Review Yves Rocher Riche Crème

Cosmetic product with a very complex formula, 62  ingredients.

This cream has a combination of excellent ingredients and such properties that it effectively achieves the purpose for which it is marketed: anti-wrinkle. On the Yves Rocher website, this cream is described as stimulating cell regeneration, smoothing wrinkles and softening the skin. In a month, the face appears nourished and regenerated. The properties of the ingredients are such that the result is definitely achieved.

In other cosmetic products, the Tiiips experts comment on the properties of each individual ingredient in a summary. In this case, as this is a face cream that is obviously also spread around the eyes, I stop at one ingredient which is about halfway down the list on the label:

Phenoxyethanol, a broad-spectrum preservative used in cosmetics against Gram-negative bacteria, moulds and yeasts. It occurs naturally in green tea but is produced chemically using phenol and ethylene oxide. As with many other preservatives included in the formula of cosmetic products, the scientific literature warns of general and specific contraindications concerning the application of this preservative. In particular, with regard to the eyes, this 2020 study by Jingyi Wang and others at Harvard University warns of the toxicity of Phenoxyethanol to the epithelial cells of the Meibomian gland, which secretes the human tear film, the main source of lipids, through its ducts. You can read an extract HERE

What can I say? The cream would be great. Is it safe to use? I believe that the formula of this cream is dated before the date of publication of the study mentioned, so Yves Rocher was not aware of it at the time. From my own experience, I have seen for myself that manufacturers, at every challenge on ingredients considered by recent studies to be dangerous for health, take refuge behind the phrase: the ingredient is regularly authorised by the Control Authority. And after this answer, of course, there is no more dialogue, so I no longer write to the manufacturers. 

The only solution is to wait for the ingredient in question to be replaced. We shall see...