How would you like to win a giant tub of the cult moisturizer Creme de la Mer? In the January 2008 Allure, I read they are giving away a 16.5 ounce jar of the cream, which retails for $1350! Holy cow! You can go to Allure.com/freestuff to enter, but it appears the contest doesn’t start until January 1st. You can also bookmark that page because they are always giving away different free beauty products.
Creme De La Mer
Have you ever tried this product? Before I knew anything about skin care, I had just started seeing fine lines around my eyes and was getting sad I was already wrinkling and was only in my mid-20s! Then Creme de la Mer came out, and I figured if I had the $100 to buy a jar of it that I could get rid of my wrinkles, and I would never have to face aging like most people. This was the most expensive beauty cream I had ever seen, and I assumed it had to work ten times better than anything else!
Aside from sampling it at Neiman Marcus, I never actually bought the cream, since I never had $100 to spare, and now I realize retinoids, sunscreen, and following a whole-body approach to aging is probably going to do more to keep wrinkles away than Creme de la Mer. According to Allure, Jennifer Lopez slathers the cream on her entire body, so it probably makes a great body moisturizer if you have endless amounts of money to spend!
The Miracle Broth
Creme de le Mer claims its special miracle broth is what works wonders to help the skin become softer, firmer, and appear virtually creaseless. So what are the magical ingredients in the cream? The first ingredient is algae extract, which unfortunately can be extremely pore-clogging if you are prone to breakouts. So, sadly, I wouldn’t use this product on my face, but if I won a giant tub of it, I would use it all over my body! If you aren’t acne-prone, and have dry skin, this probably will make a great moisturizer, though. Other main ingredients include Mineral Oil, Petrolatum, and Glycerin, which you can find in tons of cheap moisturizers.
If you only have $4 to spend on a face cream, it turns out Nivea Cremecontains the same main ingredients as Creme de la Mer! It doesn’t contain Algae Extract, so it should be better for acne-prone skin! It also doesn’t contain any of the extra ingredients in Creme de la Mer, but since moisturizers don’t really get rid of wrinkles anyway, it probably doesn’t matter! The main reason to use a moisturizer is to hydrate dry skin. I am super curious now, and will be hunting down this Nivea Creme to try!
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December 27th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Oh my gosh. I just bought a jar of this because I had to see what all the hype was about and really am not that impressed. First off, I spent $125 on a 1 oz. jar. Second, its so thick, it’s kind of gross. It makes my skin look to shiny and feels slightly greasy. Third, I did notice that algae was the first ingredient which seems wierd to me. Does it even absorb? Fourth, the scent is way to perfumey. I can’t stand it. I think it would do much better as a body cream as well, but there are so many other good body creams. I think I’m going to stick to my hydropeptide. i love hydropeptide face cream because its light and fluffy but still really moisturizing. It has peptides, retinoids, and antioxidants. Its like a multivitamin for my skin. Plus cucumber is much better than old woman perfume.
December 27th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Jenn,
This is no doubt an amazing offer given the regular price of the product. Wow, Allure is going all out :-))!
That said, La Mer is a “yes” or “no” for so many people. In other words, you have people who would swear by this product no matter what and some other people will try it and don’t see what the fuss is all about.
I personally think it’s quite expensive, but if you win it … then it’s a different story.
I do also have allergies to scents, so just like Marina who responded earlier … I would not be able to stand the smell so close to my nose.
Great find!
Gisele
December 28th, 2007 at 2:10 am
Maybe you can return the Creme de la Mer? I’m actually not exactly sure what the Algae Extract is supposed to do. Since I have dry skin, I think the Creme de la Mer would actually work really well on me to hydrate it, but for the money, I think the Hydropeptide would give you much better results when it comes to preventing wrinkles.
January 5th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Why is it so impossible to sign up for free stuff? Never could into sign up for cream.
February 9th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Fact - Creme de le Mer contains Mineral Oil, Petroleum and Glycerin.
Fact - Mineral Oil is used at 90-100%. It is in fact classified as hazardous. It irritates the skin, eyes and respiratory tract. It is in fact combustible in its liquid and vapour form. It can cause dermatitis with people who have sensitive skin, (or skin made sensitive due to stress, exposure to toxins, poor diet, etc) and can create hypersensitivity through prolonged use.
It is also flammable.
It is odorless and is insoluble in water, therefore is a popular stabiliser in both commercial AND expensive designer cosmetics and skin care.
In conjunction to this, Mineroil Oil coats your skin in a second layer that seemingly protects but in fact does not allow the skin to breathe naturally as it should. Therefore it will in fact increase the likelihood of blocked pores, amongst other things.
Petroleum is pretty self explanatory; carbon based and also produces many synthetic preservatives such as BHT,BHA and TBHQ and hydrocarbons such as hexane, also commonly used in skin care and cosmetics due to its ability to help provide “shelf life” for the product. Since when was putting carbon (ie the stuff you put in your car and the stuff that makes all the white buildings in town black and clogs your pores) - good to put on your skin.
Glycerin is closely related to petroleum and is used as a stabiliser. There are in fact animal and plant based glycerins out there.
Enough said.
I believe this is enough for the intelligent reader who wants to look after their skin!
An intelligent approach to your diet, exercise, lots of clean filtered water (while cutting down on alcohol, caffeine, white flour and refined sugars), green tea, detoxiyfying herbs and natural organic biodynamic skincare products will do a lot more for you than all these chemicals that will simply “preserve” you for only so long.
Weleda makes exceptional chemical free products and are available wordwide. There are also many other organic, biodynamic skincare alternatives out there that are around the same price range and less expensive, than Creme de le Mer!
Don’t be fooled into using cheaper brands such as Nivea either, Nivea uses the exact same synthetic ingredients, solvents, parabens and synthetic fragrances as Creme de le Mer and the like.
If you want good skin, take responsibility for yourself!