TL;DR ex-customer gets screwed over by ZB creams, exposes the truth but got shut down for it. Shady company overall that just seems interested in overcharging gullible facebook moms for a bit of oil
Wow I'm so glad I found this thread, I only wish I knew about it whilst I was having a problem with her creams. I bought her creams back when the jars had the old design and she was still working from her kitchen (this was like late 2019). I knew they were expensive (and that was even back then) but bit the bullet because there were so many good reviews hailing it as a "miracle cream." The website also boasts how it "heals" various skin conditions like acne and psoriasis (the wording has now changed since then thank goodness). After using her creams, I went from having decent skin to the worst skin I've had since puberty. My face erupted in huge and painful spots that would leave significant scarring (most of it has gone now but even almost 2 years later there is still residual scarring I'm still trying to get rid of rip). Contacted her several times and each time she suggested changing various steps in my skincare routine, asking me to spend £££ on switching to an all-natural skincare routine entirely, because apparently the toner I had been using for years with no problems was suddenly the cause of my spots. And like the naive idiot I was back then, I listened to her.
6 months passed, and nothing was improving. I was well past her advised 4-8 week purging phase and was still struggling with these huge spots. In this time period I had also done a bit more research and found that there were no active ingredients in the old formulation. Active ingredients that increase skin cell turnover and are therefore likely to cause purging are typically not in creams and esp not in hers. Back when she was working in her kitchen she posted clips of her making the creams and using a wooden
spoon to scoop the creams out of the mixing bowl which can't be properly sterilised. Also it makes you question how clean is her kitchen and cake mixer stand. She claimed to not use any agents to bulk up her creams yet the mixing process in itself incorporates air into the creams therefore making them more voluminous, and you guessed it, bulky. She persisted in a later email that she didn't do this yet an old instagram post contadicts her own words. The Zoe bee glow everyone raves about is just the oily sheen of the butters?? The SPF claim is shady without any certification or testing, as is the efficacy of the creams without proper dermatological testing. And finally, the ingredients of each of the creams were fundamentally the same, just one/two added ingredients to the base formula gave rise to each cream, again ingredients that are not skincare actives.
I reviewed her honestly giving both pros and cons and she deleted my review without explanation. I had to email her myself asking why. I got a lengthy response about how their thousands of good reviews must mean their products work and I was wrong to say I had been misled. Except they deleted my review and possibly more that didn't have a good experience, which in itself deceives potential customers in thinking there were only positive reviews. Long story short I got a refund. I actually continued using the creams as I didn't want it to waste and over time my skin reverted close to normal, after I used it as a second moisturiser. However I was not happy with how I was treated by the company, they don't respect people who have problems using their creams and basically blame the customer's skin and not their products. I think I only got the refund because they just wanted me to shut up. I'm sad to see other customers being denied a refund - ask, ask, ask! Since this ordeal I think I've seen quite a few bad reviews being deleted which imo is super unprofessional! She also quietly increased her prices massively in the first lockdown and didn't explain the HUGE increase until she got called out for it. It's definitely an easy DIY product to make yet she's charging lots, probably to cover her Tesla insurance. Don't get me started on that £26 jar of sugar with 2% coffee and clay!
Blimey, sounds like you had a right ordeal with it all, BUT you get a refund so well done on that front as I don’t think anyone else ever really does as it sounds like she tells everyone the same story of ‘your skin is just purging’ and the majority just suck it up and blame their skin for its reaction, rather than the creams!
I remember seeing a post saying she had been approached to have her creams mass produced and put in shops, and how she would never do this as she wanted to keep it homemade. I smelt bullshit straight away. It’s all very clever tactical ways that have clearly worked to over hype the products.
The amount of over hyping of the products has been laughable since I first ever came across the brand. The countdown to when she would be opening the shop through lockdown, and how there was thousands of people waiting to get their hands on the products, well there may well of been after announcements like that, if the government can get us to panic buy toilet roll an petrol, it’s not hard to make anything look hotter than it actually is!
she also did a post not so long ago doing her usual passive aggressive whinge, where she said she sees things written that say the creams are simple and could be made at home. She then went on to say how that was the point, they are made at home
I don’t think she gets the point, it wouldn’t matter if you put all those ingredients together in the middle of the woods, it would still be overpriced and something that anyone could create at home for much cheaper, and just because people don’t have the time, it doesn’t make her creams anything special, or a ‘miracle’ as she likes to say.
Negative reviews are regularly deleted, I’ve seen it with my own eyes, which says a lot about her if you really think about it.
If she can’t accept that not everyone is going to get on, or like her products, she needs a thicker skin and she also needs to understand that people have a right to leave an honest review - good or bad.
I find her very false, and I don’t buy in to the giving to dog charity, the tree planting and now wanting to send creams to hospitals for radiation burns. She comes across as desperate to be seen as kind and giving, it’s a constant with her. If it was in anyway legitimate, in my opinion, with the amount of money she’s raking in, she would be doing charitable things in silence without the need for all the bravado and recognition.
I also feel she likes to come across as relatable with the way she says she never wanted the brand to be faceless, it just seems like a way for her to get continuous attention which perhaps explains her breast implants she claims she had that she had to have removed years later due to breast implant illness (and not possibly because as the face of a natural brand, her having fake breasts looked absolutely ridiculous)
I think as time goes on there will be more that comes out about this company and I don’t feel it’s going to be good.
HER
different topic…)
. I don't know how she can get away with this. Feel like I'm paying for her posh new house!
