The New Organics: Skincare Trends

Is green the color of beauty?

It would seem so. The beauty world is always looking to hype the latest trend and as more brands embrace the notion of natural, vegan and organic it’s impossible not to be overwhelmed. The sheer amount of skincare products is daunting enough and then you have to wade through all the claims of “the most natural” and “the most organic”.

So is organic skincare a better choice, or is it all hype?

When we were young we didn’t have to give our skin a moments thought. But the natural aging process our skin goes through as it begins to work less efficiently takes it toll. Add to that the exposure to stress—environmental, physical and mental—our skin takes a beating and starts to thin, losing elasticity and the lines, wrinkles and sagging begin to appear. This doesn’t all happen later in life, it all begins way earlier than 50 or 60, especially if you are not treating your skin with some TLC.  Typical beauty products are formulated with very little regard to the effect the chemicals have on your body now and in the future. Our skin is a living organism, not a steel barrier, over sixty percent of what we put on our skin gets absorbed, so it really does matter. Think about “feeding your skin”, the products you use have a direct entry into the bloodstream, whereas the food we ingest is first metabolized by the liver. By using pure, organic skincare products, we are eliminating—or minimizing—the effects of toxic chemicals on our bodies.

What shade of green are they really?

Many claims for natural and organic products are often less than truthful so it really is about becoming educated on ingredients, reading labels and finding brands you can trust.  If you are choosing to go organic the first step is to look for a brand using certified organic plant-based ingredients. This ensures that no chemicals have been used in the production of the plant source. Check out the company’s website, are they transparent, do they list what chemicals they don’t use and what ingredients they do use and why? Then check out how they substantiate their claims. Have they tested and validated their formulas?

What you don’t want to see on a label are parabens, propylene or butylene glycols, phthalates, sulfates, PEGs, TEA, DEA, GMO, silicones, artificial dyes and colors and artificial fragrances.

What you do want to see is validation from independent organizations that the brand meets stringent organic standards. Look for seals from USDA: Department of Agriculture, COPA: California Organic Products Act, NSF: National Sanitation Foundation, Leaping Bunny and Vegan.org to ensure that a particular brand or company is honest to their claims.

Find out if the packaging itself is from a sustainable source, is it recyclable? And if social responsibility is important to you, then look for brands that give back…not just as a marketing add-on, but as part of the company culture.

What can you expect?

It used to be that while the premise of natural, vegan and organic skincare was appealing, the product performance was lacking. Basic cleansing, toning and moisturizing yes, but anti-aging and blemish control not so much. But, the past decade has seen tremendous strides in organic skincare technology and innovation.  One brand in the forefront of this is Juice Beauty. Their breakthrough Juice Beauty’s Stem Cellular Collection is formulated with a proprietary blend of fruit stem cells and Vitamin C infused into an organic, resveratrol-rich juice base. Other innovations include Juice Beauty’s patented, bestselling, and award-winning, organic fruit acid rich Green Apple Peels. This sounds very appealing to me. These are all things that I want to put on my skin. Juice Beauty certainly walks the green walk, scoring high on the Eco18 green scale, with antioxidant-rich and clinically proven skincare, makeup and hair care products that meet the most stringent organic regulations in North America. The brand has solid eco-values that include purchasing locally from West Coast certified organic farmers and manufacturing strictly in the U.S.A. with solar power, utilizing recycled containers and printing with soy ink. Juice Beauty also gives a percentage of profits to five chosen charities every month.