Skin Care ReviewsCompare Leading Beauty Products

• Crème de la Mer

  

  Editor's Rating8.7

  • Ingredients8.1
  • Results8.9
  • Reputation8.1
  • Value8.8

  Customer Rating

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  Overview

  Its origins read like a legend passed down from generation to generation: A man, badly burned, seeks a cure with such fervor that his experiments reach into the thousands before uncovering a miracle face cream that cures him.

  The man, Dr. Max Huber, was an aerospace physicist who suffered chemical burns during a laboratory accident. Thus, he began a quest to heal his damaged skin. Twelve years and thousands of experiments later, The Miracle Broth was developed and became the core ingredient of the signature moisturizing cream, Crème de la Mer. So specialized is the cream, that the sea kelp which is the essence of The Miracle Broth is only harvested twice a year at a certain location off the Pacific Coast. Then, the kelp undergoes a process of bio-fermentation for up to four months before it is ready to be included in The Miracle Broth and Crème de la Mer.

  Sounds impressive, right?

  Though our initial reaction to Crème de la Mer was enthusiastic, we're skeptics at heart, and soon our cynical side took over. Huber died in 1991, and his daughter inherited the company and sold it to cosmetics giant Estee Lauder. Though the company hails Huber and the product's origin, little is revealed about the man, and most notably, his skin's rejuvenation upon the development of The Miracle Broth.

  We found just a single photo of Dr. Huber, apparently after his success with sea kelp. No facial scarring was visible, though it was a black and white photo, which makes it more difficult to note differentiations of skin tone and texture. Our question, however, is aimed at Estee Lauder: If you're touting the miraculous benefits of a product able to essentially cure chemically-scarred skin, why wouldn't you flaunt proof of your results? Our best guess is that they simply don't exist.

  Why a scientist wouldn't photographically document such a supposedly dramatic discovery is curious at the very least. However, one thing cannot be denied: throngs of women spend big money on Crème de la Mer.

  Light as water yet substantial enough to withstand "warming" the moisturizer in the hands prior to facial application, Crème de la Mer feels good as it goes on. Some swear it sucks up oil like a sponge while leaving skin soft. Particularly well-suited to drier skin, a number of testers reported that this moisturizer made a difference in how their skin felt, though not necessarily in how it looked.

  Certainly there are those who balk at the steep price, but there are plenty who pledge their allegiance by happily offering $135 per ounce for the face cream.

  Whereas Huber's mixture might have been forward-thinking for the time period, the ingredients in Crème de la Mer are quite common by today's standards. The likelihood is good that less expensive products exist that deliver comparable results as Crème de la Mer, but will consumers want to accept that quest? Many people enjoy the reassurance that accompanies a high price tag – not to mention the prestige the Crème de la Mer name carries.

  So is it worth the hefty price tag? Perhaps that's a question only each individual customer can answer. At what price beauty? For some, $135 is a small price to pay. We'd rather continue the search.

  Price: $135 (1 oz)

  Ingredients: Seaweed (Algae) Extract, Mineral oil Glycerin, Isohexadecane, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Extract, Microcrystalline Wax, Lanolin Alcohol, Sesame Seed Oil, Eucalyptus Oil, Magnesium Sulfate, Sesame Seed, Medicago sativa (alfalfa) seed powder, Helianthus Annuus (sunflower) Seedcake, Prunus amygdulus dulcis (sweet almond) seed meal, Sodium Gluconate, Potassium Gluconate, Copper Gluconate, Calcium Gluconate, Magnesium Gluconate, Zinc Gluconate, Paraffin, Tocopheryl succinate, Niacin, Beta-carotene, Decyl oleate, Aluminium distearate, Octyldodecanol, Citric acid, Cyanocobalamin, Magnesium stearate, Panthenol, Limonene, Geraniol, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, Citronellol, Benzyl salicylate, Citral, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Alcohol Denat., Fragrance (Parfum).

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