INTRODUCTION
Which is Better? Is 100% Natural the way to go or does Science hold the holy grail of skin care?
It is this question that often comes into discussion whenever I happen to be in a group of people passionate about skincare. Every time, there is a person who feels that their opinion alone is the correct one.
While it is not for me to decide who is correct or not, I would surely like to present my views on this matter.
THE CRUX OF THE DISCUSSION
People often have taken a particular viewpoint depending on the experience they have in their lives or by sharing someone’s experience. For instance, someone may have a bad experience with a particular brand of skin care product. Or they might have gotten really good results.
As there are far too many instances, I am not going to go down a particular case for this discussion and focus on the broad topic of 100% Natural vs Manmade Skincare.
THE CASE OF INGREDIENTS
Ingredients for the skincare can be divided into different categories. The three broad categories are:
- Active ingredients – These are the ingredients which are responsible for the improvement of the skin. These can be either natural or manmade.
- Base ingredients – Base are the ingredients in which the active ingredients are mixed to provide a jelly or a cream like consistency since many ingredients are not in a ready to use form on the skin.
- Stabilizers – These are the ingredients which increase the longevity of the skincare products. These inhibit the action of the bacteria or prevent the oxidation of the cream/serum.
THE HIDDEN TRUTH ABOUT SKIN CARE & INGREDIENTS
What few companies would like to admit is that it is nearly impossible to really find a skincare which is 100% natural skincare. Natural ingredients are of two types. These are:
- Raw : Natural Ingredients which are used as is without any purification or extraction process.
- Derived: Ingredients that are obtained by extracting from the raw natural ingredient. These can be in the form of extract (in dry form or liquid), powder or paste.
The first one is not considered useful as it contains a high amount of organic matter which is of no benefit to the skin. In this case, the percentage of the active ingredient is too low. Also, you would need to seek the best quality ingredients, for example, you might need a specific lime variety which is more sour or something similar. To get the high quality ingredients, you would invariably have to invest more for ingredients, which would show up in the final costs of the product.
The Second type- derived, is much better as the active ingredient in the fruit extract/pulp is much more concentrated. Also, it removes much of the organic matter.
Man-made(or Artificial) ingredients on the other hand, are made from chemically synthesizing compounds to mimic the properties of the natural ingredients. It brings the production cost down for the companies (Economy of scale) and can be made available to a larger audience due to their low price.
ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH 100% NATURAL INGREDIENTS
The truth with 100% natural ingredients is that these are prone to getting bad due to enzymatic/bacterial action. This is totally natural and part of the process that occurs in nature. A simple example would be the ripening of the fruit and then going bad after some time.
Have you ever wondered why some natural products are good for use even after 1 year of manufacturing date?
Simple, the products not only contain natural ingredients but also the stabilizers and the preservatives that keep the product from degrading.
So why do the companies say that they have 100% natural ingredients? Simple, they are merely cashing on the “natural’ buzz word and conveniently neglecting to inform the user completely.
I daresay you would think many times over before applying a cream with a fungal growth built up or which has unbearable odour.
So, what’s the solution?
A BETTER WAY
The best solution is to understand how we can better take care of our skin. Rather than jumping into Natural vs Manmade debate, I have gone through many research papers and journals in depth. In the course of my work, I have found that the best way is to combine the best of nature and man-made ingredients in a balanced manner.
My experience as a Pharmacist and interest in natural solutions has helped me to devise such a balance. As a result, I have started creating formulations which are best of the traditional plant knowledge and the latest developments in Skin Science.
One such formulation that I have made is the Ageless Series range of Bee Elite Essentials, marketed by Elite Elan LLC. One of the most prolific products is the Ageless Bee Venom Face Cream which contains certified manuka honey with UMF24+ rating from New Zealand, Coffee Honey from Guatemala, Bee Venom of 100 ppm + from Georgia, Marine Collagen from Japan, and next Generation Bio-peptide complex from Spain.
The Ageless Bee Venom Face Cream is enriched with naturally powerful superior antioxidants which leaves your skin radiant & youthful. A natural collagen booster cream which triples the formation of collagen in 21 days. It stimulates fibroblasts, which then reprogram skin with higher quality of collagen and elastin
It is available on the Bee Elite Essentials website here as well as on Amazon and Walmart.
To buy : <<Amazon >> <<wALmart>>
CONCLUSION
It is imperative to understand that a 100% natural does not guarantee to be a good product, so we should dig deeper than marketing gimmicks to know the really good products from the ordinary ones.