To live a conscious life is not so easy when every day we must battle over routinely decisions: what type of soap to buy and what body care to choose. Natural cosmetics are the ones with ingredients ranging from fruits and oils to plants and berries — a wide range making it difficult to decide which components are the most beneficial to our skin. Today, not all natural cosmetics are handmade, like known from ancient rituals, but we are witnessing a wonderful momentum allowing us to buy sustainable products with a range of safe natural ingredients — even if they are blended in the lab — that have become a healthy alternative not only concerning our bodies, but also the environment.
Words: Alexandra Mozgovaya
Natural eco cosmetics ingredients.
We compare different eco skin products (U.S. and UK) and distinguish what main natural ingredients our daily face and body care consist of.
1. Coconut (comes in the form of oil or fruit’s juice).
Coconut oil.
Coconut oil (if you didn't use it before reading, just start) has a wide array of health benefits - skin and body care, hair care, weight loss, strengthening immunity and anti-stress effect. Coconut oil is a natural moisturising product that is effective on all types of skin, including dry skin. It can also treat different skin concerns: psoriasis, dermatitis or eczema and can be an antibacterial shield (!) for acne problems. If you didn’t know yet — coconut oil is a natural product carrying anti-aging effect: namely, creating a barrier to dust and helping to protect the skin from the sun. A great life hack — coconut oil can be used as a pure make-up remover. Just try and you won’t regret.
2. Olive oil.
Olive oil is a wonderful moisturising product. If you have a particularly oily skin (you do know that it also needs to be moisturised, right?), olive oil can help to regulate skin’s own pH balance and remove excessive oil from the face caused by cosmetics. Olive also protects our skin from free radicals. Antioxidants in olive reach deep into the skin and remove dirt and dead skin cells. Also, olive oil consist vitamins, including A and E, that help to repair cells from pollution in a big city environment. So, it is a great natural gem for everyday use.
3. Shea butter (also Karite).
Shea butter is a real skin superfood! Originating from seeds of the Shea fruit tree and being rich (similarly to olive) in vitamins A, E and F, Shea offers UV protection and produces nutrients for collagen production to prevent skin from fading, including establishing wrinkles! Skin becomes softer to touch and naturally strengthens inside.
4. Green tea.
Green tea.
Green tea gives us a number of benefits: antioxidants, which protect us from free radicals. It also stimulates skin’s micro-circulation and improves skin's tone and health (because of Methylxanthines). It also reduces action of collagenase – enzyme that damages collagen in our skin. Green tea also reduces inflammation, so it takes effect as a natural sunscreen.
5. Avocado.
Avocado.
As an ingredient, beyond all, avocado helps to protect skin from UV light. Avocado oil is rich in vitamins A, B, C and E, proteins, lecithin and potassium. It’s very beneficial to the skin and considered as super-ingredient. Avocado oil also helps heal the skin from injuries deriving from sun exposure and scars. Avocado oil, in particular, makes skin strong by triggering the production of collagen. This helps reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and enhance skin tone. Avocado helps to regenerate and reactivate different rejuvenating processes in the skin.
So, the best natural ingredients are everywhere around us and eco beauty brands are going strong on using them in their products. It is hard to balance everyday beauty routine having to literally DIY-invent mixtures from coconut fruits, or a bottle of olive oil at home, so it is much convenient to choose cosmetics from the line of beauty labels that have incorporated these healing ingredients into their cosmetics already, carrying a wealth of benefits and a huge positive impact on our skin's health.
There's already a varied choice of different eco brands on the market, which present us with quality and high-standard eco contents. So, investigate the labels on your beauty products, decide what fits your personal needs the best and let your healthy skin speak for itself.