Arbonne Vitamin C
If you're active on social media, there's no doubt you've heard of Arbonne, whether it's a post showcasing the buzzed-about Arbonne fizz sticks or a DM from an old friend asking if you want to purchase a product from them. Yes, that's right: Arbonne is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company. In fact, it's a very popular MLM, with over 200,000 consultants around the world.
What are the Best Skin Care Products of 2021?
Due to the nature of MLMs, it's important to make sure you do your own research before purchasing a product. Sound like too much work? Don't worry, we've done the hard work for you. All you have to do is keep scrolling to read the details on the best Arbonne skin care products. We'll review the product formulations through a scientific lens, meaning we'll give you the research that supports (or doesn't support) the ingredients that you'll find in these products.
What Are The Top 10 Best Arbonne Skin Care Products?
Arbonne offers nine different skin care collections designed to target everything from acne prone skin to the signs of aging as well as sensitive skin. The collections include all different types of products to build your skin care routine, including cleansers, toners, serums, essences, oils, masks, day creams, and night creams. Here's a breakdown of the top 10 best Arbonne skin care products.
Arbonne Age Well Firming Neck Cream With 0.5% Bakuchiol
Is it true that you need a separate cream specifically for your neck? In our opinion, no, simply because there are plenty of anti-aging serums and creams that can work well for both the face and neck. But that doesn't stop companies from formulating neck creams to specifically address the signs of aging in thinner, more fragile skin on the jawline, neck, and décolletage. And that's exactly what the Arbonne Age Well Firming Neck Cream is claimed to do.
The Arbonne neck cream formula contains 0.5% bakuchiol as the key ingredient. Never heard of bakuchiol? It's the "plant-based retinol alternative" that's popping up all over the skin care industry (we'll give you more details on bakuchiol in the Key Ingredients section below). You'll also find supporting ingredients — like caffeine, peptides, vitamin C, and plant stem cells — in this neck cream, which should help promote firmer, smoother skin on the neck.
Arbonne Age Well Silky Cleanser With Vegan Surfactants
This pearlescent creamy face cleanser contains vegan surfactants to remove makeup, dirt, and other impurities, while supporting ingredients like glycerin and panthenol (provitamin B5) help to draw moisture into the skin. It's recommended for all skin types, including those with sensitive skin.
Arbonne Age Well Intense Repairing Night Cream With 2% Bakuchiol
If you're trying to prevent or reduce signs of skin aging, then you've probably heard that it's a good idea to add a retinol cream into your nightly routine. Maybe you've tried a retinol product, but you've experienced the common (yet annoying) side effects of retinol, like skin dryness and peeling. If so, then the Arbonne Age Well Intense Repairing Night Cream With 2% Bakuchiol could be a good option for you.
Bakuchiol provides many of the same benefits of retinol – but without the irritation. Plus, there are additional supporting ingredients in this night cream, like niacinamide, beech tree bud extract, and plant stem cells. This combination of ingredients should help to tackle multiple skin concerns, such as lines, wrinkles, uneven skin tone, and more.
Arbonne Age Well Collagen Nurturing Serum With 2% Bakuchiol
Similar to other products in the Arbonne Age Well collection, the Collagen Nurturing Serum features 2% bakuchiol as the key ingredient, along with many of the same supporting ingredients (niacinamide, beech tree bud extract, and plant stem cells).
The formula also contains a stabilized form of vitamin C (tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate) to support collagen production. According to the Indian Dermatology Online Journal , clinical studies have shown that the topical use of vitamin C increases collagen production in both young and aged human skin. By increasing the amount of collagen in the skin, signs of aging will be diminished and the skin will appear more firm.
Arbonne RE9 Advanced Intensive Renewal Serum
This Arbonne RE9 serum has a light, silky texture that gives the skin a soft, smooth feel. It's said to help enhance the look of skin smoothness and firmness, but unfortunately this serum contains pretty low concentrations of ingredients that would provide these benefits. For example, the brand lists vitamin C, plant stem cells, and sea buckthorn oil as key ingredients, however, these ingredients are used in concentrations of less than 1% (we know this because they are all listed after xanthan gum on the ingredient list).
The true key ingredients in this formula include glycerin, silicones, sugarcane extract, lemon fruit extract, orange fruit extract, apple fruit extract, and green tea leaf extract. These are beneficial ingredients, but they won't do much to increase your skin's firmness.
Arbonne RE9 Advanced Skin Revitalizing Sheet Mask
This serum-infused sheet mask is formulated to hydrate, smooth, replenish, and enhance radiance. There are plenty of hydrating ingredients infused in this mask, such as glycerin, apple fruit extract, cucumber fruit extract, and algae extract. These ingredients act like moisture magnets, drawing moisture into the upper layers of skin in order to improve skin hydration and give your complexion that plumped, youthful appearance.
Arbonne RE9 Advanced Lifting & Contouring Eye Cream
This Arbonne eye cream has a rich, silky texture that blends into the skin quickly without leaving a greasy residue. It contains plenty of emollients to nourish the skin, such as olive oil, shea butter, jojoba oil, sea buckthorn oil, mango seed butter, and more. It's said to help the skin around the eyes look firmer and tighter, however, the ingredients that would actually provide these benefits are used in pretty low concentrations. What a bummer.
Arbonne RE9 Advanced Lifting & Contouring V-Lift Gel
Sometimes we just need a product that instantly disguises lines and wrinkles, even if those effects don't last. And that's exactly what the Arbonne RE9 Advanced Lifting & Contouring V-Lift Gel is formulated to do. It's a thin, clear gel that contains sodium polystyrene sulfonate, a film former that helps to superficially mask wrinkles. However, this effect is temporary and will disappear once the product is washed off. The Arbonne V-Lift Gel is claimed to reduce smile lines and crow's feet with consistent use, but once again all of the other "key" ingredients are used in very low concentrations (less than 1%).
Arbonne RE9 Advanced Lifting & Contouring Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 15 Sunscreen
This Arbonne sunscreen provides SPF 15 protection thanks to zinc oxide, a mineral sunscreen. The formula also includes plenty of emollients like jojoba oil, squalane, and shea butter to help lock in moisture. The brand claims that peony root, algae extract, vitamin C, sea buckthorn oil, and peptides are key ingredients. But these ingredients are used in concentrations of less than 1% in this formula. This seems to be a recurring theme for the Arbonne products, doesn't it?
Arbonne Intelligence Genius Nightly Resurfacing Pads & Solution
The Arbonne Resurfacing Pads are said to improve the appearance of dark spots, fine lines, and skin luminosity. But instead of spending $98 on these pads, you should be able to achieve similar results by purchasing a bottle of rubbing alcohol at the dollar store and applying that with a cotton pad. That's because denatured alcohol is the second highest concentration ingredient in these pads! We'll explain why this is a major problem below in the Key Ingredients section.
Arbonne Intelligence Pollution Defense CC Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 30
The Arbonne CC cream is a lightweight, medium coverage formula that can replace your primer, concealer, foundation, and mattifying powder. It creates a breathable "second skin" to protect all skin types from pollution. The formula also provides mineral-based, broad-spectrum SPF 30 protection against UVA/UVB rays thanks to zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. A few supporting ingredients in this formula include argan oil, vitamin E, alfalfa extract, and chicory extract.
What Are The Key Ingredients in Arbonne Skin Care Products?
After evaluating the best selling Arbonne skin care products, we noticed that most of the products are formulated with high concentrations of key ingredients, which is great. However, there are a few exceptions.
For example, the Arbonne Resurfacing Pads are formulated with an extremely high concentration of denatured alcohol (it's the second highest concentration ingredient after dimethicone). And this is problematic for several reasons.
One problem is that, at first, products with high concentrations of denatured alcohol seem like they are actually helping your skin. That's because alcohol gives products a quick-drying finish, immediately degreases the skin, and imparts a weightless feel. This is why you'll notice that the Arbonne Resurfacing Pads instantly help to smooth, tighten, and reduce excess oil. But not in a healthy way!
The immediate effects of alcohol-based products can actually stimulate the sebaceous glands to produce more oil, causing skin to look even more shiny and oily than it was before. This excessive oil production combined with the possible irritation that denatured alcohol can cause may lead to an increase in acne breakouts.
Another major problem with using high concentrations of denatured alcohol is that this ingredient is well known to cause skin dryness, irritation, and even disruption of the skin barrier. According to a publication in the journal BBA Biomembranes, alcohol disrupts the lipids that make up the stratum corneum (the outermost layer of skin). While alcohol may provide short term benefits, it's not doing your skin any good in the long run.
There are also several Arbonne skin care products that contain synthetic fragrance ingredients. The use of synthetic fragrance ingredients can be a problem because the brand can use a proprietary blend of chemicals to create the fragrance, and they do not have to disclose which chemicals they use on the label. They are allowed to list this blend as "Fragrance (Parfum)" on the ingredient list.
A 2018 study by Women's Voices for the Earth discovered that in over 3,000 chemicals reportedly used for fragrances, 1,242 were chemicals of concern – and that included at least 7 possible carcinogenic (cancer-causing) agents. Fragrance ingredients also have the potential to cause skin irritation and sensitivity.
Despite the products that contain denatured alcohol and synthetic fragrance ingredients, the brand does use beneficial key ingredients in most of the Arbonne skin care products. One ingredient that you'll find again and again in Arbonne skin care products is bakuchiol, an alternative to retinol. But can bakuchiol really provide the same effects as retinol? Let's take a look at the science.
First, it's important to know that bakuchiol and retinol are structurally and chemically completely different. Bakuchiol is a seed extract derived from the Ayurvedic Babchi plant. Retinol is another name for vitamin A, which can only be found in animal foods.
So bakuchiol and retinol are quite different, but they work similarly in cosmetic applications. In fact, bakuchiol has been shown to produce many of the same effects of using retinol, including the ability to diminish the appearance of wrinkles and reduce the effects of sun damage (including uneven skin tone). One of the main benefits of bakuchiol is that it provides retinol-like effects without irritation.
For example, a 2019 study published in the British Academy of Dermatology compared bakuchiol and retinol in a head-to-head 12-week, double-blind clinical trial on human subjects. For the study, 44 participants received either a twice-daily 0.5% bakuchiol product or a once-daily 0.5% retinol product. Both groups saw improvements in hyperpigmentation, wrinkles, and redness, and there was no statistically significant difference between their results. This suggests that using bakuchiol twice a day is as effective as using retinol once a day. Another benefit is that the bakuchiol group reported less skin scaling and flaking than the retinol group.
If you want to reap the benefits of bakuchiol, consider the products in the Arbonne Age Well collection.
Another plant-derived ingredient that is frequently used in the Arbonne skin care products is sea buckthorn oil. Sea buckthorn oil contains unique unsaturated fatty acids, such as palmitoleic acid (omega-7) and gamma-linolenic acid (omega-6), which give this oil skin regeneration and repair properties. In addition, sea buckthorn oil easily penetrates through the epidermis, where it improves blood circulation and facilitates oxygenation of the skin.
Besides bakuchiol and sea buckthorn oil, a few of the key ingredients that you'll find in Arbonne skin care products include niacinamide (amide form of vitamin B3), different algae extracts, and vitamin C derivatives. These are all excellent ingredients that should help to hydrate, brighten, and protect skin.
Where to Buy Arbonne Skin Care Products?
Arbonne skin care products can be purchased directly from the company's website, on third party online retailers like Amazon, or from an independent Arbonne consultant. We recommend taking a look at the Arbonne reviews before talking to a consultant because at the end of the day their job is to make a sale.
How Much Does Arbonne Skin Care Cost?
Arbonne skin care products are priced relatively high, for example, the Arbonne Age Well Firming Neck Cream With 0.5% Bakuchiol costs $112 for 50 mL and Arbonne RE9 Advanced Lifting & Contouring V-Lift Gel costs $50 for 1 fl oz. However, you can receive 20% off Arbonne products if you sign up to be a Preferred Client (PC).
What is The Arbonne Return Policy?
The Arbonne return policy states, "A 45-day money-back guarantee is offered on all Arbonne products to Clients (including Preferred Clients). Clients who are not completely satisfied may return the purchased products for full refund or product exchange within 45 days from the Client purchase date. Shipping fees are non-refundable."
Is Arbonne Cruelty Free?
Arbonne is cruelty free and the products are officially Leaping Bunny Certified. Leaping Bunny Certification means Arbonne skin care products are free of animal testing at every stage of product development.
Arbonne Reviews
Unfortunately, the brand does not display Arbonne reviews on their website.
Our Verdict
Overall, we were disappointed in most of the Arbonne skin care products since the majority of them contain low concentrations of key beneficial ingredients.
Pros
- Some products are formulated with evidence-based ingredients, such as bakuchiol, niacinamide, vitamin C, and more
- Some Arbonne products are fragrance free
- Arbonne is cruelty free
Cons
- High price point
- Some Arbonne products contain synthetic fragrance ingredients
- Some Arbonne products contain high concentrations of denatured alcohol (like Arbonne Resurfacing Pads)
- Some Arbonne products contain low concentrations of key beneficial ingredients
- No Arbonne reviews on the brand's website
What Are Some Alternatives to Arbonne Skin Care Products?
Overall, it's up to you to decide if you think that Arbonne skin care products are worth trying. At such a high price point for products that contain low concentrations of key ingredients, we think it's worth considering other skin care brands.
One brand we recommend is Formulyst because they believe in long term skin care treatments rather than short term cover-ups. For example, Formulyst Anti-Aging Concentrate is a facial serum that contains high concentrations of anti-aging ingredients like antioxidant vitamins C and E, green tea extract, peptides, alpha-arbutin, and more. Plus, there are plenty of emollients in the formula, such as shea butter and squalane, that help your skin to feel soft without leaving a greasy residue. Formulyst's Anti-Aging Concentrate is truly an all-in-one serum that can help condition your complexion while helping to reduce the appearance of age spots, wrinkles, and fine lines.
Another brand that balances the power of plants with cutting edge science is Carrot & Stick . Not only is Carrot & Stick good for your skin, it is also good for the environment as the formulas skip harmful chemicals commonly found in skin care products.
References:
Indian Dermatol Online J. 2013 Apr-Jun; 4(2): 143–146.
BBA Biomembranes, May 2012, pages 1410-1419.
2. Women's Voices for the Earth "Unpacking The Fragrance Industry" 2018.
Source: https://thedermreview.com/arbonne-skincare-review/
