Wednesday, April 30, 2008

the culprit!


so since my post from yesterday regarding my terrible skin reaction to Philosophy's Hope In A Jar, i've been doing some research on it and have found what i think is the culprit! thanks to some help from a very knowledgeable makeup diva named Linda (hi Linda! thanks for your help!!!), i found out that one of the ingredients in HIAJ that many people find very irritating is Lavender Oil. check out this info from Medline Plus:

Side Effects and Warnings
Mild rash can develop after applying lavender oil. Reports describe increased sun sensitivity and changes in skin pigmentation after applying products containing lavender oil. Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, constipation, headache, chills, confusion and drowsiness are sometimes reported after inhaling lavender or absorbing it through the skin, or after large doses of lavender or perillyl alcohol (derived from lavender) are taken by mouth. The essential oil of lavender may be poisonous if taken by mouth.


now, WHY in the HELL would you put something like this in a skincare product?! there are obviously going to be a lot of people out there who are allergic to Lavender who are going to have terrible reactions to HIAJ! so why would Philosophy add this potentially irritating oil? for the smell of the product? when are cosmetic companies going to get it through their heads that we would rather have a scentless product that doesn't cause a horrible facial eruptions than one that smells pretty?! and, just for the record, people all over LOATHE the smell of HIAJ! as a matter of fact, many people on Make Up Alley cited the smell of this product as the reason they had to discontinue use, because it smelled so GROSS. so adding that horrifyingly irritant-inducing Lavender Oil not only made the product unusable, it also made it stink. end of rant.

41 comments:

taniaf said...

Oh K, you poor thing,
Saw pic of you and your rash...
how awful for you. Hope your
skin recovers quickly and lets
hope that HIAJ and many other
Philosophy products (at least
in my humble opinion) are discontinued, or at the very least
without the irritating, smelly & potentially harmful ingrediants.
Long Live "Fragrance Free::)

Anonymous said...

OMG! THIS HAPPENED TO ME TOO! I heard all this hoopla about Philosophy's Hope In A Jar, so I wanted to try it out. After 3 days, I had a massive rash on my cheeks, under my chin, and neck. it took over a week to heal!

thanks for this info! i'll keep an eye out for HIAJ in future products.

The Kitty said...

anonymous- i feel your pain! today is the first day that my outrageously red, itchy, bumpy face has started to calm down at all! i keep eyeing my jar of HIAJ like it's the devil itself or something! hopefully we'll never have to go through this kind of face horror again, and Philosophy will come to it's senses about what they put in their products!

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain guys! One day, I went to Sephora, and bought a bunch of new make-up. I got a Hope in a Jar and I also bought a new bronzer. I tried it out, got the ridiculously itching and SCARY rash on my face, went to the emergency room (because it got THAT BAD! my face was completely swollen) and the doctor said he was 100% sure that it was caused by the bronzer. So, I returned the bronzer. Not even a full week later, I decide to try out the Hope in a Jar again, thinking that I am fine. I woke up in the morning to find myself itching my face ridiculous amounts! I'm glad to know what it may be that caused it which is the lavender. I am not allergic to one thing! I have also owned many different kinds of moisturizers and make-up before and never got a reaction like this! A way to get the rash to go away is by being prescribed steroids! It works wonders! Yet, right now I am still a bit uncomfortable. =( But last time, it took the steroids only a full day to get my face to completely clear up!

The Kitty said...

Anonymous- omg! how awful! you not only had to deal with the TRAUMA and HAVOC that HIAJ reaps on one's skin once but you got hit by it TWICE! i'm glad that your skin is being helped by the steroids but doesn't Philosophy make you furios over this? if THIS many people on my one tiny blog are stepping forward to say they got this reaction, can you even begin to imagine how many people world-wide have been affected this same way?! you'd think they'd do something about it but NO! ridiculous!!! thanks for the comment, too! :D

Anonymous said...

Hi I found this post by searching "hope in a jar" and "rash"--its amazing how you can always find commiseration on the internet! my question here--did your HIAJ rashes clear up by themselves? it's Day 3 over here and I really don't want to get steroids for this...

Anonymous said...

I think I had the same thing I had to go to the emergency room I got rashes all over my body the next day after i used it It was bad do u have any pictures of ur rash to see if that's exactly what I had where can I go to see them and or if u want to send them to my email it's punkrock.princess85@yahoo.com thanks for your help

NH Yocal said...

I got a rash from this crap too. Good to know what it is really from. So much for trying out these damn samples they send in the mail. Next time I am going to read them more carefully! BTW, how long did the rash take to go away?

Anonymous said...

Thank god I found your post, I thought it was just me!! I bought the 'make up optional' set, and was very excited as I'd read so many reviews on how 'amazing' it was and was therefore willing to spend the money. Woke up in a raised red rash all over my face and neck, I waited for it to ease thinking I was overheated but no joy. Eventually took an antihistamine/anti-allergy tablet and it calmed the redness pretty quickly but unfortunately been left with a face that feels like sand paper. I would recommend trying an anti-allergy tablet first as steriods is such an extreme course of treatment.

Lynette said...

Same exact thing happened to me. I have a rash on my neck that I thought was maybe from an allergy - that whole raw burning scaley feeling. blah. I have been using HIAJ for 3 weeks now and it finally dawned on me today that it might be that so I found your post. What did you do to clear up your rash. I'm covered in cortizone cream right now. This is awful. I also sent a complaint to Philosophy.
I do like their face wash though (purity) - thankfully it does not have lavender in it but I think for a while I'm going to shelve all their products.

Anonymous said...

Found this blog searching "Hope in a Jar Allergic Reaction". The same thing happened to me, I was in agony last night itching. This should have a warning on it! I use peels and don't have reactions like this!

Unknown said...

I also suffered a rash after using Hope In A Jar! My entire forehead is bumpy and itchy. Arggh!

I am writing to Philosophy for a refund.

Anonymous said...

I too was searching for rash with HIAJ. I got a sample on Friday and have been using it morning and night. Yesterday my face started feeling raw to the touch and very painful. Then came the little fluid filled bumps everywhere. I stopped using it today and need help with clearing this red hot mess up!!! It is so painful and itchy! What did you do to clear it up?

Lynette said...

It took me two months to clear up the rash caused by that stuff. I ended up going to the drug store and got all of the garnier moisturizers (in green bottles) and they cleared everything up and I use that now.

Anonymous said...

My face had a horrible allergic reaction too...is there anything I can use now to help it?

Wish I could feel the same skin on my face. said...

Wow, thank god I found this site! The same thing happened to me! It's all over my face & I can't stop itching. I got all excited to use it when my friend told me it did her wonders. Got it, tried it out because I love love love sephora make-up. I also love keeping my face nice and smooth. It was to start with but its always good to use moisturizers right? So I said why not? I tried in before I went to bed, woke up and nothing happened, then later on in the day started feeling bumps on my jaw area. That same night, my face was itching red! I was sooo scared, I didn't know if it was an allergic reaction because I'm not exactly allergic to anything. But, it was because of this stupid HIAJ! Ah, this is day 2 with it and I just rub some alcohol on it, then put petroleum jelly on it. The itching is neverending. I wanna try and anti-allergic pill but which one? & I'm not too sure I wanna try steroids. Maybe it doesn't clear up by day 7 I will definitely go to my doctor or dermatologist. Is there any other suggestions?

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Anonymous said...

I had the same thing happen to me this week, and I am happy to say that it is finally subsiding. I talked to my allergist, who actually told me that taking an otc Claritin tablet would help it go away- and it has. It has taken about three days, but the Claritin at least relieves the itching. I know it has been a loooong time since this original post was made, but I hope this may be helpful to someone with this same problem. Funny, I borrowed HIAJ from a friend after a show because I had forgotten my moisturizer, and I now remember telling her me that she had inherited the jar from another person who had an allergic reaction to it. Gah. What is with the hype about this stuff? I felt like a mutant!

Anonymous said...

Same thing! I got it as a sample when I bought Purity (which I've been using for a few years) at Sephora and now my face is all swollen and red. I did a google search for Hope in a Jar Rash and this was the first thing that came up. It's awful, I hope it clears up quickly.

Anonymous said...

I'll add another rasher to the list! I was really liking HIAJ too. My rash didn't get that bad as I used a corticosteroid cream and benadryl. But I'm definitely going back to Sephora to get my money back!

Unknown said...

HELLO.....Philosophy “hell in a jar” nearly burned my face off. I was out of work for three days and it was the most miserable, painful, maddening rash I have EVER experienced. I have never been allergic to anything, and now 26, I used this lotion ONCE and practically burnt my face off. I was covered in a thick layer of swelling and blisters all over my face, even on my arm where I layed my face to sleep one night. Still itchy 5 days later three doctors appointments later and havent put a thing on my face in five days..... I am TERRIFIED of cosmetics now. Thanks Philosophy. Do yourself a favor and patch test EVERYTHING on your forearm from now on!!! Going to the dermo today for patch testing....

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Lana said...

Same reaction to Hope In A Jar after using for a week. I am returning today.

I had a similar reaction to PROACTIVE so be aware of this product too ladies. It may have a similar ingredient (possibly the lavender oil).

Stay smart girls. I will try the Claritin that the other gal advised helped.

Merry Xmas!

Anonymous said...

oh my god i cannot believe it took me this long to find this. i had the WORST allergic reaction on the side of my face that doesn't rub off on my pillow from Hope in a Jar! I've been hesitant to use philosophy products ever since...so this product we're all allergic to is called HIAJ? how can i be sure i won't accidentally purchase/use another product with this ingredient in it??!?!

Anonymous said...

I'm really glad I found this blog site. I think I might of had an allergic reaction to this product. What's weird, I used it before. Maybe twice. Nothing happened the first time.. But I remember having a little acne break out after the second trial. So I stopped and used my old products. I thought maybe because hiaj was too oily. So two nights ago I decided to give it a try again. I used the retinol pads, hiaj lotion, followed by a dark spot treatment (all by philosophy). The next day, my skin was a little dry and blotchy. I thought maybe I waited too long after washing my face to apply the product. I usually have to apply lotion right after washing my face because I dry up so fast. But I figured the hiaj was oily enough to make up for it. So after my morning shower it looked worse. It was red and angry. I applied my old lotion product and it burned my skin. Maybe hiaj even though its oily, didn't hydrate my skin enough so it dried up during the nite. Now two days later.. It doesn't look any better.. I figured maybe it's a reaction to something I ate or possibly eczema? I was searching the web for all the causes and my last stop was philosphy allergic reactions. Eureka! This must be it. I'm hoping it gets better. I feel like a vampire hiding out in my home. I'm afraid of going outside because the cold weather will make it worse. But I feel better knowing this product could be the main factor to my face being this way. 

Anonymous said...

I GOT A RASH TOO! I woke up with this rash yesterday just on my neck..now it is ALL over my face. No school for the rest of the week. Happy 2012. fml.

Anonymous said...

I received Hope In A Jar as a Christmas present and was excited to try it. After 2-3 days of using it every night, I woke up one morning with my face and neck covered in hives! My face was swollen, red and itchy. I was really afraid because at first I didn't know what caused it. I started taking Benadryl and used Coritsone cream which had no effect. I missed a day of work because I felt terrible and the medicine I took just made me sleepy. It lasted for almost 4 days! Not to mention the doctor appointment which cost me over $100. I've never had an allergic reaction to ANYTHING so I was very stressed and worried. After I finally searched online, I found hundreds of blog posts and message board comments from women who had the exact same experience. Most people seem to think it is the lavender oil that is causing the reaction. I have used products with lavender extract my whole life so it must be extremely concentrated if it is making me have a reaction. I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone because it seems like the irritant ingredient is strong enough to make a lot of women have this reaction. It is miserable to have your face covered in hives...I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

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