Eminence: fake organic copy of Hungarian ilike?
Eric on Jun 4, 2008
Did you know that skincare products aren't regulated, and the USDA organic label only applies to products that are food grade?
Eminence Organic's Tomato Sun Cream SPF 16 looked like a great organic natural daily moisturizer with SPF and no chemical ingredients, so I bought a jar. Then I read a post on Huddler Green Home that said Eminence was fake organic because they don't reveal which ingredients are organic or reveal their certification.
Then I read Lisa3559's comment on RealSelf.com that mentioned that Eminence lost their original supplier and has copying them with lower-quality versions of the ingredients. Sure enough, the website for ilcsci.com says "Ilcsi products are being copied in the USA":
Eminence Organic Skin Care Ltd. (Vancouver, Canada) was the distributor for the territory of USA and Canada of Ilcsi products under the brand Eminence from 2002 until 31st March 2005 only... Ilcsi Beautifying Herbs Hungary have not supplied any Ilcsi products to them. The current Eminence products are no longer associated in any way with Aunt Ilcsi Molnar or her family owned company.
Eminence Organic Skin Care trademarked the word "Ilcsi", which is the international brand and the nickname of the creator of the products they used to distribute from Ilcsi Beautifying Herbs Hungary until the spring of 2005. For this reason Aunt Ilcsi's products can not be marked under her name in the U.S. or Canada and are now called ilike, which is another nickname for her. The ilike organic skin care products are the same Ilcsi products and are not associated in any way with Eminence Organaic Skin Care.
ilike does have a "Tomato suntan cream, spf 22" although the description is worrisome, and I don't think it's just a bad translation:
The only tanning lotion allowing the UV "A" and the long UV "B" rays through, which are important in vitamin D development... almost entirely screens out the harmful UV "C" rays, which come through the thin ozone layer.
Uh, no. I think I'll stick with zinc oxide and block UV A, B and C
So was the "faker" Eminence Organic Tomato Sun Cream worth it? No, it causes a tingling/burning sensation, especially when I breathe through my nose or after shaving. Maybe it's one of the oils that it contains (pine needle oil - why?), or maybe it's the alcohol-based extracts like the primary ingredient, "Tomato Extract".
Thankfully, I've found a much better natural daily SPF moisturizer that's actually a joy to use. It goes on clear, smells and feels great, has better sun protection, and is produced by a company that is passionate about disclosing the exact percentage used for each ingredient: Keys Solar RX.
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Comment on this
1 post
23 Oct 2008
Everything you wrote is true.Eminence nowadays is a scam.We made the mistake of not researching it further when we brought it into our shop,we assumed it was the same products that impressed us years ago. Turned out the products were subpar at best.The company is based on lies and backstabbing,they have horrendous reps that will promise one thing and forget it as soon as they think they can catch a bigger fish. More and more people are getting aware of the scam and this company will go to hell sooner or later.
unregistered guest
1 Nov 2008
Thanks for the update. So Attila Koronczay is still running things? Based out of their Granville office or on Cook St? Anyway, I won't be wasting anymore time with Eminence.
unregistered guest
12 Jan 2009
I decided to try Eminence after being recommended by a friend I went to the salon carrying it in town and after being told they had no samples bought a cleanser it left my skin burning when I went back with it they all of a sudden had samples but would not give my money back I would not recommend this line to anyone
unregistered guest
13 Feb 2009
Beware of Eminence 'Organics' - this company is NOT certified organic and have been passing themselves off as organic for years, misleading the public, stating their membership in the Organic Trade Association (which anyone can join, there is no strict certification assessment necessary for OTA membership), all the while dodging any requests for proof of certification. They have so many spas and people hoodwinked. They may use 'all natural' ingredients, but it is hard to know, because neither do they reveal their ingredients list in full. It is nowhere to be found on their products or on their website, and when asked, they refer their customers only to the website and the product labels, which carry at most very incomplete lists of ingredients. For all anyone knows, this company could be using pesticides and poisons up the yin yang. They are scammers. Beware!!!
5 posts
27 Feb 2009
They are the kings of marketing. in the US you can hide up to 100 ingredients under any trademark (TM) name - ask them what is in their biocomplex - no. Ask them to list their entire ingredients and they cannot. Also that is why they arent certified becuase of the 'TM' - you cannot have this. That is only in place to hide the nipagin and PEGs that are laden in their line. Made in Hungary - ya right. Stole from Hungary maybe, but not made. Try visiting Hungary to look for Eminence and know one has heard of them. NO ONE. Find this ODD? Doesnt anyone? Yes - I forgot you already figured it out on here. I still cannot believe how many haven't. We LOVE the ilcsi line and use ilike in our spa. Our clients actually started asking us for it when we carried Pevonia and Jurlique. Why use extracts when you can use whole ingredients and then we found out about Eminence and how they copied everything. My goodness. Get some originality will ya! Thanks everyone for keeping it real and honest. FYI. I LOVE the tomato suntan gel from ilike - it is spf 30 but according to US mandates they have to say spf 22. In the US you have to have synthetic ingredients in order to receive an spf qualification so you have fun with yours and I will stick to something tried tested and yes, true:-)
unregistered guest
12 Mar 2009
Let me get this right. You ‘read’ someone else’s anonymous posting on another website and base your information on that? My, aren’t you clever – everyone knows everything on the internet MUST be true! Anyone within the Spa and Skincare industry with any experience knows that Ilike / Ilcsi / whatever were the original private label of Eminence. When Eminence went into producing their own product in 2005 (taking away 90% of Ilcsi’s business) Ilcsi saw red & put out their own version. Lawsuits followed as it was pretty obvious Ilcsi / Illike / whatever was trying to mislead Eminence’s client base. They’ve now had to drop the claim that they started up on 1958 and change their packaging. As for backstabbing Reps who turn their back, etc. It’s a business; I know many Reps in many skin care lines and if they care about their brand they will NOT affiliate themselves with 2 star spas who want a cheap deal. Just because it’s an organic skin care company, do you really think they do not have business aspirations? Try asking the company before you post slanderous comments and they will offer any information you need.
3 posts
6 May 2009
It is nice to see that people still do their homework. It is so easy to take things at face value and not really see what is really there. No Eminence does not have it all. I am not saying the ilike does but it the real deal. This product does not change in every batch. What is up with the new Eminence product with biodynamic thing? This should be redundant because if you do have an organic certification like from BDIH (German cert. one of the highest if not the highest as of now) biodynamic farming is a given. Oye people please we are not stupid!
1 post
21 May 2009
I read an ad and Eminence's website stating that "Eminence is the first in the world" with biodynamic farming and skin care. In fact, biodynamic farming dates back to early 1900s in Europe and even in the US it has an association since 1938. But Eminence always states that they are the "first", the "best", the "only" etc. Beeme, you are right, you can read on the BDIH website that biodynamics is part of their requirements. It doesn't mean that a biodynamic farm is organic though! If ilike has BDIH certificate, that's the real deal. I found their manufacturer (Ilcsi) listed on BDIH's website and in the description it says that their products are branded as Ilcsi or Ilike. Who needs better proof then about authenticity and organic certs?
5 posts
25 May 2009
Spice - if every consumer in North America was like you, we wouldnt have this problem to begin with of lower standards. The public in NA is really in the dark - these blogs are fantastic for guiding people in the right direction. Thank you for your info and taking the time to share what you have discovered.
5 Jun 2009
Ah! I just purchased $250 worth of their products from a spa I work at b/c I get a huge discount off the products and I wanted to try a more high end skin care line... are you telling me that this stuff is all junk? I'm 29 and have purchased an exfoliating mask, the herbal eye cream, the apricot whip moisturizer and others... the clients that buy if from us rave about it... so am I damaging my skin by using this stuff? I clearly can't return it b/c it's from my work, and I can't just chuck it, cause it cost me an arm and a leg!