As we investigate beauty treatments, we certainly come up with various synthetic products that have been proven to not be as helpful as we once thought. Certainly parabens, sulfates and silica gels have had their bad rap over the last few years. Just as with our food, the products we put on our skin, scalp and in our bodies all can sell for two to four times the amount if they can be labeled organic. Manufacturers for the beauty and cosmetic field are certainly not stupid, and they have jumped on the band wagon of organics as well.
There is, however a huge difference between organic and all-natural. Vitamin C tablets for example can come from natural sources, but require synthetic help to keep them stable enough to be sale-able. Organic vitamin C must be eaten in the form of organic fruit. Almost every one of us takes some type of supplement to fill in the holes in a less than complete diet…and therefore we do depend on synthetics or at least non-organics to keep food supplements fresh and safe for consumption. A raw, organic diet is not possible for the majority of us living and working today…but at least we feel better trying to keep away from potentially harmful products as much as possible.
Taking out all synthetics in our beauty regimen would seem impossible as well. Creams, makeup, hair shampoos, conditioners can easily be organic or all-natural, but if we want to avoid lines and wrinkles we usually use sunscreens and products which have synthetic ingredients or would need to stay completely out of the sun to keep those lines, wrinkles and age spots away. Certainly glycolic acid and peptides are synthetic, but a lot of us use those to undo damage caused by the sun and “natural” aging! Hyaluronic acid and alpha-lipoic acid both occur naturally in the body. They have moisture adding and antioxidant qualities, but we cannot obtain enough naturally to fill our skincare lines, so the synthetic versions are used in production. Perfumes have been fooling our nostrils for years with synthetic scents. Most perfumes use synthetic additives or even those that do use natural floral molecules, find they must go through a chemical process to get rid of the unwanted parts and be fit for atomizing. A visit to Sephora lately however, has new rows of totally organic and all-natural scents for sale. Perhaps the shelf-life is not as good, but they do smell marvelous!
Alternative methods to shampooing in general have popped up on the radar. Although dry shampoos or using baby powder to soak up hair oils have been around for a long time but are making a resurgence along with creams that can be applied and rinsed out…no suds and no need for conditioners. Most of these creams are made from natural (some organic) oils. Keeping our scalps free of debris (oils and dead skin cells) is a must however for healthy follicles and hair shafts. The clearer the path, the easier it is for hair follicles to “breathe” and push out healthy hair. What happens though when our hair’s diameter gets smaller or our follicles weaken? Another natural hair loss treatment to the rescue! Nutreve International promotes it’s Nutreve Personal Hair Therapy Laser as a great alternative to taking or applying medicines (Rogaine or Minoxidil) or having surgery to regain that full, shiny head of hair. Their laser hair brush houses 35 cool light, low level lasers that reach down JUST far enough to target the base of the hair follicles where blood flow is increased and nutrients carried in the blood feeds these follicles and thus stimulates stronger, faster hair growth. As a treatment for thinning hair, the lack of synthetics taken orally or manually applied is appreciated and the body actually uses its own system to replenish what it needs for strength and growth.
Organics and naturals are here to stay and they will gradually sift into the plethora of options we have for trying to stay younger looking and healthy at the same time. We may not be able to totally get away from synthetic material use in all of our products…but options are good…and knowledge is better!