Looking for natural beauty products used to be such a challenge. Nowadays you need to look no further than your local grocery or drug store to find great natural and cruelty-free brands. But do they work? Sohnee tests out one of these brands – BIO-Beauté by NUXE.
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Anyone who reads my reviews here can probably guess that I tend to look for beauty products that are cruelty-free, natural, and environmentally friendly. That usually means that I end up going to specialty shops and have to filter through a lot of products. It can be tough to do your homework and seek out the brands that only use minimal synthetic ingredients while avoiding testing on animals. Thankfully, some of these brands are making their way over to drugstores. One example is BIO-Beauté by NUXE. This line uses Écocert certified Organic fruit in their products, meaning that at least 95% of the ingredients are of natural origin. In other words, raw materials are primarily used, there are no parabens, no mineral oils, and no artificial colours. The active ingredients are fruit-derived, so everything smells delicious.
The Écocert certification is used in 50 countries throughout the world to identify products that adhere to their standards for Organic merchandise. This certification can only be applied when a product has met the following criteria:
- At least 95% of the ingredients must be natural or of natural origin with at least 95% being certified Organic. At least 10 % must be derived from Organic farming and no more than 5% should be derived from pure synthesis (i.e. lab based).
- Natural extraction is performed without the use of solvents. e.g maceration, pressing and distillation are acceptable.
- No testing on animals.
- There must be transparency throughout the production chain, where validation of all raw materials and certification of finished products must be presented. Each product undergoes inspections numerous times each year to confirm the percentage of Organic and natural ingredients. Quality control is key.
I had the opportunity to try out a few products from BIO-Beauté. Their Eye Contour Care (15 mL $25.00) is a cream that contains clementine cells to reduce the look of puffiness under the eyes. I tried this out on the bags under my eyes for a few days this past week. I didn’t get much sleep, but colleagues at work were complimenting me on how bright and awake I looked compared to my usual look (I guess that’s a compliment?!). I personally didn’t notice a huge difference over those few days, but I could feel that my under-eye area felt more hydrated than usual, so using this type of cream would be a good habit to get into, especially during the winter.
Their Tinted Repairing Lip Balm with Raspberry Pulp (15 mL $14.00) gave my lips a nice sheer red colour. The pulp is pretty evident when you squeeze out some balm and I have to blend it into my lips. A smoother consistency would make this easier to apply, but it tastes great, so I end up re-applying it throughout the day 
There is also a new vitamin-rich orange water Detox Mask (50 mL $27.00) and I can say it’s certainly a unique product. It starts off as a thick orange-coloured (and scented!) gel. You apply a thick layer on your face and let it sit for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, you massage the gel into your skin and it transforms into an oil. The orange colour vanishes and you just see a glossy oil mask on your face. When you’re ready to wash it off, the formula turns into a white milky emulsion-like substance, leaving your skin feeling clean. This detox mask is recommended to be applied no more than twice per week and I would agree with that recommendation; my skin felt like it went through a major removal of dirt and oil, so I needed to give my skin some rest after that and I gave it lots of moisture afterwards. It’s a powerful mask!
This was the only product of the bunch that didn’t really impress. I had high hopes for this deodorant (50 mL is $12.00) but to be honest I think it may have made body odour worse! Everyone’s body chemistry is different though but this one definitely didn’t work for me.
Beyond the products themselves, I was pleased to see that BIO-Beauté pays attention to the packaging and minimizes the use of paper inserts for instructions. Instead, you will find instructions for use on the inside and outside of the boxes and the words are printed with plant-based inks.This can take some getting used to since there are so many languages printed onto the boxes, but I appreciate the lack of a leaflet. BIO-Beauté by NUXE is available at selected Shoppers Drug Mart stores.
What natural-based brands do you like to use? Where do you have to go to buy them?
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****Disclosure: products were sent to Toronto Beauty Reviews for review/editorial consideration***
Sohnee is a genetic counsellor by day, a product reviewer by night, and a cat whisperer on weekends. She loves to try out all things beauty related, but will always be curious about the science underneath. Follow her on Twitter @SohneeAhmed.