Glow & Lovely Ayurvedic Care+ Ayurvedic cosmetic #Facial care Insider tip from India?
- thatsglow
- Jun 20, 2022
- 3 min read
As I walked past a shop selling Indian specialties, I came across a range of cosmetic products in the window that I didn't know and became curious. Among the products was the Glow & Lovely Ayurvedic Care+ Face Cream. But no time,... I'll take a closer look next time. A few days later I found a small gift on my desk. Uh...someone was paying attention☺️ Glow, Glow Glow is what we want, isn't it?! And Asia is known to have some very good active ingredients in cosmetics that are often relatively unknown here in Europe, however very promising. So I was super curious about the Ayurvedic care, which I had not known before.
A short excursion to Ayurveda
Ayurveda is a traditional Indian art of healing. It is practiced throughout Asia, even taught scientifically, especially in India. However, evidence of its effectiveness is lacking. Ayurveda is a holistic concept and includes massages, cleansing techniques, nutrition, yoga and herbal medicine.
The cream
Glow & Lovely Ayurvedic Care+
former name Fair & Lovely
The cream is from Hindustan Unilever which belongs to the Unilever group. Hindustan Unilever changed the brand's name mid 2020 when brightening products became a topic of discussion amidst anti-racism demonstrations (#Black Lives Matter). The company has already been changing its strategy as early as 2019 and, according to the website, is turning away from brightening products towards more glow and even skin.
The Ingredients
The Top Positions
(not considering the water😉)
Palmitic Acid: Skin conditioning, smoothing, emulsifier
Stearic Acid: Product stability, perfuming, cleansing, moisturizing, emulsifier
Octyl Methoxy Cinnamate: UV-protection (EU: considered to be slightly questionable, max. concentration 10%*)
Glycerin: Moisturizing
Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane: UV-protection (product and skin) (EU: slightly questionable, max. concentration 5%*, www.haut.de)
The Advertised Ingredients
(see full list in the picture)
Effects
Symplocos Racemosa (Lodhra):
Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial (against acne), soothing.
Rubia Cordifolia (Manjishtha):
Anti-inflammatory, cell renewing.
Allantoin:
Cell formation, soothing.
Wheat Triticum Vulgare (wheat germ oil):
Antioxidant with high concentrations of vitamin E, soothing, anti-inflammatory, callus regulation, penetrates the skin very well, moisturizing.
Sesamum Indicum (sesame oil):
Antioxidant, improves skin barrier, light sun protection effect.
Crocus Sativus (Kesar, saffron):
Anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, brightening, cell renewing, antioxidant, repairing.
Glycyrrhiza Glabra (licorice):
Anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, brightening age spots.
Milk:
Ensures even skin. Protects against dehydration, retains moisture and plumps the skin. In addition, milk has a regenerating effect and removes dead skin cells.
Santalum Album Extract (Chandan): For even skin, soothing.
Vetivera Zizanoides Extract (Khas): Soothing.
Prunus Cerasoides (Padmak):
Improves complexion, moisturizing, soothing.
Monochoria Vaginalis Extract (Neelotpal): Soothing.
Nelumbo Nucifera Extract (Lotus): Against skin spots, for an even complexion.
Other ingredients, some of which are questionable:
Dimethicone, BHT, Disodium EDTA, Parabens, Parfum...
Effects Glow & Lovely Ayurvedic Care+
summarized
Antioxidant
Soothing
Cell renewing
Moisturizing
Against age spots
Against blemishes
My personal review:
My skin: Delicate skin, slight porcelain tendency with a little oily T-zone.
Consistency: Cream, short massage necessary.
Odor: Smells of various oils. Unusual, but not bad.
My skin was more even after application, with less redness and felt well hydrated. After a short massage, the cream penetrates very well into the skin and it feels wonderfully soft.
Bottom line: Even if it has very good ingredients with great effects, there are too many ingredients, such as the UV filters, dimethicone, disodium EDTA, parabens, which are not good for our skin and sometimes cause controversy. Overall no repurchase as there are better products out there for long term use.
*Unfortunately, I have not received any feedback from the manufacturer as to the concentration of the two ingredients mentioned above, Octyl Methoxy Cinnamate and Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane.
If you want to go out and test the cream, here's another tip During my subsequent research, I found that the cream can be bought on Amazon, but it apparently contains niacinamide. So it's not 100 % the same formulation as the tube I described. The Hindustan Unilever website also mentions the formulation with niacinamides. Probably the newer formulation. A request from me for details has so far remained unanswered (05/2022).
