Natural Skin Care Products: Out with the New in with the Old?
Natural skin care products are changing rapidly - one minute
it's all about AHA's (Alpha Hydroxy Acids), the next it's dead
sea products, then... some other fad is sure to strike any
minute now.
Natural skin care products are no longer clearly defined and are
undergoing critical review in terms of their 'natural'
components.
Many companies are promoting their products as natural, however
adding isolated substances, although extracted from natural
sources, is not what is meant by natural skin care or natural
personal care products.
Wildcrafted Herbal Products is a well-established holistic, natural skin care
company that has withstood the temptation of jumping on this
bandwagon of including isolated (naturally sourced) ingredients
in their products. Over its 20-year history, Wildcrafted Herbal
Products has seen many other competitors come and go, just as
quickly as the fads themselves.
"Wildcrafted's
philosophy of utilising medicinal herbal extracts, pure
essential oils, fruits and vegetables in their natural state has
proven to be successful", says Susan Siegenthaler, medical
herbalist and co-owner of Wildcrafted Herbal Products.
"Wildcrafted originated in my clinic over 20 years ago, where I
saw the need to formulate holistic, natural skin care
products for my patients with skin disorders. Right from the
start I knew that only a holistic, natural skin care product
would be of any use to the many patients with skin problems and
that's why I've never included 'fashionable' ingredients in my
formulations".
"Susan is passionate about getting the ingredient mix right",
explains Danny Siegenthaler, a doctor of traditional Chinese
medicine and co-owner of Wildcrafted Herbal
Products", "she never looks for the easy option, or the
fashionable approach. It's always got to be the best and purest
no matter what. Susan literally agonises over which ingredients
will work best together to achieve a desired result."
Almost every day we hear another new word for a product that
promises to make you look younger or reduce the signs of aging.
Most of these words are pure fiction and not found in any
dictionary. They are simply designed to make the viewer think
'if this substance or name is any indication, it must be
good'.
This could not be further from the truth, because rarely are
these ingredients new or have any magical power to make your
skin look younger or reduce wrinkles or do anything much more
than nourish your skin.
"Herbs and Essential oils have so many active ingredients that
have a physiological benefit on the skin, we don't need to add
isolated extracts and concentrates to our products", explains
Susan. "As soon as you use an isolated ingredient you loose the
other beneficial and balancing components of the herb or fruit
and that defeats the purpose".
"Wild Yam extract for example has phyto-hormones that will be
absorbed by the skin to work at the cellular level. You don't
need to extract these hormones, give them some 'fad name' and
than try to pretend it is something new in order for them to
work."
Susan believes that the philosophy of herbal medicine has well
and truly stood the test of time and if understood and applied
correctly, there is no need to include isolated extracts from
plants in skin care products to make them more effective.
"I have seen so many patients' skin conditions revert back to
where they've started after they stopped using expensive, so
called 'natural' skin care products, all because these isolated
ingredients do not work in the long term and are usually only
effective while you use them; in other words, they treat the
symptoms not the cause." Susan continues, "herbal extracts and
essential oils, which are combinations of many ingredients that
effectively work together and enhancing each other, have the
capacity to repair the skin on a cellular level and will bring
long lasting and on-going benefits. It's no more complicated
than that." Says Susan.
"I really believe, that sticking to the 'old', tried and true
principles of herbal medicine is what has made our natural skin
care products so successful and effective, and I see no reason
to change our approach."