How to waste $300

Look at the ingredient list below. Has anything changed in 20 years?

$300 will buy one ounce (30ml) of this: Algae Extract, Water, Dimethicone, Isododecane, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Trisiloxane, Caprylic/Capric/Myristic/Stearic Triglyceride, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Sea Salt, Yeast Extract, Everlasting flower (?) Extract, Sesame Seed Oil, Alfalfa Seed Powder, Sunflower Seedcake, Sweet Almond Seed Meal, Eucalyptus Leaf Oil, Sodium Gluconate, Copper Gluconate, Calcium Gluconate, Magnesium Gluconate, Zinc Gluconate, Tocopheryl Succinate, Niacin, Sesame Seed Powder, Red algae Extract, brown algae Extract, Molasses Extract, Phytosphingosine, brown algae Extract, Corallina Officinalis Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, St. Paul’s Wort Extract, buckwheat Seed Extract, Rapeseed Seed Oil, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate, Licorice Root Extract, brown algae Extract, Lime Peel Extract, Cucumber Fruit Extract, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Marshmallow Root Extract, Rice Bran Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Yeast Lysate Extract, Macadamia nut Oil, Dipeptide-2, Glyceryl Triacetyl Ricinoleate, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Caffeine, Tetraacetylphytosphingosine, Whey Protein, Acetyl Glucosamine, Triethylhexanoin, Sorbitol, Barley Extract, Soybean Protein, Cholesterol, Hydrolyzed Yeast Protein, Isononyl Isononanoate, Propylene Glycol Dicaprate, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Caprylyl Glycol, Sucrose, Polysilicone-11, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone Crosspolymer-3, Silica, Nylon-12, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Steareth-20, Calcium Chloride, Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone, PEG/PPG-18/18 Dimethicone, Alumina, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Denatured Alcohol, Propanediol, Fragrance, BHT, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate, Chlorhexidine Digluconate, Sodium Benzoate, Mica, Titanium Dioxide.

This is the same brand, but the ingredient list has changed. There are efforts to improve ecological influence. How? By using byproducts that otherwise would be discarded (seedcakes left after oil extraction) and using invasive species. The algae extract is used directly now that the formulators recognize that algae and bacteria don’t have ears to listen to music, which shows respect for the consumer. It doesn’t list “declustered water”, showing that lawsuits do increase respect for the consumer. Limonene , geraniol , linalool , hydroxycitronellal , and citronellol  are gone, maybe because they are known to be allergenic. I don’t see mineral oil or petroleum jelly gone because of badmouthing on the internet, but these deletions are unfortunate; they were what made these products more emollient.

Additions? New technology makes peptides inexpensive, but low prices don’t make them useful.

What hasn’t changed? Still, too many plant extracts used for label value (elongating ingredient lists with Latin names), yeast extract in many forms, when one would suffice, fragrances and essential oils that may irritate the skin. The very high price for a tiny amount of face cream hasn’t changed either.

And now? The ingredient lists keep changing, but bad consumer habits don’t.  Many people still believe that a silly price signifies quality and effectiveness. They are still wrong.

Hannah