Arbonne users, not sellers please

[sbearswife]

I would like to hear from people who have used Arbonne. I don't need to know if it will make me money, or help me to help others. Is it a good value? Are the Arbonne products better than products bought off the shelf with similar ingredients? Thanks.

[verwon]

In my opinion NO! They are way overpriced, they are almost identical to other products that you can buy, for a lower price, in any drugstore you walk into.

[ShainaT]

Verwon is correct. Nothing special about them. Shipping is ridiculous!

There is a book called "Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter without me" by Paula Begoin. Great book. Kind of like a Consumer Reports about makeup. I'd check it out of the library if you are interested in buying new makeup. She is not a fan of Arbonne either.

[verwon]

There are just so many products on the market like that now, a consumer really has to read labels and be savvy so they don't get snowed.

Next time you are in the grocery store, take a stroll down the toothpaste aisle, start checking out the active ingredients in them, the whitening, the regular and etc. You will see that they charge more for fancy claims, but it has the same active ingredient and basic ingredients as all the others. There is really nothing added to whiten or brighten any more than any old toothpaste did. The only ones you will find that have a different ingredient are the Sensitive toothpastes.

[wandering]

Oh my goodness people!!!!! Have you truly tried any other products than Oil of olay. You are missing the point of Arbonne products. The first thing you notice is they have little to no sent which means they arent synthetic or perfumed. In ten years of Spa business, the only products that have come close to performing in the same class as Arbonne cost double what you pay for Arbonne. You have to break things down sometimes. Think about the products you buy at the stores, You are paying for Mass production, Marketing, Models, Packaging, Distribution, Sales Staff, and then the product. And as for that "Don't go to the makeup counter without me" book
I have read it, and in my professional opinion, it seems very convenient that she bashes the high end lines, but promotes drugstore lines. Who's paying her??? It's like comparing a Ford with a Porche. Try the product, don't think about who's selling it to you, because everyone is making money of you somehow.

[IrishEyes]

Originally Posted by wandering

Oh my goodness people!!!!! Have you truly tried any other products than Oil of olay. You are missing the point of Arbonne products. The first thing you notice is they have little to no sent which means they arent synthetic or perfumed. In ten years of Spa business, the only products that have come close to performing in the same class as Arbonne cost double what you pay for Arbonne. You have to break things down sometimes. Think about the products you buy at the stores, You are paying for Mass production, Marketing, Models, Packaging, Distribution, Sales Staff, and then the product. And as for that "Don't go to the makeup counter without me" book
I have read it, and in my professional opinion, it seems very convenient that she bashes the high end lines, but promotes drugstore lines. Who's paying her??? It's like comparing a Ford with a Porche. Try the product, don't think about who's selling it to you, because everyone is making money of you somehow.

I'm sorry but I have to chime in here. An Arbonne Rep came into my Spa about 3 months ago asking if we'd be interested in trying their products. I told her straight up that we were not interested and are very happy with our current line that we carry. She insisted that we try it. I told her that I can't be responsible for her items if she left them. She told me they were ours to keep. She said she would come back in 2 weeks to see what we thought. With all fairness all 4 of my Estheticians tried the different products that she left. First off they had a real problem with that fact that none of the ingredients were listed. Second, the cleanser stung her eyes and didn't remove a lick of mascara and left a thick film on her skin. The moisturizer was mediocre at best. There was some sort of lifting cream that after application made it impossible to apply foundation, it got crumbly, very odd. All in all each one of the girls said there is nothing remarkable about this line. The woman came back into the Spa as promised. I certainly was not going to give her their exact thoughts, there was no point.
Long story short, she demanded her products back and said thet we "clearly do not know quality skin care." Laughable!
Seriously, we had nothing to gain or lose. These products are not high quality, end of story. As a side note, the "Don't go to the makeup counter without me" book is informative and very popular. Most people in the industry have read and liked this book. Not a huge fan of Paula Begoun but it was spot on in many cases. For whatever it's worth I am an Esthetician and have been in the business nearly 17 years.

[katlnhats]

Originally Posted by wandering

Oh my goodness people!!!!! Have you truly tried any other products than Oil of olay. You are missing the point of Arbonne products. The first thing you notice is they have little to no sent which means they arent synthetic or perfumed. In ten years of Spa business, the only products that have come close to performing in the same class as Arbonne cost double what you pay for Arbonne. You have to break things down sometimes. Think about the products you buy at the stores, You are paying for Mass production, Marketing, Models, Packaging, Distribution, Sales Staff, and then the product. And as for that "Don't go to the makeup counter without me" book
I have read it, and in my professional opinion, it seems very convenient that she bashes the high end lines, but promotes drugstore lines. Who's paying her??? It's like comparing a Ford with a Porche. Try the product, don't think about who's selling it to you, because everyone is making money of you somehow.

Hi,

I don't use Oil Of Olay, so I feel I can answer this post. Little or no scent does not mean that they do not have synthetic ingredients in them. An ingredient list on the products would not only be helpful, but it's also illegal not to list the ingredients. Are there preservatives in their products? If so, which ones? It "does" make a difference; especially since you are using this on your face.
I don't use "drugstore brands" either. I either make my own, as I've had the training to do so, or I buy natural brands that I trust. By the way, you might want to re-read the posts; I haven't seen Oil Of Olay listed as a better product or worse or at all in any of them. And my wholesaler does not sell either brand - does that tell you something? They sell only natural products.
I've been in-the-business, so to speak, for many, many years. No, I did not read that particular book, but I don't feel I have to. I know the difference between synthetic and natural, and I also know the differences between preservatives. I have to! I use them. And not listing ingredients on a label, if the other poster was right, is a big no, no! How are you or anyone else supposed to know if you may be allergic to some of the ingredients if they're not listed, in order of most-to-least.

Kat
Aromatherapist, herbalist and natural perfumer, also make lotions, creams, massage oils and many other things.

[kirsey2121]

What products do people like to use then? I need a really GOOD skincare line b/c I used to tan and am worried about wrinkling.

[katlnhats]

Originally Posted by kirsey2121

What products do people like to use then? I need a really GOOD skincare line b/c I used to tan and am worried about wrinkling.

Hi Kirsey,

Hmm, first question would be do you burn easily? If your skin very fair? If you don't want to answer this here, pm me, lol. Mark, my husband burns very easily and naturally, since I don't, we both use totally different products for outside. Neither one of us trys to tan (ya know,we're older things! lol), but just from being outside, "not" trying, I still tan (and freckle), and he'd still burn. Good news is neither one of us is wrinkled! <grin>
And Kirs? You're way too young to wrinkle!!!!!! You say you used to tan - does that mean you don't get lots of sun anymore and this is more for prevention?
I stick with UNfragranced lines, for outside, bugs love fragrances! Especially if they're synthetic! One person told me to try Skin-so-Soft (Avon) as it would keep mosquitoes away. This was a long time ago, but I remember it cuz I "did" try it. I used the oil as I was told, and wow! The mosquitoes loved the scent, (and I was breaking out in little bumps from the scent!), at the same time the mosquitoes were having a feast on me, and I couldn't get them to stop, as they kept getting "stuck" in the oily stuff on me! I was one big mess for days
Jason Naturals has a good line. They list "all" their ingredients, and have both skin care and also tanning lotion, if you do want to spend time in the sun. I don't actually know where you'd find this line though, as I order things from their line that I don't make from one of my wholesalers, who carries them, but there are many other good, natural lines that you won't have to pay an arm and a leg for and are good for your skin. Some history that's true today, and this will probably sound strange to us in the USA, is that in Turkey, the women there use Extra Virgin Olive Oil "only" on their skin and they actually don't wrinkle.
Aloe gel is also a good all around moisterizer, and you can get the 99% pure in lots of places - the 1% is your preservative.
Ecco Bella, Avalon Organics both have good lines as well. They probably have their own websites, along with Jason Naturals, as they are large companys, but I've just never looked! If you stick to as natural as possible, you'll have less chance of having a reaction to something, that may not give you wrinkles, but a nasty rash. Natural shea butter is also good and that's easily found in stores now - when I first started making whipped shea butter, it wasn't even "in" stores. If you've ever had a very cold winter where your hands (no matter what you put on them) crack and hurt, shea heals that almost overnight.
Be very careful and stay away from "any" company that doesn't list their ingredients, it's not legal in the cosmetic industry and you have to wonder what they're hiding. Hope this helped, if it didn't, let me know.

Kat

[verwon]

No ingredients on the label or packaging? I can believe that.

I recently called a local rep from Mary Kay who had sent me a free sample, so I could ask about their eyeliners, I am allergic to kohl and if I use an eyeliner, shadow, or mascara that has it in it, the next day, I look like someone punched me in both eyes. But she didn't even know what was in their products, if they used it or not, she had to call a medical help line that they have and then call me back to let me know the answer.

If I can't read the ingredients when I pick up a product to look at it, I am not going to use it, plain and simple. Not even a remote thought in my head about buying it.

I am allergic to several things, just like Kats, however, I don't know how to make my own, so I am just careful what I buy. I can't have stuff enhanced with vitamin E, especially lip products, no heavy scents as they kill my andyrew, no kohl and etc.

[katlnhats]

It's actually amazing that a product would make it into the stores without listing ingredients, per the FDA cosmetic guidelines it is illegal not to list ALL ingredients unless they are under .5%. I doubt that all of Mary Kays, or Arbonne for that matter are ALL under that ratio.
Kat

[susannes]

Lurking but had to reply.

I love the Arbonne Re line. It is an amazing product.

As far as what's in it, of course they tell you. For example NutriMinC RE Reality Day creme Came with a paper right along with my creme.

Octinoxate, Oxybenzone. Also contains: water, octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, symphytum officinale extract, cucumis sativus fruit extract, nasturitum officinale xextract, betula alba leaf extract, trifolium pratense flower extract, panax ginseng root extract, hypericum perforatum extract, sodium pca, polyamino sugar condensate, urea, butylene gylcoe, isopropyl isosterate, cetyl dimethicone, VP/eicosense copolymer, glycerin, glyceryl sterate, peg-100 stearate, palmitoyl tetrapeptide palmitoyl oligopeptide, phospholipds, asorbyl palmitate, magnesium asorbly phosphate, lecithin, borago officinalis seed oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride, retinyl palmitate, tocopheryl acetate, panthenol, stearamine, thioctic acid, aloe barbedensis leaf juice, tocopherol, allantoin, glycerl stearate se, sorbitan stearate, cetyl lactate, stearic acid, cetyl alcohol, tea carbomer, polysorbate 20, methylparaben, propylparaben, diazolidinyl urea, trisodium edta, ctirus aurantium dulcis orange oil

lol... sorry if I spelled any of those wrong. My eyes are tearing up just from typing them all out.

[katlnhats]

Hi,

Wow, thanks for typing that all out! That's a lot to read and type, and even if you misspelled something, I can usually figure it out. Ver could not use these products or this one, it has synthetic Vitamin E in it. (tocopheryl acetate) and one heck of a lot of preservatives. Their main ingredient after the first two listed, which are not natural ingredients is water, and a few extracts that are ok for you, one is quite good and that would be the aloe, but the parabens kind of cancel them out, they're preservatives and apparently as there are others they use as well, have to for some reason, use quite a few, I wonder why; looking at the ingredient list...
Polysorbate 20 is used to mix oils with water, it's an emulsifyer, not a big deal there, you "have" to use something, and that's about the safest one, if you're mixing anything w/oil and water together as they won't mix and stay mixed on their own.
Cetyl dimethicone is to make the mixture feel silky but there are many better choices and also natural ones that will do that. I'm surprised that there is any type of sugar in the blend. The amount of synthetics in the blend means I couldn't use it at all, not even a little bit, though they do use (that long name, at the end? Means Essential Oil of Sweet Orange!), which they could have listed it as that Would have been lots easier for you to type out, huh? Glycerin is always good, though they're not saying if it's animal or vegetable in origin, I only use vegetable, and it acts as a humectant (something that will draw moisture out of the air and help your skin to stay moisterized), and they're using some kind of polymer, which is also a chemical that makes a product, blend easier, but only certain things will soak into your skin, which is and isn't a good thing, and is a chemical blend I won't use in my products. Stearic Acid is just a thickener, no big deal there either, and if that's a typo, the borage seed extract? That's very good for your skin, though at a very small ratio, which is why it's listed near the bottom of ingredients. What's puzzling to me is that they're mixing two different types of preservatives, the parabins, and the dialyn-family, which is odd. Either/or is more than enough.
Just from looking at the ingredients, I couldn't use it, I don't know how much their products cost, but even assuming that they're very low-priced, I wouldn't recommend buying it. I'm glad it works for you, and that you like it and "thank-you" once again for typing that all out, it's alot! But I do think that this will lead to a lot of bad reactions in many people. I could take each ingredient and tell you what/why, but there's really no point, unless someone really wants to know and most people don't! I took some of the most pertinent things and just quick-explained them, oh... one other thing, the water should always say either "distilled or purified", otherwise you may be getting tap water. Thanks again, typing from little papers or a bottle is rough!!!!!

Kat

[susannes]

Thanks for giving a run down! I found it very interesting.

Can you tell me (since I know about nothing on product ingredient details) could any of these be harmful to me as long as I don't eat them? I really am trying ot be more aware of the chemicals and toxic things I put in and around my body.

[katlnhats]

Originally Posted by susannes

Thanks for giving a run down! I found it very interesting.

Can you tell me (since I know about nothing on product ingredient details) could any of these be harmful to me as long as I don't eat them? I really am trying ot be more aware of the chemicals and toxic things I put in and around my body.

Sure, and thanks once again for "all" the typing you did! Wow. OK, since the first two ingredients are the ones that are what's called the active ingredients, in the blend, and those have and carry the largest percentage in the product, the next being water - these two are something you've probably
used most of your life - they're in almost every sunscreen product sold! They provide protection from UVA/UVB harmful rays from the sun, which is why they're using in tanning/sunscreen products. And we all use those, and though I've (but this is me, and this "always" happens!), had some severe allergic reactions to certain sunscreens, I know if I stick to the one I grew up using, I'm OK. So, it's definitely not these two ingredients Besides, since they're used in as I say, just about every suncare product sold, imagine the testing those two had to go through before being approved, with NO side affects or bad press.
There's only one chemical that I'd question the usage of, and that's due to the fact that this one does have a warning per the cosmetic industry, but since you've been using it with good results, I'd say you're fine with it, the ingredient falls into one of many that are made like this, they are more inexpensive to purchase if you want to blend your own cream or lotion, but they do tend to irritate sensitive skin, enough to put out a warning on them, in this case, the chemical used here is: VP/eicosense copolymer.
But like I said, your skin is not irritated, so don't worry about it, the rest of the things listed in chemical terms would be lots easier for anyone to understand if they could list them so we'd all understand them w/out having to take courses! I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivitys, so this one's out for me, but I could buy the polymer as part of my current blend, but I'd have a reaction to it - and as you're not eating any of this, you're fine!
I can't see how any of this would hurt you in any way, as long as you keep an eye out the longer you use it, for any signs of irritation - thats a good reason to stop usage. Other than that and the fact that the sheer amount of chemicals used, not only in the above product, but many, many/most, cosmetics sold these days and most are unnessary, and we don't need all these chemicals (we do need some), but companys afraid of lawsuits, due to any type of contamination in a product, will sometimes use a lot or even just a bit more chemical/preservative, or to make sure their product feels extra-silky on your skin, instead of one chemical that will do the job, they'll use several.
But, hurt you? Doubtful. Always remember, all of these products ingredients have been thoroughly tested (on real people!) by the FDA and the cosmetic industry too.
The one thing that bothers me, is the high increase of people having reactions to products that used to be fairly rare. And I hope that trend stops as more companys are at least going a little bit more natural.
Sorry to go on so long, sounds as if this product is good for you, you like the way it works, and you seem to have no reactions/irritations from it, and that's what matters, and you are concerned w/anything that'll hurt you too - good for you, as "too" many chemicals will hurt anyone, but you don't sound like you're using barrels of different kinds!!!! Do not eat!

Kat - Sorry this got so long!!!!!!