THE SKINCARMA CHALLENGE : CULT MOISTURIZER EGYPTIAN MAGIC VS. DRUNK ELEPHANT PROTINI - THE BEST ANTI-AGING MOISTURIZER WITH PEPTIDES
This blog article was originally published in the fall 2018 and has since been refreshed and updated with new insights.
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It’s been another phenomenally productive week. I picked up two more clients in my copywriting work — and feeling like I’m firing on all cylinders! I also appeared in my first-ever Amazon Live session — in collaboration with SELF/ish skincare for men.
If you haven’t yet had the chance to discover the new clean skincare brand, check out my two recent articles — SELF/ish Facial Cleanser – The Best Face Cleanser for Men (And Women Too!) and Self/ish | Oil-Free Moisturizer – Best Face Cream for Oily Skin.
The Amazon live session was a real trip — and really cool. I was actually approved as an approved Amazon Influencer, which felt like a big deal, though I’m not sure if it actually is. The designation comes with an exclusive shop where Amazon customers can purchase my favorite skin care — and I get a small commission. I’m just getting started adding whole categories of product recommendations for Amazon shoppers. You can check out my budding Amazon shop here.
The skincare stuff starts here.
So, because it’s been such a crazy week, I thought rather than overload myself, I’d freshen up one of my favorite blog articles, one in my series called The Skincarma Challenge. You may recall that I kicked off the series nearly three years ago with my comparison of cult skincare icons Vaseline and Creme de la Mer.
The piece was titled, The Skincarma Challenge: Vaseline vs. Creme de la Mer — and is one of my favorite blog articles to this day. Funny, looking back at that article, the 1 oz/30 mL jar of La Mer was already outrageously overpriced at $175. Today, it’s $190 on the Sephora website. Unbelievable.
But I thought it would be cool to look back on and refresh the Skincarma Challenge in which I compared two other cult classics — the Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream and Drunk Elephant’s Protini Polypeptide Cream. I have often said since the original article that the $68 Drunk Elephant Protini is the most I would ever spend on a moisturizer. It’s one of the best anti-aging face creams and worth every penny of it.
But what does it mean to say that a brand, or a product, is cult?
The Kiehl’s “Garhol” rendering of cult product Blue Astringent
When I was working at Kiehl’s, it was no secret that the brand was perceived as cult. After all, that’s what made it into the global skincare powerhouse it it today. From its single, 170-year old flagship store in New York’s East Village, Kiehl’s had reached all corners of the world with several iconic formulations.
Products like Lip Balm #1 and Andy Warhol’s favorite Blue Astringent HerbaL Lotion — both formulated in the 1960s. Blue Astringent is the epitome of a cult skincare product. We even had a Warholish rendering of the product we called “The Garhol,” named after the Kiehl’s graphic designer, Gar, who created it!
The word “cult” is such a loaded term. The term is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious” or a “great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work.” Of course religious cults are the most common connotation.
I’ve always been fascinated by cults — religious or otherwise. When I was living in LA it was always so intriguing to drive by the massive Church of Scientology on Hollywood Boulevard. I used to imagine what would happen if I actually hung a right and pulled up at the Scientology valet. I’d likely get sucked into some crazy shit and that would be the end of that.
And, remember that whacky Heaven’s Gate cult? The one whose followers committed mass suicide believing that by doing so they would somehow be transported to the passing Hale-Bopp comet, which they thought to be an alien spaceship. Comet, what comet?
I remember being as disturbed by the bad Heaven’s Gate logo as by their misguided venture. I mean, where did they actually think the comet ship was gonna take them with that logo?!
What’s cult and what’s not cult is always up for debate. That’s part of the intrigue, right? Which brings me to these two, let me say, cultish products. Correction, one is a cultish product and one a cultish brand.
I don’t know if either is cult by definition; but I do know both have a cult following!
Egyptian Magic | All Purpose Skin Cream
The Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream certainly has a cult following. But that doesn’t make it a great product — or even a good product. Look at La Mer’s cult Creme de La Mer. Definitely cult, definitely not a great skincare product. It’s a good moisturizer with known irritants in the form of essential oils. And at $190 today, a complete joke IMO.
However, in the case of Egyptian Magic, I have to admit its cult persona is warranted. First, at $21.75, you could buy eight jars for the price of a single 1 oz. jar of La Mer — and, in one of the great skincare marketing ruses of all time, get a far better moisturizer!
So what makes Egyptian Magic’s All Purpose Skin Cream such a good moisturizer?
Well, as I always say, as important as what’s in it is what’s not in it.
There are no harmful ingredients in the Egyptian Magic formula. In fact, there are only five ingredients in all — Olive Oil, Beeswax, Honey, Bee Pollen, Propolis and Royal Jelly. That’s it! 100% natural. No preservatives. No fragrances. No fragrant plant oils. No b.s.! Just really great-for-skin ingredients.
And what makes it cultish? I think two things — the lore behind the product’s inception and the fact that such a simple, apparently ancient formula actually works!
Here’s the thing about Egyptian Magic: there’s no magic in it! Honey is a great ingredient for skin, delivering moisturizing, antimicrobial and occlusive benefits to the skin. Propolis and Royal Jelly are also natural, nourishing pro-skin health ingredients with some antioxidant benefits. If the Queen Bee can eat it, you bet your skin will love it too! Even the beeswax acts as a gentle occlusive substance to prevent moisture loss.
And then there’s the brand’s story about how some water filter salesman named Mr. ImHotepAmonRa was hanging out in a Chicago diner and was approached out of the shadows by an old Egyptian man named Dr. Imas.
The Egyptian claimed to have inside knowledge of an historic skin cream formula found in the tombs of the ancients. That’s some crazy stuff, right?
The whole thing was even written about over a decade ago in The New York Times, in the paper’s popular Skin Deep section. You can catch the Times’ piece here.
Hey, I wanna believe it. It’s really cool. But guess what — hype or no hype, story or no story, this is a really good product. Cleopatra was clearly onto something — and uber fan Kate Hudson, too, apparently.
SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream for $21.75 here.
Drunk Elephant | Protini Polypeptide Cream
And that brings me to Drunk Elephant. Certainly, its cult status is debatable since the brand is barely five years old. Just last year, Drunk Elephant was swallowed up whole by beauty conglomerate Shiseido for something like $850 million! The Japanese clearly see potential in the clean beauty sensation.
I have to admit, I do too. IMO the formulas are, for the most part, outstanding. I align closely with the founder’s formulation philosophy. Tiffany Masterson believes, as I do, that fragrant plant oils (aka essential oils) have no business on skin. They smell good, but their effects on skin are anything but. As my skincare muse Paula Begoun is fond of saying, fragrance isn’t skincare.
Funny, it’s just now occurring to me that both Drunk Elephant and Egyptian Magic have their origins in Africa — Egyptian Magic in Egypt at the northeastern tip of the continent and Drunk Elephant at the very bottom, in South Africa.
The name Drunk Elephant was inspired by the story of South African elephants who love to eat the fruit of native marula trees. The fermented fruit, like many fermented ingredients, has an alcoholic content that literally makes them drunk.
I know it’s true because I discovered it myself on a trip to South Africa a few years ago. There’s a popular marula infused liqueur called Amarula that’s actually quite tasty! I brought back a bottle with me and even gifted it to friends that Christmas. A toast to the elephants!
So, what about the Protini Polypeptide Moisturizer? At $68, it’s a pretty solid moisturizer, plain and simple. Drunk Elephant’s Protini is one of the best anti-aging creams available. Protini is packed with skin-compatible, fortifying proteins in the form of peptides and amino acids. Skin loves both!
And while peptide molecules are too large to penetrate the skin layers very deeply (if at all!), amino acids can and do. I counted 10 amino acids in this lightweight cream.
In addition, Protini contains several nourishing, non-fragrant plant oils including the brand’s beloved Marula Oil, fermented Soybean, and two Olive Oil derivatives — which I assume dials down the greasiness of pure olive oil on its own and keeps the formula from being too heavy.
Plus, one of the most important things of all is the wisdom of Ms. Masterson to always deliver her skin care in a sealed, airless package. As with fermentation, skincare formulas break down when exposed to air and light.
As a rule, you should use up any product that’s housed in an open jar within 30 days. After a month or so, any antioxidants or other sensitive active ingredients will have degraded and their efficacy diminished, if not wiped out completely.
Speaking of antioxidants. The one drawback with Protini is there aren’t the plethora of antioxidants required to make this a perfect moisturizer. (Egyptian Magic is deficient here, too.) I assume that Marula Oil contains some antioxidants, as does the Pygmy Waterlily Stem Cell Extract. Neither possess a potent antioxidant benefit, however.
It’s not a big deal if you’re getting antioxidants into your skincare routine from other means. I personally use several antioxidant serums and don’t rely on my moisturizer to perform that vital task.
If you’re not using a dedicated antioxidant serum, you should consider one or two. The Ordinary makes several outstanding ones at very reasonable cost — including Resveratrol 3% + Ferulic Acid 3% and Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate Solution 20% in Vitamin F. The Paula’s Choice Defense Antioxidant Pore Purifier is also a super antioxidant serum that I consider one of the finest available.
As I’ve said, at $68 Drunk Elephant’s Protini is the most expensive anti-aging moisturizer I would ever pay for.
SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream for $68 here.
The Skincarma Challenge
So, I decided to put these two classic moisturizers to the test — to compare Egyptian Magic’s All Purpose Skin Cream and Drunk Elephant’s Protini Polypeptide Cream. How did these two, among the best anti-aging face creams, perform — and more importantly, was one more effective than the other?
The answers: great and not really.
Both moisturizers, the Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream and Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream, performed as expected in my moisturizer analysis. That is, they kept my skin healthy and moisturized throughout the night by replenishing oil levels and preventing dryness in the topmost surface layer of the epidermis.
I used them in my evening regimen before bed over three consecutive nights, applying Egyptian Magic on the left side of my face and Drunk Elephant on the right.
The following morning, over three days, I measured the moisture levels in each cheek and on each side of my forehead using the Wayskin Skin Analyzer — the same device I used for the La Mer Vaseline Skincarma Challenge.
For the most part, the readings were nearly the same. In fact, on day three, the readings in my two cheeks were identical, with the Wayskin measuring moisture levels at 52%.
Not a terrific reading, but expected after seven hours of sleep with the heat running non-stop. The results in my forehead were much higher and nearly identical between the two face creams.
So what’s the Skincarma Challenge verdict?
In summary, both are really good moisturizing face creams.
But with multiple peptides and amino acids, the Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream is a superior anti-aging cream that goes beyond simply moisturizing skin and preventing dryness — something they both do quite well. Protini is simply more well-rounded — and its $68 price tag is justifiable. In fact, it feels like a modern version of Egyptian Magic!
Cleopatra would love it!
🖤 SKINCARMA
The Ingredient List of the Egyptian Magic Skin Cream:
aox|emo|perf 0 0-2, Beeswax emo|vc|emu|perf 0 0-2, Honey (Mel) so|h|amic, Bee Pollen, Royal Jelly, Propolis Cera emoThe Ingredient List of the Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Cream:
sii|h 0 0, Cetearyl Alcohol emo|vc|emu|surf 1 2, Cetearyl Olivate emu, Sorbitan Olivate emu, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil emo, Bacillus/Soybean/ Folic Acid Ferment Extract, Nymphaea Alba Root Extract, Sh-Oligopeptide-1 cci, Sh-Oligopeptide-2 cci, Sh-Polypeptide-1 cci, Sh-Polypeptide-9 cci, Sh-Polypeptide-11 cci, Copper Palmitoyl Heptapeptide-14 , Heptapeptide-15 Palmitate, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 cci, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 cci, Alanine sii, Arginine sii, Glycine sii, Histidine sii|h, Isoleucine sii, Phenylalanine sii, Proline sii, Serine sii, Threonine sii, Valine sii, Acetyl Glutamine, Coconut Alkanes emo|solv, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate emo, Sodium Hyaluronate sii|h 0 0, Aspartic Acid sii, Linoleic Acid sii|emo|surf, Linolenic Acid sii|emo|surf|perf, Lecithin emo|emu, Butylene Glycol h|solv|vc 0 1, Polyvinyl Alcohol vc, Sodium Lactate buff|h, Sodium Pca sii|h 0 0, Pca sii|h, Sorbitan Isostearate emu 0 1-2, Carbomer vc 0 1, Polysorbate 20 emu|surf 0 0, Polysorbate 60 emu|surf, Lactic Acid/Glycolic Acid Copolymer, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer vc, Xanthan Gum vc|emu|surf, Isomalt h, 1,2-Hexanediol solv, Caprylyl Glycol h|emo, Chlorphenesin pres|amic, Phenoxyethanol pres, Tocopherol aox 0-3 0-3, Sodium Benzoate pres, Phenylpropanol perf|solv, Glyceryl Caprylate emo|emu, Symphytum Officinale Callus Culture Extract
