Renow D Facial Cream Review

DO NOT BUY RENOW-D. IF YOU'RE ALREADY USING IT, PLEASE STOP. READ: https://liveitpretty.blogspot.com/2018/01/fda-advisory-warning-against-use-of.html

EVERYTHING WRITTEN BELOW WAS WRITTEN AT A TIME WHEN I DID NOT KNOW BETTER.

This is a follow up experiment to my Mena adventure which you can find here. I was able to enjoy Mena for a good two months until my skin started reacting to its kojic acid component. The product effectively minimized my pores and brightened my skin. If not for the kojic acid, I'd probably use Mena for a longer time, forever, possibly. It was really good, but alas, some good things never last.

Oops. Wrong mena. But yeah, the cream can make you feel this pretty.

Because I can't continue using it, I am now on a desperate mission to find a good replacement. I currently have the classic, pink variety Mena, and a Renow D in my makeup basket. I am inclined to experiment with the pink Mena first, since it has a similar formulation with the pearl white variety. The mena in my basket though is over a year old. I don't even remember why it's there. So I'm left with no choice but to try Renow D.

The packaging looks dated. Like this woman is probably already a grandma to 3 grade schoolers by now. 

I remember using Renow D in college, circa the heydays of St. Ives Apricot Scrub and mineral makeup. I do not remember why I stopped using it. (Okay, if you've read my mena post this would raise a red flag!) Hmmm... I'm still game though. I mean, a few weeks of good skin was worth waking up to an itchy face today. Or not. Wait. Okay, fine, I'll rest my face for 2 weeks and then and only than can the Renow D experiment start.

[Something completely random and irrelevant to the topic: WHY APRICOT SCRUB IS TERRIBLE FOR YOUR SKIN. I just felt like sharing something good. Sorry.]

For now, let's examine the ingredients:

1. Triclosan - OKAY. This is the first ingredient in the list, meaning this has the largest amount in the product. Considering the warnings against this ingredient (this was originally a pesticide!), this is scary. While there is still no sufficient proof that this is hazardous, triclosan is linked to heart disease, hormonal disruption, and a lot of other scary things.
2. Vitamin E - you know, the antioxidant super vitamin
3. Vitamin C - yup, that vitamin. Antioxidant, skin brightener.
4. Titanium Dioxide - whitener, lubricant, sunscreen. Gives that dreaded white sheen in flash photography.
5. Allantoin - skin conditioning agent.
6. White Mineral Oil - moisturizer and assists in wound healing. Despite its bad reputation, it actually does not clog pores.
7. Lanolin Anhydrous - a breathable, protective skin protectant waxy oil from sheep that is similar to human skin lipids.
8. Cetyl Alcohol - is actually not an alcohol, but a moisturizing, conditioning and softening agent.
9. Beeswax - moisturizer, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory. This is mena's first ingredient in its list, looks to me like mena is a safer option.
10. Iron Oxide Brown CI No 77492 - colorant
11. Perfume - I am yet to open my box, so I do not know if Renow D smells as bad as Mena.
12. Evening Primrose Oil - skin conditioning agent. I remember taking this in pill form as a supplement during my pregnancy. It made my skin soft as a side effect. I took this some time last year in an attempt to replicate the softness of my skin when I was pregnant. Effective. Costs about P6 a piece.
13. White Petrolatum - iiis also known as petroleum jelly. Generally considered safe, but EWG warns about possible contamination of cancer-causing chemicals during its manufacture. Everything causes cancer these days. But since this is a cheap product, (too cheap that it has not bothered to redesign its packaging for what 2 decades, and too cheap to notice there's a typo in the ingredients list,) you might wanna consider how high their standards are set during manufacture.
14. Zinc Oxide - colorant and sunscreen.

Am I still game? I braved Mena in spite of it having Kojic Acid, an ingredient that works miraculously for a few weeks or months only to irritate my skin eventually. Mena has cancer-causing parabens, too. But to be honest, everything these days has scary ingredients, even stuff doctors recommend for use on babies. Mena, however, is less scary. Because 1) it bothers with packaging and product update, they look to me like a company that cares to improve on their products, 2) its ingredients are scary but not crazy scary in a crazy scary order in its list. Also, between Chin Chun Su and Renow D, I'd go for Renow D. Even without the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea issue, I have long avoided using Chinese products. I am not a fan of their profit-over-ethics culture. But when I consider the aged women I personally know, who have used Chin Chun Su on their faces and armpits for decades, with seemingly no sign of side effects, Renow D starts to look like an innocent harmless baby.

I have 2 weeks to make up my mind.

To be continued.

~UPDATE~

So it hasn't been two weeks yet. 5 days is the most amount of waiting my attention span allows. First application review of Renow D:

• Renow D is a watered-down version of Mena.
• Consistency is lighter, liquid-er, while Mena is thicker and more powdery
• Coverage is zero, Mena covers minor blemishes
• Comfort is 10, it's currently on my face but I don't feel it. It also kind of looks like it's not there too, which can be a good or a bad thing.
• Good - if you have nice-ish skin to begin with and are looking for something to make you glow in the subtlest way possible
• Bad - if you have trouble skin and wish to have a drastic immediate result
• Scent is perfect because there's none.
• Renow D feels more like a light moisturizer while Mena feels like cream to powder foundation

~CRAZY UPDATE~

I had the courage to try it today is because of this silly silly reason: they in fact have updated their packaging! The granny model is still there, BUT they did bother to edit their ingredients list. Possibly for adherence to industry standards. There's something fishy about the previous packaging up there. The list just looks off. It's possible it's not in proper order. Anyway, let's review the ingredients of the Renow D version that's currently on my face:

1. Cetyl Alcohol - is now the first in line. At least now we know Renow D's main ingredient is a moisturizer, not a pesticide.

2. Petroleum Jelly - another moisturizer

3. Mineral Oil - moisturizer

4. Lanolin - skin protectant

5. Talc - as in baby powder

6. Zinc Oxide - sunscreen

7. Allantoin - skin conditioner

8. Polymethyl Metacrylate - game changer! This is actually the first time I've encountered this ingredient. It's added to make it easier to apply cosmetics smoothly, cover up wrinkles and change their texture. 

9. Bees wax - antibacterial, anti-inflammatory moisturizer

10. Arbutin - a.k.a. wonder skin brightener, as effective as hydroquinone but far gentler

11. Kojic Acid - ugh. you again, you follow me everywhere

12. Silica - absorbs sweat and oil

13. Evening Primrose Oil - skin conditioner

14. Tocopheryl Acetate - a.k.a. Vitamin E

15. BHT - synthetic antioxidant 

16. Methyl Paraben -

17. Propyl Paraben - Parabensss = Cancersss or not will we ever truly know??

18. Titanium Dioxide - whitener, lubricant, sunscreen.

19. TRICLOSAN - now we're talking. When it's this far down the list, it's not as scary. 

20. Ascorbic Acid - Vitamin C

Now we're 6 ingredients longer. I'm feeling positive. I like how everything's so far declared safe with the exception of the ones at the far end of the list. I also like how majority's either a moisturizer or a skin protectant. I'll update again in a few days in case I break out or something. Laters.