You want natural skin care. Ingredients are irrelevant as long as it works.

Is that right? Are natural skin care ingredients irrelevant as long as it works? Lets have a look at this as we saw that exact comment recently on a skincare website.

“I don’t care what’s in it as long as it works”.

Firstly lets talk about why so many people are now turning to natural skin care products. The reasons seem to be twofold as far as we can tell.

1. That there is a slow realization amongst consumers of skincare products that there really are naturally occurring substances that are extremely good for your skin.

There’s now no doubt about that. In the past we have talked about Phytessence Wakame for example. This is a seaweed found in Japan that has extraordinary properties that are excellent for skin health, and this is one of the major reasons why Japanese women have such good skin. They eat the important ingredient.

Or perhaps Shea Butter, the oil from the nut of the African Shea tree, one of the best moisturizers around. And there’s many many more examples of natural skin care ingredients that are as effective, and in many cases better, than the ingredients used in mainstream big brand skin care products.

2. There is also a growing realization that the big brand name products often contain dangerous ingredients. That is often the case where there is a chemical ingredient that can be used in a product that is way cheaper than a more natural, more expensive, alternative.

We have also written extensively about the dangerous ingredients that can be found in skin care products and cosmetics, (and some so called natural skin care products too).

So if you consider these 2 reasons for the big movement towards more natural skin care products it does seem to us that the ingredients that are found in your products ARE important.

You the consumer wants SAFE ingredients and EFFECTIVE ingredients. So the whole consumer movement towards all natural and organic skincare products is driven by a concern about what INGREDIENTS are in them.

Give us safe and effective products any day.

So natural skin care ingredients DO matter.

Do you get safe and effective ingredients in all natural skin care products? No, not necessarily. If you’re interested in finding out more read here.

But there is a process that you can go through to find the best natural skin care products that have ingredients that are both safe and effective. We’ve done that and we are fully convinced that the best natural skincare products using only safe ingredients that are extremely effective, is the products of Xtend Life.

They offer products with very safe ingredients, and are a signatory to the Compact For Safe Cosmetics. They are open and transparent about the ingredients that go into their products and list them on their website. And their products work extremely well, and are money back guaranteed.

That is pretty pursuasive, especially finding a company that offers a money back guarantee on skin care products. Read the rest of this entry

SPF moisturizers can have their risks. But not a natural SPF moisturizer.

One of the most important things you can do for your skin doesn’t have to do with using skin care products. One of the 2 or 3 best things for skin care is avoiding sunburn.

Sunburn is just terrible for your skin, so you would assume then that the best thing you can do for your skin is to use sunscreen, and if you use a moisturizer that you would use an SPF moisturizer.

Sorry to bring bad news but SPF moisturizers have their problems, and so you may prefer to use a natural SPF moisturizer that moisturizes but doesn’t risk damage to your skin.

What is the problem with sunscreens, or having an SPF factor in your moisturizer? There’s 2 things.

The first problem is that there are some experts convinced that long term use of sunscreens is dangerous and that the chemicals that are used to block the effects of those UV rays on your skin can cause cancer. The jury is out on it but we’re sufficiently scared by the possibility that we don’t want to take the risk.

The second problem is this. If you’re worried about sunburn because you’re going out in the sun this afternoon you apply your sunscreen for this afternoon, say 4 or 5 hours. So any potentially harmful chemicals are applied to your skin for 4 or 5 hours, today.

But if you use an SPF moisturizer you use that sunscreen every single day. And 99% of the time you aren’t even going to go out in the sun.

See the problem? If your moisturiser has sunscreen in it you multiply the possibly cancerous effects by many times by wearing it all day every day even when you don’t really need it. You’re way better off using a sunscreen only on those days you need it, and a regular moisturizer other days.

And there is also evidence that long term use of sunscreen can lead to vitamin D deficiency.

But there’s more, because it’s possible to get a moisturizer, or natural skin care products, with some natural SPF protection. Not a chemical SPF factor, but natural sun protection from a natural ingredient that is part of the sunscreen.

Now this protection isn’t as strong as a chemical SPF factor, but is worth having if you’re convinced, like us, that you really don’t need a strong sunscreen in your moisturizer, that a natural moisturizer with spf from the ingredients is sufficient.

Here’s an example of a natural SPF moisturizer. Phytessence Wakame. This is an ingredient found in the worlds best natural skin care products, it comes from a particular form of seaweed found in Japan. And it has an ability to offer some natural sun protection.

These products moisturize very successfully due to the effects of the Phytessence Wakame and other ingredients, but don’t just moisturize. They offer a complete skin care solution (with no chemical sunscreen).

Just make sure you use sunscreen on days when you’re going to be out in the sun and will need it. Read the rest of this entry