5 reasons you should be using natural skincare

There are numerous Definitions of Natural Skincare. Here is ours.

Those made from ingredients that grow or occur naturally in the environment. The refining process is kept to a minimum.

It is important to understand many cosmetic ingredients are man made and are classified as industrial chemicals. The estimate of chemicals for use in cosmetics range from 3000 in Australia to over 12,500 in the US. New ones are constantly being added.

1. Our skincare should be safe to use.

The skin is our largest organ. It has a number of important functions and one of those is functioning is a barrier to keep toxins, bacteria and infection from entering our body. It does a pretty good job of this, however, chemicals do still get through, think nicotine patches that deliver the chemical nicotine to our blood stream via the skin as an example. Using chemical based skincare will increase the chemical load on your body and organs. This eventually builds up to create problems that may not show up for years as your body and skin works hard to eliminate these toxins but eventually our system can become overloaded and our body can’t cope with this anymore. So it makes sense to reduce the chemical load on your body where you can.

2. No toxic ingredients.

Natural products are less likely to contain toxic ingredients.

The average man and woman will absorb approximately 1 to 2 kg of chemicals through their skin each year from personal care products. This is because we absorb up to 60% of what we apply to our skin. So it makes sense to reduce our toxic load on our body as much as we can.

3. Vegan and Cruelty Free.

There is no plausible reason for skincare and its ingredients to be tested on animals. And yet many of the major brands still do.

Unfortunately these processes that were developed in the 1920’s and became commonplace in the 1940’s and are still widely used. Mostly because scientists are familiar with the animal based testing they have been using for years. It is always difficult to change longstanding practices. Many companies also continue testing on animals siting legal protection as the reason.

One would assume that cruelty free goes hand in hand with Vegan. However there are many products that claim “cruelty free” because they may not test on animals, but still contain a wide range of animal ingredients such as animal fats, collagen and stem cells to things such as beeswax and goats milk. This all has a negative impact on the animals these are obtained from. It really doesn’t make sense to want a “cruelty free” product that contains animal ingredients, as there will always be the question of what is humane handling when it comes to obtaining the animal ingredients.

4. Not harmful to the Environment.

Most of us know the problems micro beads in cosmetics are causing to our environment. And some countries have now banned the use of these, unfortunately Australia isn’t one of them at the time of writing. If your want to know more about these, check out my blog on these nasty little things https://truthcosmetics.com.au/blog/who-came-up-with-the-bright-idea-of-microbeads/

But did you know that things like shampoos and cleansers with man made ingredients have an impact on the environment as well? These go down the drain and end up in our waterways after going through the sewerage plant.

However, these plants are not designed to treat the thousands of specialty chemicals in personal care products. Many of the active and inactive ingredients present in these products pass through our wastewater treatment plants and ultimately end up in rivers, streams or oceans. See http://theconversation.com/theres-a-new-generation-of-water-pollutants-in-your-medicine-cabinet-71260 for more info on this.

Packaging is another complex issue. Those lovely glass jars that major brands package their skincare in to make it look lux and justify them charging hundreds of dollars for, are not recyclable and end up in landfill. So in this case you are better to choose a cosmetic product packaged in recyclable plastic containers until there are better alternatives.

5. Better for your skin.

Natural products are gentler, less allergenic and more effective. When you start to use natural skincare you will notice a big improvement in the health and appearance of your skin. Your skin will look younger and healthier, feel hydrated, smooth and blemish free.

By using natural skincare you are reducing the chemical load to your body as well as your skin. Over time if your skin is repeatedly exposed to toxic chemicals, it will eventually lead to problems such as dermatitis, eczema, overly sensitive skin, allergies, acne, blackheads, cystic acne, dryness, flakiness, premature ageing and thinning of the skin.  The chemical load to your body is another story of course.