Product Reviews

Product Review – Alivea Cream for Sunburn

June 7, 2012 , 0 By Kim Wilbur

Before you read on, please note this is Part 1 of the Alivea Cream Review as a sunburn treatment product. A second part on how it worked for my eczema will be posted shortly. Check out my eczema treatment reviews here.

A couple weeks ago I happened to be doing some research on the computer and came across and article about an all-natural product that was developed by a family which they have been using for the last 100 years. Alivea Cream, which is only composed of three ingredients which are olive oil, beeswax and water, was created to solve an array of skin care issues including chronic dry skin, calluses, eczema and it also helps to promote younger looking skin by fighting against free radicals that cause wrinkles and age spots. The cream company founder, Monique Predovan, stated in the article that the product also reduces the redness and pain associated with sunburn faster than most other products. She was offering free samples to bloggers because she was very confident that others would agree with her and she wanted to get the word out.

I immediately contacted Monique about this as I am always in search of the latest and greatest products that alleviate eczema symptoms and told her I would test the cream on its’ efficacy with eczema rather than how it “cured” a sunburn. She politely agreed and sent me a sample of the product. I received the sample about a week later and get this; I had visited the beach in the meantime and picked up a good case of sunburn, lucky me. Now I needed a product for sunburn relief! FYI, this is not something I am proud of as I am a huge supporter of sunscreen and wouldn’t wish skin cancer on my greatest enemy. Not only do I bathe myself in SPF 50 before I leave the house, I reapply it every 2 hours or more frequently if I am in the ocean a lot. I was shocked that I got burnt and not very happy with myself. Now on to my comments about the product…

Just so I am clear, I did receive a FREE sample of the Alivea product and was asked to give an honest review, so that is what I am going to provide.

Alivea for Sunburn

I “received” my sunburn on Memorial Day which was a Monday and the sample arrived the next day. I was burned pretty badly on my upper back, chest and stomach (nicely done Kim, almost 100% of your skin was fried). Tuesday night before bed I applied the cream to my chest and stomach and asked my husband to apply it to my back which happened to be the worst of the burns. The cream is sold in a jar and is accompanied by a small spatula housed inside.

Product Feel- As you might imagine, with the 3 ingredients which are again olive oil, beeswax and water, that the product is not so much a cream as more of a wax. I was very nervous when I scooped a small amount in my hand as I thought I may have some pain as I rubbed it into my burnt skin. Much to my surprise after rubbing it into my hands first, it softened up and was painless to apply, kind of like slapping a pat of butter onto a piece of hot toast.  When my husband was applying the cream to my back, he commented that if it wasn’t rubbed in all the way it would leave waxy bits on the skin. My wisecrack reply, “Well then make sure you rub it all the way in tough guy”.

Product Smell – Since there are no unnecessary ingredients like fragrance added, there was not much of a smell to it at all. If anything I would say it smelled “natural” which I liked very much.  We are so overloaded with smelly stuff in soaps, lotions, detergents, fabric softeners, household products, room deodorizers etc.,  and having eczema I know to avoid these items as much as humanly possible.

Product Feel on Skin – I could definitely feel the product on my skin but I have to say, it felt like a nice barrier between my burn and the air. It wasn’t greasy but slightly filmy but I really didn’t mind it at all.  I don’t much remember if it instantaneously helped with the pain of the burn since I fell right asleep, but I will take that as a definite good sign!

SIDENOTE: The product I used in the past to treat sunburn was Banana Boat Soothing Aloe After Sun Gel which is composed of the below:

Water, SD Alcohol 40, Glycerin, Polysorbate 20, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Leaf Juice, Fragrance, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Benzophenone 4, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090).

What are all of these ingredients??? I have to say I thought that Aloe Vera was higher on the list but seeing as it was the eighth ingredient, there wasn’t probably a large amount of it in there, not to mention it’s listed as “leaf juice” which probably means it’s mixed with water too. I guess because the product appears as a green gel in the see-through bottle, you would assume that it is mainly composed of aloe vera. (Smart marketing Banana Boat!)These days I know better and actually read the ingredient list, but like I said, I don’t burn often and have had this product for quite some time now. Yes, excuses excuses….I digress.

Product Efficacy – I continued to apply the Alivea cream to my sunburn for the next several days both morning and night and it was the only product I used on my burnt areas. I have to say I was very impressed with the product. It soothed the pain, the burn went away fast (within 3 days), and I had NO blistering which I was most happy with since it didn’t then turn into a “peel-a-thon” like usual.

Product Value – The item can be purchased through the company website currently http://aliveacream.com/products/  and will be available through additional retailers soon. They sell a 100ml jar for $25.00 and a 200ml jar for $45.00 plus shipping. I used about a quarter of the 100ml jar but I was also using it on my eczema and dry skin spots as well. Considering I was buying the Banana Boat Gel for about $5.00 this is more expensive but definitely worth the extra cost since it sped up the recovery time and I didn’t peel. All-natural products do have a tendency to be more expensive in the marketplace and I believe that it is for good reason.

I really like this product and would highly recommend it as a great after sun product. If you are interested in finding out more about the product or the company, please visit http://aliveacream.com/. I will be doing another review of the Alivea Cream and how it worked with my eczema shortly so stay tuned!