Monday 25 May 2015

ED4OLO vitamin D moisture mist



I remember how excited I was when I discovered Elizabeth Dehn's capsule collection. The whipped Shea butter was pure perfection ( I liked it so much that I still have the jar that I now fill up with my DIY concoctions). The moisture mist was very different to anything I tried before, and while I was considering whether or not to get a full size and possibly try the face oil, it was all gone. While I was busy with my wish list and hesitation, I completely missed the announcement that the factory they used went out of business, and there will be no more Elizabeth Dehn beauty products. It was a really sad day, and while it may seem a bit melodramatic, if you ever had a favourite product discontinued you know how hard it can be to find a replacement.

I was both ecstatic and apprehensive when One Love Organics announced their collaboration with Elizabeth Dehn. It took me awhile to get on that horse, I wasn't sure if I would be disappointed as these products seemed so different from her own line. They were also only available over the pond, and while the main OLO range has been in Europe for some time the ED4OLO part of the collection still hasn't made it here. Last year I finally took the plunge and I can honestly say that the products have surpassed my expectations. However, I'm starting to feel a little bit like I did on that day when Elizabeth Dehn was no more.

You see OLO is going through some changes, they have a new look and now the line is Ecocert certified, that is all very exciting, but there have been some tweaks to the original formulations. Let's face it I'm not really bothered about that happening to the products I haven't tried before, but when it comes to my favourites, I'm not at all pleased. I will of course reserve my judgement until I actually try the new formulations, but based on the experience of the past, I have yet to like a reformulated product from any brand (and I'm talking about the products that I used to adore).

What I loved about this toner is that it really delivered on the promise of providing moisture. Of course you need to hydrate from within and any relief from skincare is very much superficial, but sometimes superficial is just the ticket. My skin is prone to being oily, and while it does act more normal in the winter, I still have to walk a very fine line in order to hydrate yet not to overload my skin with products, or it will get super greasy at the drop of a hat. The vitamin D mist was exactly what I needed to give my skin a moisturising boost during the cold months, without needing to resort to heavier face oils or balms. I found it to be incredibly soothing and calming on my easily irritable and reactive skin. The scent was pleasant, a gentle refreshing floral scent, very light and not something that lingers. Mushrooms are one of the few food sources of Vitamin D, a very important vitamin that we get from the sun. I'm not exactly sure what benefits it would give as part of skincare, shiitake mushrooms are an amazing powerhouse when taken internally, so hopefully some of it rubs of topically as well. While the bottle lasted only about 2 months (normally a similar sized mist would last me 4), that could be explained by how often I reached for it. I would use it morning, evening, and for my pamper rituals. It was like other mists stopped existing, that is how wonderful it made my skin feel.

Here are the original ingredients:
aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice*, aqua (water), carthamus tinctorius (safflower) oleosomes**, rhododendron ferrugineum (alpine rose) extract** (and) glycerin, oryza sativa (rice) extract* (and) lentinus edodes (mushroom) extract*, polyaminopropyl biguanide
The one ingredient that gave me pause is the preservative used: polyaminopropyl biguanide. Preservatives are always tricky and they always come with their good and bad points, while this one is a synthetic ingredient it doesn't score very highly on EWG database (of course that is not necessarily the highest authority on everything ingredients but I normally take it as good sign).
And here is the new spruced up version:
aloe barbadensis leaf juice*, rhododendron ferrugineum (alpine rose) extract (and) glycerin*, carthamus tinctorius (safflower) oleosomes (and) aqua, oryza sativa (rice) extract (and) lentinus edodes (mushroom) extract*, caprylic/capric triglyceride (and) rose extract, dehydroacetic acid (and) benzyl alcohol
While the changes are not hugely drastic: the order of some ingredients changed (which normally implies a higher concentration of certain ingredients that moved to the front, however when concentration of something is less than 1% the ingredients can be listed however the brand prefers). The move to add fractionated coconut oil (caprylic/capric triglycerides) on top of other changes is making me think that this version might be a little to oil heavy for my skin. They also changed the preservative to dehydroacetic acid and benzyl alcohol, my sensitive skin is not a huge fan of benzyl alcohol (which coincidentally has a rating of 5 on EWG). While the preservative change would possibly not be a deal breaker for me (there really isn't such a thing as a perfect preservative in my books), I am concerned with the overall change. They are not major, and if your skin is pretty easy I doubt they will effect you. On the other hand, my skin can have a freak out if I add moisturiser on top of a serum, even though both products don't cause reactions separately. So yes I maybe a little over cautious, but I am not rushing to by the new incarnation of Vitamin D moisture mist. It maybe epic, you know like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly, but change isn't always good. I guess time will tell, and hopefully it will actually be available in UK, that will make it so much easier to get a sample and put my doubts at rest.
In the meantime there are still plenty of old formulations around and I might stock up at epic beauty bar.

9 comments:

  1. I really like this moisture mist as well. It does also seem to deliver on evening out skin tone. Really good info about the ingredients!

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  2. ooo... nothing like something becoming unavailable which makes you want it :-)

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  3. Nic Gustafsson4 June 2015 at 20:46

    Just love how you deep dive in your posts. I feel I always learn something new! I've had my eye on this toner as well and didn't actually know they'd reformulated

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  4. Nic Gustafsson4 June 2015 at 20:48

    Weird, couldn't keep writing! Anyhoo, since you wakened the toner monster in me I follow in your footsteps haha! Before I get this however I think I need to try out the long coveted Yuli! Xx

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  5. Okay okay....I'm super late here, sorry! I don't know why it's taken me so long to get round to reading this post haha! I am eager to see if you like the new formulation or not! I hope they haven't touched the formulation of the Vitamin B Cleansing Oil!

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  6. Yes I have noticed that too! Really hope that the updated one works for me

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  7. Lol well it is still available, just slightly different. You never know it might be perfect for you ;)

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  8. Oh thank you Nic for the appreciation:) I'm sort of loving Jasmine gardens at the moment again! Every time I think I settled on what my perfect toner is I keep changing my mind lol.

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  9. Not as late as my replies;) had a look and they did change b cleansing oil slightly, but I think it is a cleaner formula now xx

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