Brazilian Bum Bum Cream is a firming body cream sold by skincare brand Sol de Jainero. The brand claims their cream is fast-absorbing, can tighten skin, and helps to stimulate circulation.
But does Brazilian Bum Bum Cream contain ingredients proven to "tighten" skin? Does it contain any unhealthy ingredients? Why do we take issue with claims on the brand's website? And is Brazilian Bum Bum Cream better or worse than popular body creams like JLo Beauty Smooth + Seduce?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Brazilian Bum Bum Cream to give our take on whether or not it's likely to be effective for softening and firming skin.
We'll also share our concerns about some of the clinical claims on the brand's website, and compare Brazilian Bum Bum Cream to other popular body creams, in terms of formulation quality, to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- Contains moisturizing active ingredients to support skin health
- Contains inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy
- We do not currently recommend Brazilian Bum Bum Cream
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Brazilian Bum Bum Cream are shown below:
There are some ingredients in this formulation clinically shown to improve skin.
Coconut oil is one of the most effective natural skincare ingredients.
A medical review published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences compared the effects of various plant oils on skin, and found coconut to be the most effective.
Not only was coconut oil effective against wrinkles, it was also clinically shown to improve the integrity of the skin barrier, have an antibacterial effect and have an anti-inflammatory effect.
Acai oil may reduce skin inflammation and enhance immunity, but only based on animal studies, according to a 2020 medical review.
Sodium hyaluronate is an anti-aging ingredient.
As we documented in our Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair reviews article, sodium hyaluronate is clinically shown to reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
Theobroma grandiflorum seed butter was described in a clinical trial published in the Pharmaceutics journal as having “regenerative potential” when applied to skin.
Squalane is an effective, naturally-derived skin moisturizer according to a 2009 medical review.
There are several inactive ingredients in this formulation that we consider to be unhealthy.
Coumarin is a scent ingredient shown to be toxic to human cells at some concentrations in a 1989 clinical trial.
Fragrance is a broad descriptor term that could apply to thousands of different fragrance chemicals.
A 2016 medical review analyzed safety data on fragranced consumer products and concluded that fragrance can "impose serious risks to human health."
Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative shown in a 2020 clinical trial to be toxic to human cells.
Benzyl salicylate is another preservative that was categorized as a health hazard by a Japanese regulatory agency, according to a 2018 medical study.
Benzyl alcohol is another preservative, and citral, hydroxycitronellal and limonene are all additional fragrance ingredients.
Overall, we consider Brazilian Bum Bum Cream likely to be effective for improving skin quality, including a potential “tightening” effect as the brand suggests in their marketing.
However, we don’t currently recommend this product due to the inactive ingredients highlighted above.
Questionable Claims on Brand's Website
Sol de Jainero claims their popular cream is "clinically proven" to work:
image source: soldejainero.com
We can't find this clinical trial in any peer-reviewed journals, and the brand fails to even link to it or cite it on this product page.
How are these results assessed? Is it just self-reporting?
The brand also makes claims of clinical efficacy in their product images:
image source: soldejainero.com
Again, how is this measured?
As we've explained in many Illuminate Health articles, we consider it to be a red flag when a brand makes claims of clinical efficacy based on unpublished, company-funded trials.
We recommend that consumers entirely disregard the results of such trials due to potential bias.
Brazilian Bum Bum Cream vs. Popular Creams
Here's how Brazilian Bum Bum Cream compares to other popular body creams in terms of formulation quality, in our opinion:
JLo Beauty Smooth + Seduce Body Cream
Contains ceramides, which are clinically shown to support the skin barrier.
However, this formulation is worse for health, containing many synthetic fragrance ingredients and synthetic preservatives.
Winner: Brazilian Bum Bum Cream
B Foxy
Contains synthetic dyes, one of which is clinically shown to be toxic to human cells, as we documented in our B Foxy reviews article.
Sol de Jainero's cream is the better option from a health perspective.
Winner: Brazilian Bum Bum Cream
Crépe Erase Advanced Body Repair
Like Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, this cream contains research-backed active ingredients.
Crépe Erase's body cream has the advantage from a health perspective, because it's free of coumarin and fragrance.
Winner: Crépe Erase Advanced Body Repair
Our Clean Body Cream Pick
MBG Postbiotic Body Lotion is our top body lotion pick.
Squalene (which is included) is clinically shown to hydrate the skin, and shea butter was described as having moisturizing effects in a medical review published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
This product is free of ingredients we consider to be unhealthy.
Brazilian Bum Bum Cream Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Contains many research-backed ingredients
- Should reduce wrinkles
- Should tighten skin
- Should hydrate skin
- Healthier than some competitors
Cons:
- Questionable clinical claims on brand's website
- Contains fragrance
- Contains synthetic preservatives
- Contains coumarin
