WATERLESS SKINCARE REVOLUTION

Ever since I trained to be an aromatherapist some thirty years ago and subsequently went on to develop skincare ranges for our own companies and other peoples companies, I have been passionate about natural skincare.  I have always felt that if you were not prepared to ingest your skincare you shouldn’t put it on your face or body.  In fact, an average of 64% of what you put on your skin is actually absorbed into your body (source: American Journal of Public Health 1). When you are applying facial skincare, apart from the fact that product is absorbed by the skin right down to the lower dermis and into your bloodstream and digestive system, quite a lot of the product enters your body by mouth, inhalation and even some via your eyes. Nowadays I am so confident of my products that I actually lick my Facial Mist from my lips which also taste fantastic  and smells divine.  I can safely say that there is not one facial cream, lotion, cleanser or toner that I would do this with if it contained synthetic preservatives, emulsifiers or bulking agents and ALL creams and lotions DO contain these things. 

The type of skincare I am talking about here has in more recent years been coined Waterless Skincare.  Other catchy names are Conscious, Ethical and of course Natural  Skincare.  This is skincare formulated without water using only plant oils and waxes.  The absence of water means that bacteria cannot grow in these products so harsh preservatives that are designed to kill ALL bacteria including the vital bacteria that forms the protective microbial outer layer of our skin.  Emulsifiers, the detergents of skincare ingredients bind oil and water together and strip your skin of natural oil leaving it gasping for elasticity and producing yet more oil which is often the reason for oily outbreaks. Fillers can clog the skin, stopping it from breathing whilst causing blackheads and spots.  There is always another product to correct the one that is doing the harm and another to correct that one and voila! - a multimillion dollar industry is in motion.

Not all is gloom and doom though.  Big skincare corporations are investing heavily in developing more natural and waterless ranges which include balms, oils, solid shampoos and cleansers to name just a few.  Meanwhile, there are thousands of small Indie beauty companies waving the banner of healthy, conscious and ethical skincare.  

Water is a vital commodity to life and even here in wet, wet  Britain, we know how important it is to conserve water.  Billions of gallons of water are used unnecessarily in the manufacturing of most skin carer products. Waterless Skincare is more concentrated and more effective.  Shipping large amounts of water around the world wastes a huge amount of energy.  A cream typically has around 65% water and a lotion 80%.  Imagine how much smaller waterless shipments of skincare are and how much water is being saved.  And water in skincare is completely unnecessary.  Don’t let people tell you your skin need the ‘hydration’.  Our skin is designed to keep the inside of our bodies dry! Yes, it draws water from the lower dermis and from humectants in skincare products but there are natural humectants like Jojoba and Sunflower Oil that work brilliantly because they do not evaporate quickly on the skin like many creams and lotions do.  There are some exceptions though.  Hydrosols and Fruit Waters are a by product of the extraction process of essential oils and some other ingredients and they retain many of the properties of the plants that they came from. These waters are often used alone for their therapeutic properties and are ethical in that they would otherwise be thrown away.  They do not need preservatives because they are packed with natural antibacterial properties that do not strip our skin of its natural goodness. 

If you are still not sure why we should stop using skincare that is full of water, here is a sobering thought. By 2025, two thirds of the world's population will most likely be severely short of water.  Skincare shouldn’t be part of the cause.  

So what is in our Angelico Waterless Skincare products? 

We use only beautiful, natural plant oils. A real gift from nature, providing everything your skin needs to keep it in perfect condition. We blend base oils, sometimes called vegetable or carrier oils, with pure essential oils to create the right balance of nourishment for each skin type. Each oil is vital to the product blend it is in and to the synergy of each product, creating the perfect moisturiser and cleansers for any skin type.

Angelico products simply moisturise, nourish, balance and restore your skin to it’s natural, beautiful self.

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