Health is wealth. Eating mindfully and nourishing our bodies with the right foods, being active and working out regularly, meditating and reducing everyday stress are the key elements to living a life that’s healthy both on the outside and on the inside,but there are some additional ways we can practice self-care.
Did you know that what goes on your body gets in your body?
Our skin is our bodies’ largest organ and much of what we place on it gets absorbed into our bloodstream, because it impatiently devours everything we apply on it within seconds, allowing harmful synthetic chemicals to float freely in our system. We know exactly how nicotine patches work, but we often fail to think about the way different chemical ingredients used in our everyday personal care products affect the skin and also our health.
These toxic chemicals found in mainstream beauty products, when absorbed into the skin, can lead to a number of unpleasant side effects such as skin irritation, allergies, eczema, psoriasis and so on. When we become aware of the fact that using non-organic beauty products is a risky business, we try to go green, but at first this may be a bit harder than it seems. To help you get some motivation for treating your skin the health-conscious way, we made a list of the most common toxic ingredients and their harmful effects, and we dare you to read it through without re-thinking your current beauty habits.
- Paraben: interferes with hormone function and the male reproductive system, triggers breast cancer, accelerates skin aging and DNA damage (reaction to UVB light)
- Silicone (anything that ends in – cone or -siloxane): offers artificial softness that eventually leads to dryness, dullness, and product buildup since silicone is very hard to remove from the skin
- Phthalates: toxic to reproduction and hormone function. Reduces sperm count. Very damaging to the kidney and liver functioning of young children.
- BHT: Triggers cancer and interferes with hormone function. Harmful to fish and other wildlife.
- Polyethylene glycol: Triggers cancer. Ethylene dioxide may also harm the nervous system
- Petrolatum: highly carcinogenic
- Aluminium: neurotoxin that triggers hormonal imbalance and cancer
- Sodium Laureth Sulfate: over-exposure causes eye damage and skin irritation
- Coal Tar Dyes: highly carcinogenic, causes long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment
- Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives (like ’methenamine’): gladly used in nail hardeners, these preservatives, when inhaled, become highly carcinogenic.
- Synthetic fragrance: may trigger irritation, allergies, migraine and asthma
- PEG: causes irritation, damaging to the nervous system, highly carcinogenic
- Mineral oil (especially when poorly refined): clogs pores, causes acne, causes premature aging, highly carcinogenic
- Triclosan: over-exposure might contribute to anti-antibiotic bacteria, interferes with hormone function, carcinogenic, harmful to fish and other wildlife
- Chemical Sunscreens (Retinyl Palmitate, Oxybenzone and Octyl Methoxycinnamate): cause irritation, allergies and DNA-altering effects, promote skin cancer,
- Talc: promotes ovarian cancer, causes irritation and dryness
We know, we know…you probably doubt half of this and you don’t like to get scared anyway. Well, none of us do, but these are true facts either we like it or not and putting our heads deep in the sand probably won’t help. Obviously, using conventional beauty products every once in awhile won’t cause serious damage, but using them everyday is how most of us slowly but surely contribute to getting various diseases.
Now that we have hopefully convinced you to start making more health-conscious beauty choices from now on, we would like you to evaluate your shopping habits. It is quite challenging to go on a „skintox” if you repeatedly purchase the wrong products and let’s face it: you currently find organic skincare stuff less attractive. Maybe you’ve tried to add some in your cart in the past, but they ended up in the trash, expired, full of product inside.
Maybe you have not even noticed those boring brown bottles when there are dozens of pretty little plastic tubes on the shelves with the cutest floral print all over them. We are visual creatures and beautiful things please our eyes, but please note that a truly ‘green’ skincare brand also has an environment-friendly mentality, so their products may not be the most attractive on the outside, but they are miraculous on the inside.
„Okay – you say – packaging is one thing but I can’t give up yummy-scented products.” The reason you don’t enjoy natural scents right now is simply because your nose is used to all the synthetic fragrants. We know avoiding your favourite body lotion with the scent of creamy caramel will be hard to resist in the first couple of days of switching to organic skincare, but we encourage you to push through and give it 21 days and you’ll be surprised how much your nose adjusted to the changes in your habits. You’ll love it! You’ll actually learn to appreciate the subtle scent of natural ingredients.
Maybe you’ve tried using organic skincare products in the past but you experienced breakouts, so you stopped. Well, this may sound weird, but there is nothing wrong with getting enlargened pores and pimples in the first 2 weeks of going green in your skincare routine, Your body releases toxins that say ’goodbye’ the ugliest way possible (especially if you have highly congested skin), but this detox period should last no longer than 2 weeks. If conditions worsen or you see no improvement even after that time, you might be allergic to one of the ingredients in the product.
We know one reason why you do not want to „buy into” the promises of organic skincare brands, and in this case, we understand your doubts. The colour green is universal but it is easy to get overwhelmed by all the different labels and their meanings. ‘Bio’ and ‘organic’ seem identical. You fear getting greenwashed. Greenwashing is when a company tricks you to believe that the products they sell are environmentally friendly and organic etc. but you’re just getting scammed.
“Disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image” – Oxford English Dictionary
Greenwashing is basically environment-focused whitewashing. It’s when companies spend money trying to scam you instead of actually making their company environmentally friendly. Some companies are smart enough to follow the latest trends and they usually rely on tricky marketing strategies instead of actually making eco-friendly adjustments. Even some hotels call themselves green just because they allow their guests to reuse towels. Do you think this is fair? It is definitely more than doing nothing, but the possibility itself of reusing towels won’t make a hotel green.
Signs of greenwashing to watch out for:
-lack of label information
-lack of certificates or false certificates
-plastic packaging
-using overly scientific language
-making irrelevant claims
-bragging instead of backing up with facts
How to avoid getting greenwashed
-Check the validity of certificates by checking out the organization’s website. Most of them have a list of their partners. If a stamp on the packaging doesn’t include the name of the organization, it is definitely fake.
–Do some online research of the brand. Google can be our best friend sometimes.
-Feel free to focus on all the details. For example, how can a brand claim they’re eco-friendly if their packaging is cheap plastic? C’mon now. Most companies who use greenwashing avoid details because they obviously don’t want you to know the truth. They tend to “forget” details.
-If you hardly understand a word they say, that’s simply because they don’t even want you to get the clear picture. No, their target audience is not scientists. Some brands overuse scientific terms, hoping they catch you this way. They think using complex terms will make them look superior. A genuine eco-friendly company usually focuses on simplifying things because they want their customers to understand everything clearly and they want them to get rid of doubts.
– Let’s face it: we are an easy catch if we are too lazy to read the list of ingredients. The idea of scrutinizing every single ingredient sounds exhausting and way too time-consuming but if you know exactly what terms you should look for and what to avoid, the whole process will be much faster. Your body will thank you for those few extra minutes you’ve spent choosing the purest products, so read the ingredients thoroughly. Why does it say “natural shampoo” when it contains sulfates? Why doesn it say “organic cosmetics” when the oils they use are refined and not extra virgin?
Is there any difference between ’natural’ and ’organic’ skincare products?
Sure, there is! The main difference between natural and organic beauty products is that organic ingredients must pass more rigorous standards of purity. In order for a product to be labeled ’organic’ its ingredients must have been derived without the use of synthetic pesticides, petroleum fertilizers or sewage sludge fertilizers, and they must not be genetically modified.
We believe in treating our skin with the highest quality ingredients, so we decided to produce skincare products so pure and organic, that we could eat them. Why would you apply anything on your skin that you would not eat when you know that everything gets absorbed? You will never find any of the hazardous chemicals listed above in edible quality cosmetic products, in fact, you will not find any synthetic chemical ingredients in them at all. Every single ingredient is 100% and organic. Isn’t it soothing to know that there are cosmetic products out there that pamper your body without unnecessary side effects?
The ingredients in edible quality skincare products:
- oils: cold pressed, extra virgin
- butter: raw, unrefined
- essential oil: 100% pure
- vitamin: 100% natural
Our products got certified on the 3rd level (the highest level) of NaTrue’s criteria meaning at least 95% of natural ingredients come from controlled organic production and/or controlled wild collection. Compared to the second level, the third level requires even higher levels of natural ingredients and even lower levels of derived natural ingredients. Find out more at natrue.org.
All of our oil blends are ‘vegan’, meaning that they are 100% free of animal ingredients. These products do not contain beeswax, lanolin, wool or propolis.
We never test on animals.
We know that there is no Planet B, so we use PLA. We are also certified by FSC, so it’s safe to say that we not only protect your skin but the environment as well.
How do I know whether an edible quality product is good for my skin type?
Edible quality skincare suits all skin types. These products don’t just offer symptomatic treatment, they heal, prevent, nourish and protect the skin the natural way. Dry, oily, combination, acne prone, mature, you name it, every skin type should try the „edible quality diet”. It’s also safe to apply on mild skin diseases (eczema, psoriasis etc.) to soothe and heal the area. Edible quality cosmetics can be used by every member of the family – from newborns to elders.
When you feed your skin with edible quality skincare, you protect your health, the beauty of your skin and the environment.
Did you find this article helpful?
What’s your current skincare routine like? Will you make some health and eco-conscious adjustments?
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section below, contact us through social media, or send us an e-mail to hello@coconutoilcosmetics, and we will gladly answer them and keep in touch with you.
(source: http://www.collective-evolution.com, www.ecowatch.com)