I find the whole whitening and brightening issue in skincare slightly fraught. I am keen on products that work hard to brighten my skin. When I have a spot, it always leaves a scar and that scar is always darker than the rest of my skin. To be clear, I do not have an aspiration for white skin but, I do want a brightening and clarifying effect on my skin and I am definitely interested in products which even out my skin tone. So when I see ‘whitening’ products I have to take a deep breath…and look at the ingredients. In this age of global customers, I think that cosmetics companies should be taking the ‘whitening’ out and replacing it with ‘brightening’ if that is what the product is trying to do… but I am not a marketing expert – what do I know? What I can tell you is that the term ‘whitening’ does make me think twice about a product. I have to because from a first look, I don’t know if whitening on a product means ‘brightening’ or’ lightening’ or ‘bleaching’. Lots of skincare brands have ‘whitening’ ranges (Decleor has Aroma White, Sisley has Phyto-Blanc, Chanel has Le Blanc, etc) and this is often the range that is recommended to me, to even out my skintone and brighten my complexion. But to my understanding, brightening and whitening are not the same. I understand that in Asia, the ‘whitening’ market is huge and the use of whitening is synonymous with brightening, but I am in the UK so describing a product as whitening is problematic for me. I am not offended by the word, I just dont think that it provides an accurate description of what the product does. Surely it is a breach of Trading Standards to mislead a consumer about a product. Am I the only person that thinks that ‘whitening’ is misleading?
Anyway, Jurlique have a range called Purely White. In 2012, they have a range which references a shade of Dulux/Crown/Wickes emulsion? The ‘Purely White’ range was ‘relaunched’ earlier this year. I say again, in 2012? Every time I write it I am rolling my eyes in exasperation. You really want to give global customers the impression that the range will make their skin Purely White? Really? Hmmmm.
So having read my rant, above, you may be wondering WHY I purchased Jurlique’s Purely White Whitening Mist. It has white in the title – TWICE! I bought it because I was running out of toner and wanted to use something that was working harder than the toner that I had just finished. I wanted a brightening toner, and in general Jurlique is a range that I like, so after thinking twice about this product, and deciding that when they said whitening, they meant brightening, I bought the product.
The packaging is pretty, something that Jurlique does well. The mist comes in a lovely weighty glass bottle. For the weight of the bottle, the plastic cap seems a bit incongruous – a metal cap would have been preferable. The distribution of the mist is concentrated in a small area . It means that when you attempt to mist your face with the product, you actually just mist your chin, a small area of your forehead or if you are unlucky, just one eye (D’oh) and when it is released the product appears to foam slightly. It is clearly not a product that is meant to be misted onto the face despite the instructions. The best way to apply this product is to spray it into the hands and then pat it onto the face. There is a fragrance to this product, but it is hard to describe – it is quite a delicate, slightly floral with some woodiness.
The active ingredient is VitaBrightKX which is supposed to help to fade discoloured areas and firm the skin. Bingo I thought… I am seeking both these results. unfortunately, I saw neither of these after several weeks of use and in addition, my skin was left feeling quite tight so my search for a brightening toner continues. If you have any recommendations I would love to hear them!