In search for natural alternatives here is my favorite natural face cream at this time. It is a carrot cream and it comes from Burt’s Bees, a company dedicated to truly natural products and the “greater good”. The cream is recommended for normal to dry, mature or sun damaged skin, however I find it is good for any age as long as you do not have oily skin.

The cream is quite solidified and has a very unique texture. To use some, you simply have to glide your fingers gently over the solid surface. It feels cool to the touch and glides on almost like water. It is therefore very easy to overdo it, thinking you have nothing on your finger, so be sure to use very sparingly. Putting on too much will make your skin feel sticky and/or oily. When it comes to this cream less is definitely more.

The cream has a unique scent that I find quite nice, however it is not your typical cream smell and some may take a while to get used to it. I would probably have to say that it does have a sweet smell with a hint of carrot cake, but is quite hard to describe beyond that. If you are sensitive to scents, it is good to try a sample of this before you buy.

Ingredients

(all italicized ingredients are from plants)

  • Water
  • Helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil
  • Beeswax
  • Glycerin
  • Persea gratissima (avocado) oil
  • Cocos nucifera (coconut) oil
  • Stearic acid
  • Palmetic acid
  • Daucus carota sativa (carrot) seed oil
  • Fragrance
  • Tocopheryl acetate
  • Tritium vulgare (wheat) germ oil
  • Vitis vinifera (grape) seed oil
  • Glucose
  • Citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) peel wax
  • Sucrose stearate
  • Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil
  • Glucose oxidase
  • Lactoperoxidase
  • Beta-carotene
  • Vegetable oil
  • Aloe barbadensis leaf juice
  • Sodium borate (natural borax)
  • Xanthan gum

Packaging

The cream comes in a plain, see through glass jar which is a nice alternative to the usual plastic containers and enhances the company’s natural simplicity. The lid is a metal screw-on cap and both parts are easily recyclable. As the jar does not contain any wrapping or writing, the cream comes packaged in a carton box which contains all the necessary information.

Price (as of this posting)

Availability

The Good

  • Excellent moisturizing/hydrating properties
  • Excellent to soothe skin after a day in the sun
  • Gives face a healthy glow (delicate shine)
  • May even give skin a healthier color with repeated use
  • Maintains a lasting feeling on the skin for many hours
  • Excellent price value
  • Jar lasts an exceptionally long time
  • Great mix of natural and beneficial ingredients
  • 97.67% Natural

The Bad

  • Unique scent that may take a while to adjust to
  • Not recommended for oily skin types
  • Uses “fragrance” in ingredients and does not explain its source
  • Uses “sodium borate” which is toxic if ingested. However as it is the last ingredient on the list, there is a minute quantity of it in the product which should pose no irritations or health risks.

UPDATE: June 30, 2009

Since this posting I have done more research on the ingredient called “fragrance” and because this product contains it, its Wellness Rating has been dropped from a 9 out of 10 to a 6 out of 10.

I feel this is justified as the source of fragrance is almost always the group of chemicals called “pthalates”. These can act like hormone-disrupters, among several other problems that have been found in people with high pthalate levels. Tests at labs on rodents have even shown deformaties.

So in conclusion, fragrance or the ingredient parfum does not belong at all in natural personal products, and in fact should be avoided in all products. Although the half-life of this chemical is short, the constant exposure that most people get from it, keeps it in the body constantly.

I no longer use this cream, nor do I recommend it to any of you. Find products with no “fragrance” or “parfum” in the ingredient list.