Ingredient Review for Korres - could they be a Greenwashing company?

On occasion I like to be a little controversial and air some opinions about brands and the ingredients they use. Of course not everyone will agree with me but there are some brands that get my blood boiling - Lush, Yves Rocher,  Sanex and Corine de FarmeI get cross because I class them as "green washing" which basically means they are promoting themselves as natural but in fact they use a ton of synthetic ingredients in their products. Who is next on the naughty step? - Korres

The bloggersphere loves Korres so I know my viewpoint is probably going to get me a few unfollows. What winds me up about these products? Well, yes they have an impressive free from list but the product ingredients are still as long as my arm, with not many natural derived ones and a lot of unpronounceable ones. 

Even with the Free From list proudly displayed on bottles, they highlight they are using SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulfate), PEG and Fragrance. 

Free From labelling aside it's interesting to dig a little deeper into the full ingredient listings. I can't go through every product but I randomly selected a couple from the website and used EWG to source my information.

Jasmine Shower Gelnot only does it contain SLES but also Imidazolidinyl Urea - "antimicrobial preservative that acts as a formaldehyde releaser in cosmetics and personal care products." Another ingredient which catches my attention is Cocamidopropyl betaine - "a synthetic surfactant; it has been associated with irritation and allergic contact dermatitis, reactions that could be due to the ingredient itself or to impurities present in it, such as 3-dimethylaminopropylamine." 

Wild Rose 24 hour Moisturisercontains Butylphenyl Methylpropional - "synthetic fragrance, a skin irritant, its use is restricted in both leave-on and wash-off products because of its powerful sensitisation potential." (source theecologist.org)

Quercetin & Oak Night Creamcontains Silica Dimethyl Silylate, although the EWG database has no data it is described as "a silica-based synthetic derivative"

Lip Butters - A firm favourite with bloggers but the first ingredient is Polybutene “a polymer used as a plasticizer and viscosity agent.” Polyethylene is a common plastic, Propylene Carbonate is derived from propylene glycol.

The use of phenoxyethanol and Japanese Honeysuckle are debatable, they are common in products without Parabens. From a food allergy prospective I noticed many products contain wheat and gluten, a couple have lactose and whey proteins.

Whether you avoid these ingredients and products is entirely your own decision. Just don't let companies like this one, pull the wool over your eyes. They are NOT at one with Mother Nature. Obviously everyone is different when it comes to sensitive skin but I would be cautious with Korres, there are a number of ingredients which have the potential to be a skin irritant.

Sarah x

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