G.M. Collin – Skin Care for the Stars from Canada

This is the first time I am experiencing G.M. Collin Skin Care from Canada. I mean, there are soooo many brands out there, you cannot know them all, right?

Anyway, during my visit to the ISPA Conference & Expo in Arizona in September 2018, I got a chance to get to know new product brands at the expo. This is how I got my hands on some free samples from Collin Skin Care, products developed and entirely made in Canada.

The Story

The story of G.M. Collin begins way back in the 1950s in Paris, and continues a tradition of excellence and innovation until today. They say about themselves to “… remain an undisputed leader in the skin care industry” and “…to develop superior skin care products…” for normal to oily and normal to dry skin, for the different skin conditions dehydrated skin, sensitive skin, oily to acne prone skin, and hyperpigmentation.

Their commitment to excellency includes efficacy and safety of each product supported by clinical studies.

To comfort their social conscience, the company donates to breast cancer organisations and humanitarian projects. 

For their environmental conscience, the company chooses renewable sourced ingredients. Boxes are made from recycled paper. Not sure this goes far enough for my taste, but I guess this is the minimum a modern skin care brand needs to offer when it comes to environmentalism.

G.M. Collin has won a large number of beauty awards. Well, honestly, that does not really mean much to me, as all you need is good marketing to receive one of those ‘beauty awards’ that almost every women’s magazine offers. As a partner to the Oscars in Hollywood, it seems to be a skin care for the stars and starlets.

My Products

Sensiderm Cream 

skin care for the stars Anja Eva Keller Petruccelli TalkWellnessSensiderm Cream for sensitive, normal to dry skin: is a light, white cream with a very subtle and agreeable scent. 

I have both used it in the morning and at night to try. I love the light texture and the soft feeling of my skin during the day. For me personally the cream is too light as night care, but works well under decorative make-up.

As for the ingredients: The brand’s website does not give away lists of ingredients for each product, so I did the tedious work of analysing the products myself. 

Unforntunately I was unable to analyse the ingredients of the cream. The print on the tube was so small, that I was unable to decipher the complicated latin names. I wish more manufacturers would heed this matter and be transparent about their INCIs.

Sensiderm Cleansing Milk

skin care for the stars Anja Eva Keller Petruccelli TalkWellnessCollin skin care is not a natural, or organic skin care line. Claiming to be paraben free (for all three products), there is particularly one ingredient that I would put a big question mark behind: PPG-5 Cethet-20. This is a micro plastic and hence affects the environment. It makes the skin more porous and thus allows harmful or polluting substances to enter the skin. It is used in skin care to make the application of the product smoother.a It also ssists in binding the different ingredients of the product to mix smoothly. 

Also Hexylene Glycol and Disodium EDTA are non recommended ingredients (and on the red list of cosmeticanalysis). The remaining 23 ingredients in the cleansing milk have good to excellent properties and are recommended, such as Recithin, Retinyl Palmitate, and Allantoin.

Treating Mist Spraybottle

skin care for the stars Anja Eva Keller Petruccelli TalkWellnessSensiderm Treating Mist for sensitive skin of all skin types is rather a softening treatment than refreshing. The slightly yellowish mist is very fine, the scent subtle, almost slightly medicinal. Great base for further skin care routines, yet not what I love in the morning after getting up for de-wrinkling my face after sleep. I like the mist now in autumn, not sure I would not find it slightly sticky in summer.

The analysis of the whopping 33 ingredients revealed a very good result. Only one of the ingredients, Disodium EDTA, is not recommended as irrelevant to the environment. It in- or de-creases the viscosity of cosmetics. 

Distribution

G.M. Collin skin care for the stars is available through skin care experts only. They do not offer online shopping. There is a ‘spa finder’ section on their website where you can locate your nearest retailer.

Their distribution system seems to be a challenge to the company, as they specifically express warnings as to not purchase from large online retail shops or other non approved or endorsed resellers and retailers.

Yet it looks like they offer good marketing support to their approved resellers.