Reviewing Tata Harper’s Creme Riche velvet moisturizing cream.
Tata Harper’s Creme Riche promises to visibly lift, plump, and volumize the look of the skin. It contains hyaluronic acid and essential fatty acids to help lock in moisture. Hyaluronic acid hardly warrants the high price tag, though. You can find a nice natural serum with hyaluronic acid for around twenty bucks. So while it isn’t this particular ingredient that makes the Creme Riche so special, what is it?
Full Ingredients (INCI) of Tata Harper’s Creme Riche Velvet Moisturizing Cream
A scroll through the ingredient list reveals more botanicals than most other creams – all in a single product. Maybe that’s the secret of the Creme Riche velvet moisturizing cream?
Ingredients: Hordeum Vulgare Leaf Juice, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Lactobacillus Arundinaria Gigantea Ferment Filtrate, Shea Butter Ethyl Esters, Cetearyl Alcohol, Jojoba Esters, Glyceryl Stearate, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Linoleic Acid, Aqua/Water/Eau, Astrocaryum Murumuru Seed Butter, Candelilla CeraEuphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire De Candelilla, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Propanediol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Beta Vulgaris/Beet Root Extract/Extrait De Racine De Betterave, Hydrolyzed Avocado Protein, Calcium Ketogluconate, Caesalpinia Spinosa Fruit Extract, Kappaphycus Alvarezii Extract, Linolenic Acid, Acer Rubrum Bark Extract, Cassia Alata Leaf Extract, Lavandula Stoechas (Spanish Lavender) Extract, Dunaliella Salince (Algae) Extract, Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Seed Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Oleosomes, Jania Rubens Extract, Arnica Montana (Arnica) Extract, Borago Officinalis (Borage) Leaf Extract, Medicago Sativa (Alfalfa) Extract, Spiraea Ulmaria (Meadowsweet) Extract, Calendula Officinalis (Calendula) Flower Extract, Sambucus Nigra Fruit Extract, Tocopherol, Squalane, CaprylicCapric Triglyceride, Saccharide Isomerate, Acacia Senegal Gum, Glyceryl Caprylate, Xanthan Gum, Hydrolyzed Corn Starch, Maltodextrin, Aroma*, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Citral, Citronellol, Eugenol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool.
The Creme Riche is not on Elthical Elephant’s list of vegan products by Tata Harper. I don’t see anything of animal origin, like beeswax or honey, and have written to customer service to ask which ingredient disqualifies this cream as a vegan one.
The main question: Does it work?
Well, whatever the term “work” implies, but I’d say yes! I can wholeheartedly say this is one of the best cream I’ve ever used. It smells delicious and makes my skin feel very soft, hydrated, comforted and velvety indeed. If your budget allows for luxury organic skincare, this cream is an absolute delight.
What amazes me most is that it may be the richest cream ever created by Tata Harper, but it is not at all greasy. Something about the formula is pretty magical in that it can be used for other skin types besides dry/mature. Very happy reviews come from people with acne prone skin, too. Dry patches, redness, dry skin areas due to harsh anti-acne treatment as well as wrinkles and age spots are all on the list of things reviewers mention this cream has improved.
How to apply the Creme Riche
There is a trick to the application. You’re supposed rub some cream between your hands to “activate the sugars” (whatever that means) and then apply it to your face. The first few times, I did not know this and just used it straight out of the jar, which in all my naivety worked equally fine. However, the rubbing causes the cream to change color a little, from beige to cream, so it does look as though something is happening during that friction.
Pro’s & Con’s
The budget allows remark above already hints at it: the only drawback here can be the price tag. It is rather obscene. Not everyone is in a position to drop $185 on a face cream. Then again, that’s why this is luxury organic skincare. Another thing is the jar – I do so wish it came in a pump dispenser to avoid contamination, because I’m really bad at using spatula’s.
On the pro side, That Harper is a cruelty-free skincare brand using only natural ingredients. This cream is a cult product with tonns of rave reviews – and as far as the fan-base, you can count me in.
In conclusion: a little background info
Tata Harper started her natural skincare line after her father was diagnosed with skin cancer. He was constantly told by doctors to avoid certain ingredients in skincare products, which tipped Tata off to all the doubtful and semi-toxic substances used in main-stream skincare. While being free of synthetic chemicals is clearly a great thing based on the input of said doctors, individual allergies to natural ingredients are possible. Be sure to always patch-test something new.
