Headquartered right here in my hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina I had the pleasure of meeting with South of France Spa Naturals to learn more about and try their line of skincare products.
The line includes a cleansing facial bar, cleanser, scrub, mask and moisturizer in three fresh fra
grances – Energizing Citrus Mint, Refreshing Orange Ginger and Soothing Cucumber Aloe. The resin and colorants of the canisters are BPA and Phthalate free and conveniently packaged in 3 ounce containers to comply with TSA air travel guidelines. None of the products have been tested on animals or contain animal by-products.
I have been on a pretty good skin care regimen for several years to include the use of sunscreen daily, vitamin C and exfoliating so I wasn’t trying it to see if it would make a dramatic difference but simply see if it could maintain and not make my skin worse – which it did not.
I found the cleanser to be light and airy. The moisturizer is thick and creamy – so thick that only a tiny dab is needed and will last a long time. The scrub is a little tingly as it exfoliates the skin and the mask is a quick and effective way to really pull out all those impurities in the skin. Stating to be 100% natural (a term not regulated by the way), they provide a helpful ingredient glossary which I checked against the Environmental Working Group’s “Skin Deep” database and was glad to find the ingredients I searched for were a no or low hazard. The only exception was with benzyl alcohol where when used in a facial cleanser or moisturizer comes up as a moderate hazard even in other natural brands. You can also read an article from the SpaNatural’s Director of Product Development on other questionable ingredients in skin care to look out for on page 40 in Natural Triad Magazine.
I was also able to try their South of France body bar. This huge bar is made with 100% natural vegetable oils, fragrances and is paraben and phthalate free. I have been wanting to move away from shower gel in the plastic containers but have not liked the sticky film a bar of soap often leaves behind. This soap suds up and easily rinses off with no filming feeling afterwards. Other body care products include an organic liquid soap, body lotion and washes.
SpaNaturals has priced their line in a very affordable manner. The skin care is individually priced at $12 each ($5 for the facial bars), or $45 for the set, and the body bar is $5.39. You can order online and beginning in April, 2011, purchase at select retailers. As they told me, they want to make it easy for anyone to move towards a more natural skin care regimen. I think compared to other commercial brands at any price point, coupled with the ingredients offered this can be a better option and great way to get start and I will continue to use a well.
And if you order online, shop and save with code STOPCANCER at checkout (valid until the end of the year) to get 15% off your total order with with free shipping for orders over $30 before the discount. Spa Naturals will donate $1 from every sale using this promo code to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund which makes that even a better deal.
SpaNaturals parent company is Good Health Natural Products which also includes Good Health Natural Foods offering healthy snack options. Look for that review coming up soon.
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Since everyone's skin is different – and personal preferences on products come into play – it's good to read as many unbiased reviews of skin care products as possible.
Here's a page with skin care product reviews, based on the experiences and findings of members of a test panel. http://www.best-mens-skin-care.com/skin-care-product-reviews.html
You are absolutely right – skin type and personal preference do play an important part. Thanks for the info and for your thoughts!
I don’t care for South of France products at all. They are also deceptive regarding where there products are made – try to find it on a label. French quality this is not.
I appreciate your concern and should have included this in my review. I have spoken to the company on your behalf as well. To clarify, Spa Naturals is manufactured in California. In regards to your comment about the company being deceptive regarding where the products are made, their reply is as follows: “South of France is a brand name and was chosen because this line was created by a French-American transplant who wanted to bring artesian soap-making practices to America based on techniques that originated in France (we do discuss that our products are made in the U.S. not France in detail on our website in the FAQ section and do have contact information for our corporate Greensboro location on the label in case people have questions about the origin). Economic pressures have caused us to switch manufacturers to here in the U.S. so we can ensure our products can be available at a value but some of the products were once made in France. I am sorry that your reader feels we are deceiving them and that was never our attention.”
I hope this addresses your concern a bit. Thanks for commenting.
I appreciate your concern and have spoken to the company on your behalf. Spa Naturals is manufactured in California and this is a point I should have included in the review. In regards to your comment about the company being deceptive regarding where the products are made, their response is a follows: “South of France is a brand name and was chosen because this line was created by a French-American transplant who wanted to bring artesian soap-making practices to America based on techniques that originated in France (we do discuss that our products are made in the U.S. not France in detail on our website in the FAQ section and do have contact information for our corporate Greensboro location on the label in case people have questions about the origin). Economic pressures have caused us to switch manufacturers to here in the U.S. so we can ensure our products can be available at a value but some of the products were once made in France. I am sorry that your reader feels we are deceiving them and that was never our intention.”
I hope this addresses your concern a bit. Thank you for commenting.
Anyone interrested in aloe based all natural skin care with no parabens, sls, mineral oil, FD&C, or wax? How about organically grown cold stabilized aloe as the first ingredient?