Several weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a free facial! I had won it a few weeks earlier at a Wellness Fair in Brooklyn which had a variety of free “healing” stations (aromatherapy, chiropractor, spinal analysis, tarot card readings, etc.) as well as food and product vendors. I ended up speaking with the women selling USANA Products, and buying a sample pack of their skin line (Sensé). Included were mini bottles of the following: a daily face cleanser, a toner, a daytime moisturizer, a night time moisturizer, and a “Perfecting Essence” lotion. I began using the products right away and really enjoyed them. The cleanser does not lather; in fact you do not need to even wet your face first. I loved the mild fresh scent! So I was excited when I got an email informing me that I would be receiving a free facial!
Before I went, I did a little research on exactly what is in these products.This proved trickier than expected. Apparently somewhere on the USANA site is a PDF of the ingredients in each product. But I did find it slightly fishy that it wasn’t easier to find (and FYI: Sensé products are not on the EWG Skin Deep site). I also recalled at the Fair, I had asked what was in the products, and instead of an actual list being readily available, they showed me a brochure that just highlighted the main “natural” ingredients.
However, since the sample pack I bought actually did come with an ingredient list I began to dissect that list. First I checked out the Gentle Daily Cleanser. Just at first glance, I saw that there were several PEGs listed (PEG-7, PEG-120, PEG-90M), including PEG-7 as the second ingredient. As well, it contains Butylene Glycol (I read this is also found in windshield wiper fluid!) and the last ingredient is Fragrance (again – that’s often a “catch-all” term that potentially might include a wide array of not-so-healthy ingredients).
Not to say that these products do not also contain ingredients that sound natural and non-chemically. But nonetheless, when I had the facial, we discussed what exactly was in them, and she mentioned that she had actually just emailed the company to follow-up about some of the ingredients. A few days later, she forwarded me the response which basically gave links to refute that these ingredients were harmful, and then went on to say that just because something is “natural” does not necessarily make it healthy.
Conclusion: So basically this, as with everything, is a matter of personal preference. Each individual has to think over the pros and cons and decide what he/she is comfortable with using. While I’m no scientist, I personally feel pretty okay about using these products, but at the same time I’m curious about what else is out there that could contain even fewer of these questionable ingredients. In terms of effectiveness, I don’t think I used it long enough to really give a very thorough review. But I did like it from the short period I used it. Gentle and not drying.
