Genifique Review: Don’t Buy Before You Read This!

Expert rating: stars-icon     By Natalie K (Senior Reviewer) January 12, 2024       Advertising Disclosure

User Rating:

36%

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What is it?

Genifique is a moisturizing facial care product that uses probiotic science to help improve the overall health and appearance of users’ skin. Their micro-dosing dropper allows for specific application to trouble areas, and their fast-absorbing formula means that users can see results almost immediately. Genifique feels weightless and non-sticky or clumping, and it is recommended as a daily part of a beauty and skin care routine.

The most effective skin care product on the market is Kremotex. It’s the brand that scored the highest overall during our panel of health and beauty experts’ clinical trials and it has the best reputation amongst industry insiders. Click here to see the reasons that Kremotex was rated so highly.

Genifique Ingredients and Side Effects
Bifida Ferment Lysate Alcohol Denat.
Sodium Hyaluronate Sodium Hydroxide

Bifida Ferment Lysate: A form of probiotic bacteria that cosmetics companies claim is good for the skin. Bifida ferment lysate is a combination of fermenting sugars that may help correct bacterial imbalances in conditions like rosacea.

Probiotics have become big business recently with all of the study that has gone into their effectiveness in the gastro-intestinal system. There is no independent research, however, that points to probiotics having any defined benefits for the skin.

Without any third-party data about bifida ferment lysate, we’re forced to take its manufacturer’s word that their product is both safe and effective. They have not chosen to release any information regarding negative side effects connected top their product at this time.

Alcohol Denat.: An abbreviation used for denatured alcohol, one of the worst ingredients to find on a skin care product’s ingredients panel.

Denatured alcohol, with isopropyl and benzyl alcohol, belongs to a group of chemicals called the simple alcohols. Simple alcohols are a kind of manufacturer’s trick designed to make customers think that a product is effective when, in reality, it may actually be doing more harm than good.

Simple alcohols are not to be confused with fatty alcohols, which are useful and harmless skin care ingredients. Denatured alcohol is used as an absorbency agent, breaking down the oils on top of the skin so that the product rapidly enters the skin cells. This leads to an initial plumping look, which convinces customers that they are using a quality product.

Unfortunately, that plumping effect is mostly just a trick of the eye and is in no way related to real skin health. The alcohol quickly begins to evaporate and it takes with it moisture that had been in the skin previous to its application. This can unfortunately often lead consumers to then reapply what they believe is a moisturizer, locking them in a destructive cycle that can ultimately result in permanently damaged skin.

Sodium Hyaluronate: A naturally occurring chemical in the body and common skin care ingredient. Sodium hyaluronate, also called hyaluronic acid, is an important part of our joint lubrication, our ocular fluid, and it’s an important part of skin formulation.

Hyaluronic acid is healthy for most individuals, as the body tends not to recognize it as a foreign substance. There are no side effects associated with sodium hyaluronate usage.

Sodium Hydroxide: Another name for lye, the caustic substance that used to be fashionable as a skin whitener before people realized all of the negative consequences that can stem from its usage.

Lye is heavily base on the pH scale, so much so that if it is applied directly to the skin it results in chemical burns. In lower concentration it can reduce the appearance of pigmentation in the skin, however it can also have an uneven bleaching effect that makes the skin mottled and stained looking.

Some companies will still use it as a pH balancer and color corrector, despite the fact that side effects related to sodium hydroxide can include:

  • Skin irritation
  • Blindness
  • Hair loss
  • Cell death
  • Ulcerations of the skin

Sodium hydroxide is a known mutagen and carcinogen that has been linked to elevated cancer risk, permanent changes in brain function, organ function, and metabolism. It is classified as a known toxin by the CDC and a number of other governmental safety organizations.

To see all of the brands of skin care products’ scores in our experts’ ongoing series of laboratory tests, click here.

Genifique Quality of Ingredients

Genifique uses some ingredients that are reputable, such as sodium hyaluronate and several emollients and fillers, but they base their blend on a fad probiotic with no verifiable function and they round out their blend with two of the least recommended ingredients that are still found in skin care products.

Probiotics is a cool buzzword in many health circles right now, however it mostly only applies to stomach and digestive issues. This seems to our reviewers like a blatant attempt to capitalize on that trend by taking advantage of over-eager customers.

The company then blends one ingredient that gets real results with two ingredients that look like they get results but may actually be damaging the skin more than helping it to create a marketable, though ineffective and potentially harmful, product.

Our team of skin care experts does not recommend any products that utilize simple alcohols or sodium hydroxide, and they would need to see more clinical data from an independent lab about the effectiveness of bifida ferment lysate.

Follow this link to find out which brands of skin care products are the best at increasing skin stretchability and tenacity.

The Price and Quality of Genifique

Despite its lack of quality ingredients, Genifique is actually one of the most expensive skin care products on the market. There are some highly specialized products that retail for more than Genifique, but not too many, and they usually have ultra-rare ingredients that justify the mark up.

Despite using several cheap, disreputable ingredients, this is what Genifique tends to retail for:

  • 1, 1 oz bottle of Genifique concentrate: $78.00
  • 1, 1.7 oz bottle of Genifique concentrate: $105.00
  • 1, 2.5 oz bottle of Genifique concentrate: $140.00
  • 1, 3.4 oz bottle of Genifique concentrate: $175.00

Readers are encouraged to compare these prices to other brands with comparable purposes and safer ingredients. It is likely that they can find a more effective brand at lower prices.

Click here to learn more about our team’s skin care product testing process.

Business of Genifique

Genifique is manufactured by cosmetics giant Lancome. They list their contact info as:

Phone Number: (800) 526-2663

Address: PO Box 2024

Westfield, NJ 07091

Email: Lancome does not make and email address available to the public, however they do have an electronic communication form on their website.

It should be noted that Lancome is currently in the middle of a number of legal cases, including multiple lawsuits that allege false and misleading claims in their advertising and packaging, as well as that it unknowingly violated users religious rights, and that they stole some of their skin care recipes from another manufacturer.

To find out which brands of non-prescription skin care products were the most therapeutic and soothing for damaged skin, click here.

Customer Opinions of Genifique

Lancome is an older company and it has a devoted fanbase, no matter how out of touch with their current products as they may be. Some of the last reviews from third party sites before Lancome switched to strictly controlling their own distribution, and as such their customer responses, were similar to these:

“I’ve been using this for three or four weeks and I can’t see any difference on my skin. I’m not going to be buying again.”

“If I’m paying over $100 for a skin care product, it sure as heck better work. This stuff isn’t worth a tenth of what I paid for it.”

“Am I crazy, or is my skin even drier than when I started?”

The most frequent complaints were related to how few results users saw, especially in relation to how much they paid for the product. There were also reports of the product drying users faces, as well as frustrations with Lancome’s customer service, returns, and advertising.

Follow this link for the best brands in skin care products, as ranked by our team of experts.

How Does Genifique Compare?
  • Product Name
  • User Rating
  • Good Company Reputation
  • Quality Ingredients
  • Money Back Guarantee
  • Genifique
  • 36/100
Conclusion – Does Genifique Work?

Our team of skin care researchers evaluates products by a number of factors, but the most important thing to them is using safe, effective ingredients. They have a list of ingredients that do not belong in modern day skin care products, yet manufacturers continue to include anyway, and Genifique has not just one but two ingredients on that list.

Our team would never recommend our readers use any product that contains sodium hydroxide or simple alcohols like denatured alcohol, however even beyond those two deal-breakers Genifique does not have much going for it. It has few ingredients that actually impact the skin in the basic ways that count: collagen production, cellular health, and overall wellness.

Our panel of reviewers is certain that for the price of Genifique one could purchase a larger quantity of a better facial care product.

The brand that our team favors over the others is Kremotex. It was the most successful in their trials measuring elastin production, skin strength, and tonal correction. Click here to see more about why Kremotex was so effective.

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