Nature or science, which one to choose?

We have been attending lots of skin care events recently and consequently getting more and more confused. It seems there are two distinct types of beauty customers, those who like their products natural, chemical free and organic and those who like them to be high tech and scientific.

It seems many of us don’t actually know what ingredients are in our cosmetics, according to a survey at the Portland State University in Oregon. They discovered that 63 per cent of the women polled, used at least 10 different products each day, including moisturisers and shampoo, without knowing what was in them.

I want my skin care to reflect my other choices in life. I eat organic food, try to steer clear of anything over processed, opt for homeopathic medicine where possible and try not to use too many horrible chemical cleaning products around the house. I do however, want to see results if I am going to spend money on products, in the same way that I want my food to taste better, if it costs more from the local organic shop.

Both ends of the spectrum sound totally convincing when they explain how amazing their products are and the science behind the less natural products is overwhelming. Several of the pharmaceutical-grade skincare products are so strong, they are very close to needing a prescription and while there is no denying they get results, one wonders about the implications of so many chemicals in the future. Will nanotechnology be seen as the parabens of the next generation and will we wonder what on earth we were thinking when we covered our skin in chemicals?

We don’t know enough about this to offer any real advice or have an informed opinion, but are willing to try both types of skin care until we find something that suits both our skin and ethical/ slightly hippy thinking.

For the last month I have been using Fruitful Nights night cream by Green People, which is made without parabens, lanolin, ethyl alcohol, artificial perfumes, petrochemicals, phthalates and colourants – which are all bad things in the world of organic beauty.

I admit I wasn’t keen at first, as it’s a strange greyish colour and despite its name, doesn’t smell very nice (certainly not of fruit!) but it does make my skin very smooth, even in colour and very soft. In fact it’s so good I am going buy more, even although I have a whole host of other products to try.

Green People was started by Charlotte Vøhtz who discovered that her daughters skin allergies were being triggered by chemical-based household and personal care products. With a nursing background, knowledge of herbal medicine, and more than 11 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, she decided to make her own natural products and found that her daughters problems cleared up. She went on to develop a range of natural skin care, hair care and body care products and Green People was born.

10 years later and the company now have a baby and child, men’s and extensive women’s range. This reasonably priced ethical brand is usually sold in health food shops and online and is definitely worth trying if you are keen on natural products.

As we get older our skin is one of the areas that definately shows our age and without a doubt it’s worth spending a little bit of extra time and money on it. Older beauty consumers are on lots of skin care companies radars at the moment, as they seem to have tapped into the fact we have money to spend.

We are a well informed, questioning lot and probably less likely to believe marketing hype. We want our products to look and smell nice, to know what goes into them, what their long term implications are and not to cost as much as a small bungalow in Bournmouth  – oh and whether they’ll make us look like Kirsten Scott Thomas – no biggie!!

 

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