Organic Skin Care

 Since the time when Cleopatra reigned as Queen of Egypt, women have been taking care of their skin. Long ago, they knew Mother Nature had a lot to offer them when it came to skin care, so they used natural resources like fruit, nuts and other gifts of nature to make their skin healthy and radiant looking. They used these natural beautifiers in their natural state without adding chemicals to them. According to recorded history, it was around 454 B.C. when Roman women gave themselves facials using milk and bread, or expensive wine. Oils were used to keep the skin moisturized and healthy. Basics like these were all they needed when it came to caring for their skin.

 Things have changed since the days Cleopatra walked the earth. Many cosmetic companies in business today add chemicals to their products to extend their shelf life, or they add chemicals for other reasons, even though some of these chemicals are toxic and can cause allergic reactions. Fortunately, some companies use vitamins, extracts, and oils that are safe to use instead of toxic chemicals. These companies are the ones that offer products made with only natural ingredients. These are companies that use natural preservatives like vitamin E instead of artificial preservatives such as imidazolidinyl urea. These companies produce what are called "organic" products.

 Organic skin care products contain nothing artificial. Organic products contain ingredients obtained from nature only, and many of these natural ingredients are brought together to make healthy toners, creams, lotions, and other skin care essentials.

 One ingredient commonly used in organic skin care products that needs nothing artificial added to it to give it its wonderful smell is lavender water. Lavender water has a natural pleasing fragrance of its own. It hydrates and calms skin that is sensitive, and it is antiseptic. Tea tree oil is an essential oil that is used in organic skin care products designed for oily skin as it is an effective antiseptic with germicidal properties. A wonderful moisturizer is shea butter. Shea butter comes from nuts that grow on a tree that grows in Africa. It is rich in fatty acids, making it ideal for mature or dry skin. Another excellent ingredient commonly found in products for mature or excessively dry skin is avocado oil. Taken from the avocado fruit, this oil contains vitamins A, D and E. The pulp of the avocado fruit can be mashed and applied to the face as a nourishing mask. Evening primrose oil, which is obtained from a plant, is also used to relieve dry skin as it contains gamma linolenic acid, an essential fatty acid. Jojoba oil (oil from the seeds of a desert bush) is used as a lubricant for the skin, and wool wax (lanolin) takes in and holds moisture to the skin. Aloe Vera from the Aloe plant is also an effective skin lubricant.

 When it comes to getting rid of dead skin cells, many foods you put in your mouth can also be put on your face to make your skin smooth. Two beneficial fruits that can be used for this purpose are papaya and pineapple. Both of these fruits contain enzymes that exfoliate, and each can be mashed and used separately. Another good exfoliant is cornmeal. Very fine cornmeal can be mixed into a cleanser and gently rubbed onto the surface of the skin, then rinsed off to make the skin soft and smooth.

 The natural skin care aids I mentioned are just a few of the beauty tools available from nature. There are many more. Isn’t it wonderful that organic skin care products can take us back to the days when skin care was pure and natural, the way it was meant to be.

Source:
Gerson, Joel, Miladay’s Standard Textbook for Professional Estheticians, Eighth Edition. 1999