Why it's important to check ingredients? L'oreal Youth Code Night Recovery Cream

One of the advantage of working in the superstore is possibility of being the first to grab a bargain. Some time ago we had range change in our skin care section and I grabbed discontinued L'oreal's night cream for £3, while the full price was £15 or so. Product was discontinued because L'oreal decided to refresh the range and change the packaging.
I must admit that I wasn't planing to review this product. I bought it only because I realised I am running out of my night cream and it takes at least two weeks for order from Korea to arrive, so I needed something quickly. From all the superstore available night creams I got that one, not only because of price, but also because I feel sentimental about L'oreal. My friend gave me for my 16th birthday L'oreal Pure Zone (line designed for young, acne troubled skin, discontinued now) gift set, that contained face wash, toner, cream and some spot product in handy cosmetic bag. I enjoyed using the series, however as a teenager I didn't have any regular income (no pocket money :P) and I struggled to save money to buy the whole series again, so I had to choose one favourite product (cream) and continued using it for through the whole high school. The cosmetic bag in this gift set was great - I still use it now, after 7 years and it's in great condition :)

But let's focus on the Youth Code. I bought it couple of months ago, when I was waiting for my Secret Key's set to arrive. I used it only couple of times, it seemed ok, but as soon as Secret Key arrived I have put it away and forgot about it. About two weeks ago I finished my snail cream and the snail gel is too light for night use, so I started to use L'oreal again... here it is:

The cream is packed in heavy, glass jar, 50ml capacity. Jar was packed into cardboard box, box was sealed in foil. Unfortunately I have thrown away the box, so I can't give you original product description, but the new version's description is:
Mature skin and young skin behave differently when exposed to external aggressions. As you age, skin takes longer to recover and responds more slowly.
L’Oréal Paris introduces new Youth Code Night Recovery Cream, inspired by gene science.
Every morning, wake up to visibly younger-looking skin:
1st morning. Intensively hydrated, skin appears less creased. Complexion is refreshed.
After 7 nights. Skin recovers a smooth, more rested appearance and signs of fatigue appear reduced.
After 28 nights. Wrinkles appear visibly reduced. Skin looks rejuvenated.

Promises, promises...

 

Cream has nice, lavender colour, the colour appeals to me as something shooting and calming (again: promises, promises...). It also has very strong smell - smell is very characteristic, perfume like, posh. It stays on skin for a long period of time, on the face we will smell it only for a while, but at the moment I have it on my hands and every time my hand goes close to my face I can still smell it (after 30mins), even though I catched cold and my nose is blocked. This intensive smell is the first thing that rose my suspicions: do my wrinkles need perfume?

Cream has nice texture, rich, but not too heavy. It absorbs fairly quickly and leaves skin matte, so matte that there is still no shine in the morning. I have oily skin and I suppose I could use this cream on a daytime, but in reduced amount, as it leaves film on the skin. Moisturising effect is fair. So what's my problem with this product?
Since February I am taking antibiotics to keep my acne at bay. My acne type are painful bumps on the skin, accumulating under the skin surface (professionally called nodules), they take long time to heal and leave scars. Usually there was only one, max two appearing at once on my face, mostly around mouth, chin and lower cheeks area. Since I'm on antibiotics I didn't have a single nodule, sometimes before my period some pimple would appear, but nothing major or painful. So my nodules stayed away until I reached for this cream - after week of using it three nodules appeared. Three! That's my record! I have never ever experienced three at one time before! The first one went away quickly, the second one I nipped in the bud (my irreplaceable Lioele Acne Patches), but the third one was haunting me for good couple of days. What annoyed me the most was the fact, that they appeared on my jaw line, place that was always trouble free, where my skin used to be fair and smooth. Despite of this cream I didn't introduce any new product into my skincare, I didn't change the diet or supplements, I didn't change antibiotics dose, I wasn't before my period - so I am 99,9% sure the Youth Code is to blame.
I decided to look into ingredients list. I have already thrown away the packaging, so I had to research for a while to find the ingredients list, but when I found it I am no longer surprised that I caused me to break out:

AQUA / WATER, SQUALANE, CYCLOHEXASILOXANE, GLYCERIN, CETYL ALCOHOL, GLYCERYL STEARATE, PEG40 STEARATE, MYRISTYL MYRISTATE, OCTYLDODECANOL, ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE, SORBITAN TRISTEARATE, MANNITOL, POLYACRYLAMIDE, TEREPHTHALYLIDENE DICAMPHOR SULFONIC ACID, NIACINAMIDE, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, PANTHENOL C1314 ISOPARAFFIN, TRIETHANOLAMINE, CAPRYLOYL SALICYLIC ACID, ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, LAURETH7, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, CYCLODEXTRIN, DISODIUM EDTA, FAEX / YEAST EXTRACT, DISODIUM SUCCINATE, SCUTELLARIA BAICALENSIS / SCUTELLARIA BAICALENSIS ROOT EXTRACT, MORUS BOMBYCIS / MORUS BOMBYCIS ROOT EXTRACT, HYDROLYZED SOY PROTEIN, IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA, METHYLPARABEN, PROPYLPARABEN, CHLORPHENESIN, CI 15985 / YELLOW 6, PARFUM / FRAGRANCE, CITRAL, LIMONENE, LINALOOL, ALPHAISOMETHYL IONONE, BENZYL BENZOATE, GERANIOL, CITRONELLOL, COUMARIN. 

Let's state something - I am not ingredients expert, I still have to google a lot and go through the ingredients with CosDNA. But even I can see that this ingredients list is up to no good. First we got slapped in the face with silicons, then potentially comedogenic surfactants (Cetyl Acohol, Myristyl Myristate), then there are two UV filters (in a night cream? What for?) and then finally yes, we do have some good ingredients:
Yeast extract - rich in protein that can nourish the skin, contains beta glucan that can prevent skin from ageing and improve skin immunity and moisture; rich in various vitamins B that can flatten wrinkles, reduce pigmentation and soften the skin.
Baikal Skullcap root extract - used in traditional folk Asian medicine thanks to it's anti-inflammatory, shooting, anti-bacterial and antioxidant properties. It soothes irritated skin, prone to allergies, rashes, eczema, preventing inflammatory process in epidermis. The extract of this plant tones skin and stimulates natural collagen production. It also showed whitening effect on skin and ability to reduce sun and age induced pigmentation.
Chinese mulberry root extract - stimulates collagen production, has a strong brightening effect, lightening sun and age spots,has a strong anti-inflammatory effect on skin, healing and calming irritations.
And while you think everything is going to be alright, the ingredients list finishes of with... wait for it... 4 preservatives and 9!!! fragrance agents. I really don't understand how my skin could resist those three good ingredients...
CosDNA ingredients analysis [HERE]

Price: I bought it as a discontinued item fo only £3, the new version costs about £16.

Pros:
+ mattifies skin, no shine even in the morning
+ moisturises

Cons:
- INGREDIENTS!!!
- strong smell
- price, for those ingredients that price should be illegal, seriously.

Summing up: well, considering how little I payed for it, I don't really regret the purchase - it was an interesting experience, I would have never thought that cream can "defeat" antibiotics. I am going to avoid this comapny's creams, which is a bit of a shame, I have theirs toner and micellar solution, that have nice, simple ingredients lists and perform well. I should have check the ingredients list before I actually bough it/applied it on my face, but I didn't thought about it, as I bought many Korean products without the ingredients check and none of those harm my skin in any way. Just to give you some comparison: have a look onto Secret Key's snail gel ingredients, product made by company considered by some bloggers with more experience in Asian skincare and able to spend more money on it, as an "average brand", brand that is relatively cheap. A few good for skin ingredients right at the top of the list, no preservatives, only one fragrance agent. And all of that for 1/3 of L'oreal's price...