The story behind Filorga begins with Dr. Michel Tordjman, a French doctor with a passion for cell biology. After years of research on skin physiology, Dr. Tordjman invented a unique injectable formula capable of acting on the key parameters of skin health. Founded in 1978, Filorga was the first French aesthetic medicine laboratory that originally designed, developed, and produced injectable products that were used by leading medical specialists all over the world.
In 2007, the brand made its expertise in aesthetic medicine available to the general public upon the creation of MEDI-COSMETIQUE, a range of anti-aging products formulated with NCEF, a unique compound encapsulating the active ingredients used in injections. Over the years, the brand has developed more than fifty skin care products, and Filorga is now available in more than 70 countries throughout the world.
In this review, we’ll discuss the brand’s best selling products, key ingredients, Filorga reviews from real customers, and more.
What Are The Best Selling Filorga Skin Care Products?
Like we mentioned above, Filorga offers more than fifty different products, including cleansers, serums, moisturizers, creams, masks, eye care, lip care, and more. Since we cannot discuss all of these products in this review, let’s focus on the top five best selling Filorga skin care products.
Optim-Eyes
Filorga Optim-Eyes is the brand’s best selling eye cream, with claims that it can effectively reduce signs of fatigue (dark circles, puffiness, and wrinkles), and reveal fresher, rejuvenated eyes as soon as you wake up. The brand claims that the key ingredients used in Filorga Optim-Eyes are polyphenols, peptides, and hyaluronic acid. However, as you’ll learn in the next section, these ingredients are used in rather low concentrations.
Oxygen Glow Eyes
Filorga Oxygen Glow Eyes is an eye contour cream that is said to provide a plumping, smoothing effect thanks to hyaluronic acid. It also has a “hydra-illuminating texture” because of Optical HD technology, which is said to instantly create flawless looking skin. The ingredients that provide this instant illuminating effect are mica and titanium dioxide, which are natural light diffusers. By reflecting light away from the skin, these ingredients create the illusion of a smoother, softer, and more radiant skin tone. However, this effect is temporary and will go away once the product is washed off.
Sleep and Peel Resurfacing Night Cream
Filorga Sleep and Peel Resurfacing Night Cream contains a blend of 6 hydroxy-acids (AHA and BHA) combined with soothing brown algae to gently resurface the skin. It also contains a sebum-regulating complex to refine the pores and leave the skin matte.
Meso-Mask
Filorga Meso-Mask is an anti-aging treatment with a smooth creamy texture that is said to illuminate the complexion, boost radiance, smooth wrinkles, and rehydrate the skin in just 15 minutes. A few of the key ingredients in this mask include soluble collagen, hydrolyzed elastin, rhamnose polysaccharide, and urea.
Time Filler Absolute Wrinkle Correction Cream
The final best selling Filorga skin care product we’d like to introduce is the Time Filler Absolute Wrinkle Correction Cream. This anti-aging cream is said to reduce the appearance of all types of wrinkles (surface, contraction, dehydration, deep-set) by half in just 2 months. A few of the key ingredients in the Filorga Time Filler cream include squalane, babassu seed oil, and cogon grass root extract.
What Are The Key Ingredients in Filorga Skin Care Products?
We are actually pretty surprised that Filorga Optim-Eye is the brand’s best selling product because the product formulation is not very impressive. The highest concentration ingredients in this eye cream include glycerin, silicones, emulsifiers, emollients, and a synthetic fragrance blend.
Yes, you read that right: the synthetic fragrance blend is used in a higher concentration than all of the key beneficial ingredients! Let us explain why this is problematic.
First, you should know that the brand uses a proprietary blend of chemicals to create the fragrance, and they do not have to disclose which chemicals they use on the label. They are allowed to list this blend as “Fragrance (Parfum)” on the ingredient list. A 2018 study by Women’s Voices for the Earth discovered that in over 3,000 chemicals reportedly used for fragrances, 1,242 were chemicals of concern – and that included at least 7 possible carcinogenic (cancer-causing) agents.
Second, why does Filorga claim that the key ingredients are polyphenols, peptides, and hyaluronic acid when these ingredients are used in concentrations of less than 1%? We know they are used in low co by looking at the ingredient list (which is in order of descending concentrations).
All of these ingredients are listed after the preservative phenoxyethanol, which cannot be used in concentrations more than 1%. It’s disappointing to see such a high concentration of fragrance and low concentration of key ingredients in Filorga Optim-Eyes. Unfortunately, the same is true for several other Filorga skin care products.
Besides containing high amounts of fragrance, many of the Filorga skin care products also contain a lot of silicones.
The main function of silicones in skin care is to improve a product’s spreadability while imparting a silky, smooth skin feel. After topical application, silicones form a protective covering on the skin that provides both water-binding and water-resistant properties. The water-binding portion of the molecule is the highly flexible and mobile siloxane backbone, which binds to moisture in the air and holds it to the skin. This backbone also allows the water-repelling methyl groups to orient themselves toward the surface, creating a waterproof “umbrella” that prevents trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL).
Furthermore, the smooth, even base that is formed helps other beneficial ingredients traverse through it to the skin more easily as well as prevent contact with potentially irritating ingredients.
However, if you have acne-prone skin, you may want to avoid products with high concentrations of silicones.
According to Healthline, silicones can act as a ‘barrier’ and trap oil, dirt, and dead skin cells, making acne worse. Therefore, the Filorga skin care products with high concentrations of silicones may not be the best choice for those with acne-prone skin.
Where are Filorga Skin Care Products Sold?
Filorga skin care products are sold on the brand’s website, as well as several third party online retailers, such as Dermstore.com, LovelySkin.com, Skinstore.com, Amazon.com, and more.
Is Filorga Cruelty Free?
Filorga is not cruelty free because Filorga skin care products are sold in mainland China where animal testing is required by law.
References:
1. Women’s Voices for the Earth “Unpacking The Fragrance Industry” 2018
2. Healthline “6 Reasons Why People Avoid Silicones in Skin Care”
@@@@@ Original review: Sep 19, 2023.
I have been using filorga products for a year. I can’t say I have seen my forehead lines disappearing even I’m still in late 30s. My skin is dry but it didn’t improve much. Sale items are being sold expired or soon to be expired. I suggest to check batch numbers of every single item. Just google to find out. It’s upsetting how the company announces a sale to get rid of expiring stuff.