This post is part of a personal quest to find and use face and body products with fewer toxins. To catch up on this series, you can start here.
So have you heard of ARBONNE? I hadn’t heard of this company until just recently, and now it seems all my girlfriends are mentioning it of late.
Like Tupperware, Stella & Dot, and other direct-to-consumer businesses, Arbonne is sold at parties in people’s homes. I’m sure you’ve been to similar types of parties … a girlfriend invites you over and you get to chit-chat, catch up with friends, have a drink or a coffee and then an consultant will walk you their product line.
Here is how Arbonne self-describes on its website:
“Arbonne is committed to the development of unparalleled products free of harmful ingredients, using a combination of botanical principles and scientific discovery. Our commitment begins with research and testing to ensure that each of our ingredients meets or exceeds industry standards for purity.”
In addition, all of the products are vegan and are never tested on animals.
So, when I received an invite to an Arbonne party recently, I thought the timing couldn’t have been better! I eagerly accepted it, especially knowing that this girlfriend would treat us to great coffee and homemade treats too. What can be better than shopping and hanging out with great girlfriends?
Off I went …
How the Party Rolled …
At the party, we were able to sample the products and browse some really nice Christmas gift packages.
They were all extremely tempting, but these kind of ingredients do not, apparently, come cheap. I held myself back as best I could so I wouldn’t blow my budget and bought two products: a facial cleanser that the consultant personally used and highly recommended, and a make-up primer.
I felt confident in buying these products and didn’t even mind the price tag because all of Arbonne products are formulated without:
- Parabens
- Formaldehyde donating preservatives
- The following petroleum-based ingredients:
- Benzene
- Mineral Oil
- Petrolatum
- Phthalates
- Toluene
- PABA
The consultant was great, the party was great, and I looked forward to getting my hands on my new products to try!
Makeup Primer is a Gift from the Heavens!
Yes! The facial cleanser worked nicely, although perhaps my skin feels a little dryer than normal but that could just be the changing weather. A girlfriend who has extremely sensitive skin also bought this same cleanser and is really happy with it.
Now, the makeup primer. This stuff is a revelation! I’ve never used makeup primer before and now I wonder how I ever lived without it! It smooths out the skin on my face, creating a surface that makes makeup go on far better and easier. I really LOVE it.
But?
Although a rather forward-thinking friend of mine had already mentioned to me that Arbonne is not as “natural” as purports to be, I brushed this information away while at the party and took all of the information at face value.
Did Arbonne lie to me? No. Everything they said (as listed above) is true. But I didn’t follow the advice that Gillian Deacon gave me when I met her: “Read Your Labels!”
I’ll continue this post tomorrow …
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