With an overwhelming list of natural skin care ingredients out there how do you differentiate between the best natural skin care ingredients and natural skin care ingredients that should be avoided?
Firstly, it’s important to recognize the the term “natural” can mean just about anything! There’s absolutely no regulation of the use of the term in INDIA or anywhere else in the world (as far as our research shows).
Also, there are some awfully poisonous and dangerous substances that occur naturally in nature.
So, marketing a product or ingredient as “natural” is something that should be viewed with a healthy amount of suspicion in our opinion.
When it comes to food, everyone knows that organic produce is better for you, but it seems this logic hasn’t yet hit the same critical mass in the skin care industry.
Why Truly Natural Skincare Is Important
The fact is we all use skin care products, whether it’s a soap bar, an ethical moisturizer or a zero waste mascara or all of the above.
It’s also a fact that our skin is porous and absorbs much of what is applied to it and that includes the myriad of synthetic and harmful chemicals contained in the majority of body care products sold today.
The FDA and cosmetic companies say no worries – it’s just small quantities, however, no one actually knows what the long-term effects of their application are and secondly, what the cumulative effects of being exposed to a cocktail of chemicals (however small) every day will do.
Europe, on the other hand, has banned well over a thousand of these harmful “natural skin care ingredients” that should never be used because they’re linked to cancer, birth defects, genetic mutation and/or reproductive harm.
HOW TO FIND THE BEST NATURAL SKIN CARE INGREDIENTS
In a previous post we discussed the importance of organic and natural products. How we can properly identify those products by either:
- looking out for a certification or logo
- by simply reading the ingredient list.
But how do you know which natural skin care ingredients are good for you or what the best natural skincare ingredients are? There are thousands and marketing does a great job at muddying the waters!
So, to answer this we looked at a cross-section of the best organic and natural skin care products on the market. This was based on our own personal experience and hundreds of other raving reviews.
Also the brands had to tick every one of our sustainability criteria:
- include organic natural skin care ingredients – either certified or clearly natural and identifiable ingredients
- be vegan
- be cruelty free
We’ll get more in detail about these criteria in just a second.
We then collated a list of the most common ingredients found across the range of products we surveyed.
It’s no accident that those products had the best reviews. Many of the ingredients found in them have solid scientific and research backed evidence (which we’ve included links to below) that they’re good for you in one way or another.
Of course, it must be said that we’re all different. An ingredient might be perfect for one person’s skin and not so good for another. It’s a case of trial and error. But at least you’ll know that each of the ingredients listed below are a healthy addition to any skin care product that you buy.
By referring to, or becoming familiar with our list below you’ll be able to identify whether the product you’re looking to buy has a quality formulation or not.
