Beauty

[Shelbelle]

Suzanne's line is certified toxic free, that being said I have combo to oily skin and prefer not to use all of the oils she includes, so Isomers for me . Philosophy also makes serums with Glut.

[gabstoomuch]

Just for the fact that Manuela is a chemist, and skin is all her and her husband work on, I would go with Isomers in a heartbeat. It is the load factor, and Manuela says that all the time. You think Suzanne's chemists are interested in "load factor"? I doubt it.

If you listen to Manuela talk about her glutothione, you would not even blink an eye before you knew every ingredient is is at the right level to work with the other ingredients in the proper way.

For me personally, it is a trust issue. I trust Isomers.

JMO

[suzyQ3]

On 11/6/2014 Shelbelle said:

Suzanne's line is certified toxic free, that being said I have combo to oily skin and prefer not to use all of the oils she includes, so Isomers for me . Philosophy also makes serums with Glut.

Shelbelle, I did some sneaking around to find just what this certification means. It goes back to a private organization called the ToxicFree Foundation, which sells publications. It has a non-functioning link for applying for membership. I see no data on the site other than an adapted article referring to pregnancy.

In short, I'm highly skeptical that this certification really means anything. But then, I don't believe that the skin care I use, from several different lines, are toxic.

[hopi]

On 11/6/2014 Karena said:

Water, alcohol and glycerin? No thanks, Isomers.

Trust Isomers over any other line.

Water 101 per Isomers studies

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Let’s explore some of the most popular misbeliefs or misunderstandings about chemistry, the cosmetic industry, ingredients, marketing and beauty / science myths you, the many fans and followers of isomers skincare have asked us over the years. We will begin a series of discussions examining one element or question at a time. We will post them on our Facebook wall. We will post on a regular basis and we encourage you to read, comment and send us more questions so this thread can become an amazing resource for knowledge, community and growth. Let’s begin:

Chapter 1:
The belief that: Water is a bad ingredient in skincare

Recently I conducted an experiment with lab skin cell beads, various waters and various oils. We used time lapse photography to document the results over a 6 hour period.

The experiment was to illustrate and determine the best ingredients to formulate with or use as a base for skin hydration.

The key questions we wanted to satisfy were:
Do different types of water hydrate differently? And, if so, which type was the most hydrating?
-In this experiment we used 3 types of water; natural source water; plant extracts; pharmaceutical or “treated” water.

What hydrates better “water” vs “oil”
-By hydrates we mean, what penetrates and fills the cells to or near capacity vs. no absorption

Different types of water. Water vs “Marketing Waters"
i. Glacier, Spring or natural source waters – these are waters that are positioned as “natural” “chemical free” “rich in nutrients” – yet when an assay (that is a profile of what is in the water) is performed, the results are that these waters align similarly close to city water in north America. So pretty much tap water. In skincare or cosmetic manufacturing, these waters are not regulated.

ii. Pharmaceutical “treated” water – these are waters that are filtered and impurities, bacteria, microbes, are removed and cleaned up. This water is not completely void of all minerals, some key minerals are reintroduced or left behind to ensure highest standard in purity and water chemistry. These waters, are approved for pharmaceutical manufacturing and rigorously tested, monitored and regulated. It’s safe & clean.

iii. Fruit / plant waters / extracts – that are positioned as a replacement for water in a formula. You will hear statements like “we don’t make you pay for water…” or “we don’t use water we use plant extracts...” The irony is, these plant waters are akin to saying, I don’t drink water I drink Kool-Aid, and that Kool-Aid is better for you than water. The scientific truth is, that Kool-Aid, or in this case, grape extract or green tea is 99 – 99.9% water with some minerals and impurities. They are unregulated, non-standardized and processed in various ways. As a cosmetic ingredient is falls behind pharmaceutical & food ingredients in the order of importance of standards.

Different types of oils
i. Oils, Silicones, & Anhydrous (no water) ingredients – we used silicones, grape seed oil, olive oil, argan oil, dimethicone,


Results: The findings of our modest in-laboratory trial under time lapse photography – were not surprising for one familiar with chemistry and comprehend the true definition and function of what is meant by “hydration”. However, what I am very aware and sensitive about, is that a huge majority of people have never had a full course in high-school chemistry, physics or biology. This means that they may have not been exposed to some of the tools that would -allow them to easily separate science-fact from science-fiction, or sense from nonsense. This unfortunately is the type of gap or human weakness marketing companies and sales pitch master’s pounce all over and build huge campaigns on. This is why it’s important that we took the time to design and perform this experiment. It is our way of providing alternate thought streams and information. To demonstrate visually as well as logically how to ask questions and to challenge or verify information. The ability to think critically and to edit information via scientific deduction is a powerful skill and can be applied in all aspects of our lives for our own benefit. In order to know more and do more and do better, information has to be scrutinized in the light of what is already known.
The beads filled to capacity in the shortest amount of time and remained plump and full for 1 week after hydration with:

FIRST PLACE: Pharmaceutical or “treated” water
ü Fastest, under 3 hours
ü Full to capacity
ü All water used - super absorbent

SECOND PLACE: Glacier, Spring & Natural Source Waters
ü took longer 4.5 hours
ü filled to capacity
ü all water used

THIRD PLACE: Fruit / Plant water/extracts aka “original extracts” a line of true water extracts from plants, rich and pure as the vegetable itself” (i.e.: Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Water, Cactus Water , Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Water).
ü 6 hours
ü fill not complete
ü not all water absorbed

How did the oils do? Well they didn’t. They didn’t penetrate the cells and the cells didn’t change in size. The oils did what they were supposed to do. Coat the cells and help build a lipid bi-layer. The oils cannot plump up or fill in they are not chemically capable or designed for that function. Oils don’t hydrate. By their own definition they are without water and hydro (the root word in hydration means water …)

Conclusion: Water is the essence of cell communication, nutrition transportation, efficacy, stabilization. Its purity is paramount to performance. Depending on the performance you desire, you can chose your water. We have studied three groups of water, all hydrate but not all to the same potential. So, when hydration is your goal, is the outcome you want, nothing beats water. More specifically, good clean water is your best, most efficient ingredient. Skincare that is designed to penetrate the inner cell (which is water loving) must have water as a key part of the formulation and delivery system.

Finally, fruit extracts/ waters, are water by another name. They are ingredients available in the skincare industry for those who want to jazz up their formula story and say they don’t use water or they use “nature” based ingredients. At the end of the day – they do not have any properties we could deduce that were any more beneficial than regular tap or city water. The assays of these fruit/plant/ extracts were comparable to city water. The advantage to them is the marketing story. The difference to your skin? This form is not as hydrating as the high performance pharmaceutical water.

Watch the time lapse videos here:

Video #1: Isomers Filtered Water vs. Tap Water and Aloehttp://www.isomers.ca/MediaLibrary.aspx?VideoID=38

Video #2: Isomes Filtered Water vs. Oil http://www.isomers.ca/MediaLibrary.aspx?VideoID=39
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[suzyQ3]

hopi, thanks for posting that. I'm going to save it because aside from the testing results, I found the following in that article to be very valuable and worth repeating on a regular basis:

Let’s explore some of the most popular misbeliefs or misunderstandings about chemistry, the cosmetic industry, ingredients, marketing and beauty / science myths you, the many fans and followers of isomers skincare have asked us over the years....

However, what I am very aware and sensitive about, is that a huge majority of people have never had a full course in high-school chemistry, physics or biology. This means that they may have not been exposed to some of the tools that would -allow them to easily separate science-fact from science-fiction, or sense from nonsense. This unfortunately is the type of gap or human weakness marketing companies and sales pitch master’s pounce all over and build huge campaigns on. This is why it’s important that we took the time to design and perform this experiment. It is our way of providing alternate thought streams and information. To demonstrate visually as well as logically how to ask questions and to challenge or verify information. The ability to think critically and to edit information via scientific deduction is a powerful skill and can be applied in all aspects of our lives for our own benefit. In order to know more and do more and do better, information has to be scrutinized in the light of what is already known.

[helping1]

I haven't used either product, but ingredients such as rosemary, sage, thyme (pron. "time") - all of the mint family - may apparently cause skin irritation. The first ingredient list also contains bergamot, which is a citrus oil/extract, and those types of properties may lead to skin irritation, too.

[SANNA]

Isomers all the way!!!!

[addtothis]

Isomers!!

[Lucky One]

Hands down, Isomers!

[Irshgrl31201]

Wow, could Suzanne Somers put more irritating ingredients in one bottle or what?