A tweet from the highly-regarded luxury UK-based international cosmetic brand ELEMIS caught my eye some years ago.
Good news, it seemed.
Curious about the official statement, I asked to be sent it too.
The more interesting extracts are these:
“Elemis have voluntarily taken action to formulate both MI and the blend MI/MCI out of all current products continuing to be sold, and will no longer be formulating with these preservatives in the future”
And later:
” … we now have a small number of products with the Elemis formulations containing MI and MI/MCI”
This was a contradiction to the tweet.
I was given a list of five ELEMIS products containing MI:
- Anti-Ageing BIOTEC Anti Acne Activator — a professional-only product, I assume available through beauticians / spas offering BIOTEC facial treatments.
- Lime & Ginger Hand and Body Wash — only available through QVC.
- Revitalise-Me Shower Cream (recently renamed to Revitalise-Me Shower Gel)
- Sharp Shower and Bath Gel
- Skin Nourishing Shower Cream
You’ll note that these are all wash-off / rinse-off products. (Leave-on products are no longer permitted to contain any isothiazolinone preservative in the EU.)
So when would ELEMIS be formulating MI / MCI out of these products?
“Product Development … have advised that the five products which still contain MI are currently being investigated to ensure the correct reformulations are made throughout this year.”
2019 Update
The dialogue above happened in 2017. I presumed, then, that we could expect ELEMIS to be a fully MI-free brand by 2018.
But last week, January 2019, I contacted them again for an update, and was told that this had not happened.
The products above (minus the QVC product, which I think has been discontinued), still contain MI / MCI and the customer services assistant at Elemis told me she was unaware of any reformulation plans.
Elemis were at pains to point out that they use MI / MCI within legal limits for a limited number of products, and that’s fair enough. But it’s a shame when brands make promises they then don’t go on to keep, nor explain why.
It’s a real pity, because I’ve heard excellent feedback about their products, and they are highly regarded in the UK. Has anyone in North America tried them?
If you want to browse, try the SkinStore online store, which has an excellent Elemis selection, including the signature pro-collagen marine products, which are all safe.
They’re also available on Amazon — click here.
To check out the ELEMIS site, which provides ingredients to individual products, click here.