Today we are going to talk about Natural and Organic Skin Care and how it can be confusing as well as daunting to try to take care of your body in these "Green" controversial times.
The nation today as well as the world is becoming more "Green" aware everyday. It has turned into a sort of market Buzz-word and like so many other 'big' advertising sometimes the message can get lost in the big lights and hullabaloo of 'Coolness'.
Vegetable Glycerin Uses
Personally I am delighted that citizen are waking up and taking an interest in their well-being. What I am not so delighted about is the way some are attempting to go about it!! I was talking with a buyer of mine the other day who mentioned that they were dismayed to learn that all the big supermarket chains got most of their 'organic' vegetables from other country where no regulations were enforced and where the general concept was that if only 20% of the crop was grown without pesticides than the whole crop could be considered organic and thus sold at a much higher price.
When Science and Sense Collide
While I understand somewhat of corporate marketing and production a living - how does one make sense and literally know? When did 'we the people' lose our potential for choices and integrity?
Today we keep ourselves so busy that we tend to give our power away.......we give 10 or more hours of time a day away in replacement for money, we give our children to man else to raise, we give our condition to our Doctors to manage, we give away so much......
And now I think a vast majority are waking up to that fact and beginning to ask the hard questions and I am personally delighted.
Getting back to our former topic of Natural & Organic Skin Care - for any years nutrition and condition has been the 'main or in' issue on everyone's mind. They 'eat right', drink water, exercise, take their vitamins, the list goes on. But not a lot of citizen have addressed the other vital and important issue of what I call - "Outside Body Care." By the time most citizen get off the Elliptical in the morning they have done their exercise part - they have drank that glass of orange juice - and then step into the shower to pour potions over their bodies that consist mostly of chemicals and very limited if any of the good stuff.
If one is finding for a total box of condition - one has to think of what is going onto their skin!! So how does one do that without having a Science Degree? come to be Informed. Read labels, get amiable with man who makes their own products, ask questions, do research. In this day and age of lightening speed internet, questions can be asked and answers found within minutes. Start taking back your power of choice!!
You will find as you start this journey that there are lot of opposing sides. Some will say that unless there are no fragrance oils used or preservatives you don't have a "Natural or Organic" product. Others will go the way of the "Corporate World" and put a limited goodness and a lot of chemicals in their product. come to be Informed.
My hope is that with time Cosmetic and Natural attractiveness will find a balance. There needs to be a composition of Science and tasteless sense when selecting your body care items.
The first and most important thing is Labels. Read your labels, read the website you are buying from, ask questions.....become Informed!
Look for labels that are easy to read, look for products where ingredients are customary and easy to pronounce. Today most website owners and buyers are more worried about how safe their business site is rather than how safe their products are!! Ask questions, don't 'impulse buy' from a new site, send e-mails, look for telephone numbers and Talk with these people!!! You will soon get the sense of who is doing this as a craft and who is Serious about their business.
Try to stay away from those who use market chemicals in production their soaps (even if they are handmade!
Lye, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Stearates etc. While made from organic compounds - they draw moisture out rather than to the skin and can come to be skin irritants over time. Lye, especially to the new soap maker can cause severe skin burns if not mixed properly through out the soap batch or too much is used.
When buying Glycerin Soaps - look for those using vegetable glycerin as opposed to just glycerin. Glycerin is a by stock of soap production so great care should be given by the soap maker to Know where their glycerin is advent from. Large market soap clubs tend to sell this by stock and it can be found in most local craft stores.
"Vegetable glycerine comes to us through a very complex and sophisticated formula of removal known as Hydrolysis, and the end stock that we refer to as "Vegetable Glycerine" is commonly the by-product of other oils production. The basics of this law is that the fats and oils of a raw ingredient (usually palm or coconut oils) are split into crude glycerol fats, under the combined activity of water, climatic characteristic and pressure. These temperatures can exceed 400 degrees and the material is commonly kept under pressure for 20-30 minutes. What is literally occurring is a sort of "counter-flow" where the water absorbs glycerol from the fatty acid phase of the oil production. After this phase this glycerol is isolated and additional distilled to give buyers a appropriate 99% Glycerine product.
Vegetable Glycerine is a clear, colorless, and odorless liquid with an incredibly sweet taste having the consistency of thick syrup. It is used as an agent in cosmetics, toothpaste, shampoos, soaps, herbal remedies, pharmaceuticals, and other household items. Because it is soluble in both, water and alcohol, its versatility is a major benefactor in its purported growth and popularity within the manufacturing sector. It is invaluable as a natural source ingredient with emollient like properties which can soften and soothe the skin and it assists the outer epidermis is retaining moisture. This helps to construe why it is one of the most favorite cosmetic additives used today. Other uses contain its solvency activity which aides herbalists in extracting botanical properties from plant materials without the use of alcohol. This is especially helpful for those with alcohol sensitivities as most liquid herbal extracts contain alcohol. But given its severely limited shelf life, extracts made from Vegetable Glycerine typically have a shelf life of 14-24 months whereas alcohol extracts can have an extended shelf life of 4-6 years." http://www.botanical.com
You will also find in your search - that there is huge controversy over preservatives. Parabens, Formaldehydes, etc.
Let me take you on a brief and very layman's science spin:
Organic vs. Inorganic Compounds - Organic compounds are made up of chemical compounds( chemical compounds are substances that consist of 2 or more elements that are bound together in a fixed proportion by mass.) so organic compounds are made up of chemical compounds whose molecules are made of carbon.
Inorganic Compounds are considered to be of mineral, not biological, origin.
Complementary, most organic compounds are traditionally viewed as being of biological origin. An important subset of organic compounds is still extracted from natural sources because they would be far too high-priced to be produced artificially.
Parbens are basically organic compounds that can be often found in natural plants and some insects. They are esters made up of acids.
So....why preservatives?
"Preservatives are substances that kill bacteria and fungi (or at the very minimum make it very difficult for "living things" to survive), and have no follow on the shelf life of the oils. Bacteria, fungi, yeast and other potentially risky microorganisms typically avoid waterless compounds (such as balms, salves, pomades and oil-only blends) and also substances with a relatively high pH (such as soap), but thrive in humid environments. For this reason, soaps and oil-based skin care applications do not need preservatives - but unlike these, creams, lotions and any other composition where water is present want adding a preservative if the shelf life and integrity of the stock need to be extended additional than 2 or 3 weeks.
It is important to understand that the efficacy of preservatives relies, by definition, on their potential to kill live cells; in other words, their toxicity is an sure component of their fancy of being. A estimate of natural extracts, plants and necessary oils contain substances that have the power to effectively kill bacteria, yeast and fungi; however, in many cases these substances are or can be toxic for humans, too. A typical example are citrus or grapefruit seed extracts: although these have natural antimicrobial properties, some of their constituents are concept to be responsible for life-threatening hormonal imbalances. Also, citrus seed extracts are not beloved for cosmetic use in Europe and in Japan, and are therefore not an selection in those countries.
Among the artificial preservatives ready for handmade skin care products, paraben-based systems seem to be particularly controversial. A large estimate of articles, books and so-called "expert" opinions point to paraben-based preservative systems as being responsible for the "skin unfriendliness" of many market products. However, in-depth medical and scientific researches show that paraben-based preservatives are by far less dangerous, both for the skin, and for the environment, than most other types of preservatives, such as for instance those that fall into the "formaldehyde donors" category." http://www.soapnaturally.org/natural_skincare/preservatives.html
By becoming Informed - you can make wise choices.
Science is not evil - it is vital to understand when creating combinations, compounds etc.....no matter how straightforward those might be. The soap creator can not ignore it and neither should you. There needs to be a equilibrium in the middle of your tasteless sense and what Science can show us.
Lastly because of the efforts of those of us who are truly dedicated to our profession of providing remarkable natural goodness in skincare - change in suppliers and in manufacturers is advent - gently but surely. Fragrance oils are being put to a higher test and chemicals such as phalates are being removed from them. More and more combinations of necessary Oils are being created that smell amazing.
Places do exist that allow for choices and salutary options. Such as Ka Nani Essentials where the consumer can choose what aromas and additives go into their chosen Bathing and Skin Items.
WoodSprite Organic Body - that gives you a variety of products to choose from.
Try doing a search and you will find a plethora of Natural Soap Makers.Get to know them - ask questions if they don't reply or can't reply your questions or refuse.......move on. How much is it worth it to you?
Another interrogate that comes up quite often when shopping for Natural Skin Care and that is price. Why is there such a variance? Prices vary for any different reasons.
Most sites are in the 'craft business' and therefore raise and lower their prices just to get rid of their excess account and to make sure that their shop are the most bought from. This does not necessarily equate out to quality.
Some choose to go the only organic ingredient route and therefore the price is dictated to by the cost of the raw ingredient - these clubs typically stick with only a few suppliers.
Then there are some that are middle of the road prices where they shop nearby and price collate all their raw ingredients before buying them - these clubs commonly take the time to find the best potential for a fair price and have any suppliers along with back-up suppliers as well.
Remember that raw ingredient prices are going to vary a bit according to the regions that they are purchased in. Typically locally bought raw ingredients are going to be somewhat less in price than those that are bought and shipped from other locale.
Become Informed - Make your own choices and Take back your power and accountability for your Total condition package!!
Science and Sense can co-exist together if one knows how to weave them together.
When Science and Sense Collide
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