Naturally Bare

Ok, I admit it. I was totally sucked into a product greenwashing experience this last week. You see, sometimes I'm not totally game or have time to make my own sugaring solution for waxing my parts and I succumb to pre-made products. I really like Moom, but it's hard to find, so occasionally I will cheat and buy the pre-wax strips. There's a lot of waste, so I really don't like doing this.

Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon a new product that touts that it is "pure, all natural honey, sugar, chamomile and lemon", just like the simple ingredients in Moom home sugaring! Not only that, but the spatulas are made of natural birch wood and, the clincher, the removal strips are made of biodegradable corn recyclable packaging! There's a happy photo showing the four main ingredients all encompassed in a circle: honey, turbinado sugar, chamomile and lemon.

The product is actually by Sally Hansen and is called Naturally Bare Honey Wax Hair Remover for Body. Had I found the holy grail of sugaring? A product that was readily available in stores and, as they advertise, "gentle on your skin, gentle on the environment"? Um, no. First of all, the product stank. Moom smells like honey and not much else. This stuff smelled like a chemical lab explosion. It spread on easily, but was difficult to remove.

And those corn based biodegradable removal strips? Really hard to use, got gunked up fast and generally resulted in a painful, ineffective experience. When I bought the product, I was under the impression that the entire ingredient list was the happy 4 products shown in the circle, based on the packaging. But, when you read the small print, the main ingredients are: corn syrup, fructose, glucose, sucrose and saccaride hydrolysate. Then come the more herbal ingredients. Finally, to top things off, are two nasty customers: methylparaben and propylparaben.

In case you don't remember, parabens are synthetic preservatives and antimicrobials used to extend shelf life. Studies have found that parabens mimic estrogen in the body and disrupt normal hormone function, and they have been found in breast-tumor biopsies. So, while Moom uses naturally occurring preservatives, this product has resorted to something potentially cancerous. And, how is this "good for you, safe and effective. The ideal wax for a healthy, natural lifestyle"?

The "soothing aftercare gel" also includes sodium methylparaben, sodium ethylparaben and sodium propylparaben in case you didn't get enough from the wax itself. I'm highly disappointed in this greenwashing. If the product were actually effective, I could overlook the awkward corn based removal strips. But, since it wasn't easy or useful and it contains ingredients I would like to avoid (and was duped into thinking weren't in the product), I give this product a huge two thumbs down.

The sad thing is that most people will be sucked into this product, much like I was. So, the take home lesson is that, if it is too good to be true, it most likely is.