Simple Vital Vitamin Day Cream/Vital Vitamin Day Cream SPF 15 Product Review

simple-vital-vitamin

Brands are significant things in the personal care world.  Huge sums are invested in creating, promoting and protecting them.  The effort made by the guys in the lab who formulate them is a tiny fraction of the time, care and money lavished on the marketing.

The motivation for the company owning the brand is obvious enough.  The better known their brand is the more units they’ll sell.  Kerching.   What the consumer gets from the deal – which after all they are ultimately paying for – is less obvious.  But I suppose you could argue that the marketing activities at least inform you that you are buying from a serious company who take their products seriously and can therefore be relied on to meet their normal standard of quality.   It also allows you to take advantage of the consistency inherent in the branding process.

One way this works is that most of the time international brands use the same formulation worldwide.  Cosmetic regulations do vary a little from country to country, but these differences are not really significant and most products can be sold just about anywhere on the planet.  So your Pantene in America is going to be identical to what you buy in Europe most of the time.

This is particularly useful if you have a strong reason for brand loyalty.  For instance if you are say allergic to the preservative Methylisothiazolinone, you might want to stick to Simple.  Simple does not use this preservative and so that solves your problem quite neatly.

Or so I would have thought.  However, somebody took the time to let me know that Simple had just introduced this preservative to their products in Canada.  I was a bit surprised, but I checked it out online and there it was.  The formulations on sale in Canada were different to those on sale in the UK.  Here is an example.  This is the UK’s  Simple Vital Vitamin Day Cream with Sun Screens ingredient list, preservatives in blue.

Aqua, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Paraffinum Liquidum, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate,Cetyl Palmitate, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Cetyl Alcohol, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Dimethicone, Sorbitol, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Panthenol, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, PEG-100 Stearate,Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Allantoin, Borago Officinalis Seed Oil, Bisabolol, Dichlorobenzyl Alcohol, Methylparaben, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Diol, Pantolactone, BHT, Citric Acid

And here is Canada’s Simple Vital Vitamin Day Cream SPF 15.

Active ingredients:, Homosalate, Octisalate, Avobenzone, Octocrylene, Inactive ingredients:, Water (Aqua, Eau), Glycerin, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Silica, Pentylene Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Panthenol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Steareth-21, Steareth-2, Arachidyl Alcohol, Polyacrylamide, Caprylyl Glycol, Behenyl Alcohol, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Disodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Cetearyl Glucoside, Arachidyl Glucoside, Allantoin, Bisabolol, Laureth-7, Triethanolamine, Methylisothiazolinone, Phenoxyethanol

I know the names aren’t absolutely identical, but you would certainly expect them to be the same product more or less.

Now there is nothing illegal or even immoral about what Simple are doing here.  They may well have good reason to want to sell a different formulation in a different country.  And I can see why they might want to switch to methylisothiazolinone.   Despite its reputation and the very real problems I am constantly getting reported to me, it is not a preservative that causes a high percentage of skin reactions.  The problem is that because it is used so widely the small number of people who react to it are very likely indeed to come into contact with it.

For this reason I think it is good that some brands make a point of avoiding the most widely used preservatives, the parabens and the isothiazolinones basically.  This gives consumers an alternative that some of them really need.  And any of us can develop an allergy any time, so while this is definitely a minority problem it is a minority than none of us can rule out joining some time.

So I am disappointed that Simple have taken this decision.  I hope it isn’t part of a general roll out and the UK will be following suit in the near future.  It is also a shame that the people who manage the brand haven’t appreciated one of the benefits that some of their consumers get from their efforts.  Simple do have a very distinctive approach with their fragrance free colour free offering.   Colours actually aren’t a problem, but a lot of people appreciate the lack of fragrance.  Avoiding the mainstream preservatives would have fitted in nicely with this.  What a shame.




References

Here are the two products about which I am specifically talking.

http://www.simpleskincare.ca/en/our-products/product/vital-vitamin-day-cream-spf-15.html

http://www.simple.co.uk/our-products/product/kind-to-skin-vital-vitamin-day-cream-with-sunscreens.html

25/1/17 Update.  The link to the Canadian product no longer works, so this story may no longer be up to date.  If anyone has any current info I’d love to hear it.

4 thoughts on “Simple Vital Vitamin Day Cream/Vital Vitamin Day Cream SPF 15 Product Review”

  1. I don’t find that unusual at all. It seems to happen all the time. I suspect that the preservative 2-BROMO-2-NITROPROPANE-1,3-DIOL, which releases formaldehyde, has something to do with it. I for one, have never understood what formaldehyde is doing in skin care that is targeted at sensitive skin. No skin should be exposed to it. It can cause cancer.

  2. Hi Bianca, thanks for your comment. I am not sure why you mention 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol or Bronopol as it is more usually called. It isn’t in either of these products. It isn’t really much of a formaldehyde donor either. You can break it down to release formaldehyde if you put your mind to it, but that isn’t likely to happen in cosmetics. The concerns about Bronopol are to do with its supposed promotion of the formation of nitrosamines. I don’t think that particular story stands up to examination either, but that is another blog post.

  3. I am allergic to nickel, which is in so much. Two doctors, a dermatologist and an allergist, told me some cortizone creams have nickel in them. No wonder my rash was getting worse. Why nickel in allergy products. Also Method and some Nivea products have Methylisothiazolinone in them. As the ingredients increase, the font size shrinks. I use coconut oil for a lot of things, organic, first pressed.

  4. My dermatologist is treating me for “itchiness.” My allergies are MCI/MI, Colophony and mildly to nickel. To stop contact I am on medicated ointment, wearing pure cotton gloves and non latex too.

    Every product list I have are not consistent. Suddenly in a years time there is huge increase in “ safe” products. But are they really free from preservatives? Or are the suppliers of tainted products wanting to keep business going? How can they provide safe and Kathon free products and stay in business. It’s like saying how can food products eliminate preservatives!! No processed foods is necessary to have optimum health.

    Even paper products are treated to prevent slime and mold…..!!
    My dermatitis is on my hands only. I continue to remove products like paper towels when not wearing gloves. My skincare products are not of reliable sources if I’m only checking with the manufacturer of products…. They will lie and make up up their own standards to stay in business.
    It’s like the politicians …. They deceive and continue to act on their agenda and the real government, we the people, are not listened to and in fact we will never be listened to u til we stop purchasing what they are selling …. Including political agendas.

    These chemicals … PFAS has thousands now, are in everything! Once I’m free from itchiness, then I’ve managed to eliminate the chemicals. But one time of contact will restart the symptoms. It takes 3-6 months for body to react to being free from chemical contact.
    I wish you all well…. I’m frustrated with the entire powers that be…. Our lives are not our own… we are enslaved to profit making soulless companies. Or are we really?? No I don’t believe we need chemicals so we can have shiny hair, white teeth, or clean or dry hands after washing … !

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