggest component….
The third ingredients is Glycerin, which is good for skin. Yay, I found somethign I like and actually use myself. Glycerin is a humectant. Not expensive though ;-)
But yes, the third ingredients is a nice and natural and would be classified as ‘good’.
The fourth ingredient, again I don’t know what it is, but likely more of what was in position 2. I honestly would rather go clean the loo that have to trawl through Google to find out more.
You should get the general idea of the recipe by now. Lotsa fillers.
The healthy naturals are used waaaaaay down the recipe for marketing appeal.
I would classify this is non-natural or in my quirky terminology ChemicalSoup. Clarins market it as ‘Our most powerful Complete Age Control Concentrate’ which can’t be true as the dudes and dudettes who work in their formulation labs are fully aware of all the lovely ingredients out there, but have to create formulae to a very tiny budget.
And of course, formulae change, I noticed that the serum had been reformulated 8 times I read someplace. No doubt as consumers start educating themselves and asking oh so annoying questions.
*Please be aware that ingredient lists may change or vary from time to time. Please refer to the ingredient list on the product package you receive for the most up to date list of ingredients.
So you can make your own mind up. If you want to find out more about healthy options that are real skin food, without filler, then visit my store. I use ingredients with names you can pronounce, as close to Nature as possible.
