This Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Masque Review contains my impressions of this product, information about the product and whether I plan to repurchase it. One of the things I love most about reading beauty blogs is learning about new companies and products. I first read about the Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Masque in essie-button’s Beauty Blog. I tend to gravitate toward products that are not “mainstream” (boutique products not readily available in drugstores or department stores). Finding smaller companies with interesting philosophies, unique offerings and cool packaging is a treasure hunt I really enjoy.

I was attracted to Aesop because it seemed like a high-end no frills, down to basics brand on the luxury side). I researched the company and was attracted to their product honesty (full disclosure of ingredients), ethics (no animal testing) and philosophy (support for local culture and community). From their website: “Aesop was established in Melbourne in 1987 with a quest to create a range of superlative products for the skin, hair and body. We are committed to using both plant-based and laboratory-made ingredients of the highest quality and proven efficacy – particularly those with the greatest anti-oxidant properties.” (About Aesop).

Parsley Seed Cleansing Masque Product Review

Aesop describes this product as “A clay-based masque to deeply cleanse and refresh most skin types, particularly sensitive or dry. A gentle yet thorough deep-cleansing treatment that extracts impurities clogging the pores, to smooth and refresh the skin. Aroma: Lavender, herbaceous; Product texture: fine, smooth clay; Skin feel: deeply cleansed, softened, refreshed.”

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Kaolin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Bentonite, Alcohol Denat., Glycerin, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Ormenis Multicaulis Oil, Carum Petroselinum (Parsley) Seed Oil, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Linalool

I purchased the mask on Aesop.com and I’ve been using it once a week for a few months. The packaging is elegant style-wise. The metal tube gets squishy and funky looking as you use it but that’s not a big deal to me. The instructions suggest using the product twice a week but I don’t always have time and energy to add additional steps to my skincare routine Monday through Friday.

I find the product thick, wet, smooth and somewhat cool to the touch. The fragrance is mild, slightly earthy and pleasant. I wash my face and let it dry about 10 minutes. Then, I apply the mask in a thin layer all over my face, avoiding the eye area. I sometimes spread it down my neck as well. The mask turns from green to white after it dries (about 15 minutes). As the product tightens on my face, it feels like it’s pulling all the impurities from my pores.The product is really easy to remove with water and a washcloth. It doesn’t take long to remove every trace of the product off of my face and it leaves my skin feeling smooth, clean, refreshed and soft.

In the past few months, I’ve been learning about companies and products geared toward “safer” ingredients.I bought this product before I started becoming obsessed with natural/green beauty blogs. I’ve been learning a lot about ingredients that some people choose to avoid and why. As I prepared for this post, I was curious to know if this product contains any controversial ingredients. I did research on the EWG Database (see EWG Findings section below). The Environmental Workgroup maintains a database of cosmetics ingredients. It rates ingredients in terms of safety in the following categories: Cancer, Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity, Allergies and Immunotoxicity and Use Restrictions. Although the product contains a number of ingredients that don’t cause alarm including water; aloe; kaolin; lavender oil; evening primrose oil; and parsley seed oil; a few ingredients are potentially problematic. Two products rank 5 on the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database; three are a 4 and two are 3 or less. In general, products that include ingredients that rank 4 or more in the EWG Skin Deep Database are above my comfort zone.

Conclusions

Am I going to continue to use this product? Absolutey! The product was fairly expensive, I enjoy using it, I like how it makes my skin feel and I don’t feel bad about using it. Will I keep this product in my permanent skincare rotation/will I repurchase it? Since I’m currently leaning toward products with fewer controversial ingredients, the answer would have to be no. I’m not deathly afraid of these ingredients but I am choosing to avoid them in future purchases. For me, it’s a matter of being safe vs. sorry.

Is anyone aware of a similar product that doesn’t contain the products EWG calls out as controversial?

Thank you for reading my post!

Barbara aka Curious Babs

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EWG Findings

Here is what I found out when analyzing the ingredients using the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. Please refer to EWG for more information.

Alcohol Denat (Denatured) – Function(s): ANTIFOAMING; ANTIMICROBIAL; ASTRINGENT; MASKING; SOLVENT; VISCOSITY CONTROLLING (EWG Score – 4)

Linalool  Fragrance Ingredient (EWG Score – 5)

Methylisothiazolinone – Widely used preservative; has been associated with allergic reactions. Lab studies on the brain cells of mammals also suggest that methylisothiazolinone may be neurotoxic (EWG Score – 5)

Methylchloroisothiazolinone – Widely used preservative; has been associated with allergic reactions (EWG Score – 4)

Phenoxyethanol – Fragrance Ingredient; Preservative (EWG Score – 4)