Being consciously beautiful has become a hot topic in the beauty industry. It takes many names; green beauty, ethical beauty, and sustainable beauty.
The toxic results of conventional chemicals, environmental awareness, and social responsibility have led to the mantra “be mindful of the beauty in you and around you.”
What is conscious beauty
Shirley Conlon Organics, defines conscious beauty as the “consideration for the life of the product, ingredients, price, production process, quality, fair trade practices, and awareness of packaging, recycling and labels.”
How are conscious beauty products made
Conscious beauty makes use of eco friendly, biodegradable and sustainable plant ingredients that have minimal processing. Popular sources include cold pressed fruit, seed, nut and vegetable oils, bioactive ingredients, butters, extracts, waxes and essential oils.
Carrier oils and essential oils
The main focus for aromatherapy and massage therapists is the essential oil, which forms between 1-2% of a product. Essential oils (rose, lavender, eucalyptus) can be toxic if used incorrectly, whilst carrier oils (argan, coconut, almond) can be used without any adverse reactions. While essential oils are important for sensory benefits, it is the other 98% that is vital to maintain healthy skin. Choose the incorrect carrier oil and you are asking for skin trouble.
At SCO we never use rich oils and butters like coconut or cocoa or shea butter on the face as these contain long chain fatty acids and have a long surface time on the skin (not so easy to absorb) which can clog and enlarge pores and create blackheads and breakouts. We instead opt for oils that penetrate the skin quickly, carrying nutrients and essential fatty acids to nourish and protect the skin. We study every oil in its complexity before adding a percentage of it to any blend.
When choosing essential oils we do not use any of the notes that can create pigmentation problems and skin sensitivity to sunlight, so often our scents are difficult to create.
Bio-active ingredinets and extracts
Where we differ! While plant oils, botanical butters and essential oils are wonderful ingredients to support and enhance the heath and beauty of the skin, in order to have a results driven product, bio active ingredients, antioxidants and extracts need to be added. We choose these very carefully to complement environmental factors. Our extracts have proven results to enhance the skin and we always use these at their maximum allowed percentage, not just for a label claim. Here we use ingredients like vitamins, minerals, cosmetucials and our special blend of antioxidant that keeps your product fresh and your skin looking its best.
Advantages of eco-friendly packaging
We believe that eco-friendly packaging is fundamental for any organic brand. Packaging an organic product into a plastic container makes no sense at all to us. We have actually cancelled and postponed the launch of several products because we could not find the correct sustainable (non plastic) packaging. Our face scrub is one such product that we eventually totally changed the formula to compliment the packaging. Being mindful and minimal, we do not use any individual boxes followed by more plastic wrapping, but we still understand that a product needs to look beautiful and arrive in optimal condition. For this purpose we use recycled cardboard boxes, which our customers can return back to us. Our signature glass amber bottles help to protect our precious ingredients against sunlight and oxidation.
Why should you buy sustainable cosmetics
One of the benefits of conscious beauty is its positive impact on the environment. Every day we hear stories about dangerous carbon emissions or large plastic floats in the ocean. As you become environmentally conscious, you tend to opt for natural low-polluting products.
Natural ingredients are unlikely to cause skin irritations or allergic reactions, unlike toxic synthetic ingredients or artificial colors. For example, glycerine, it’s an excellent moisturizer and is used in cosmetics, soaps, and pharmaceuticals.
Though petrochemicals deliver short term results, its long term use can be highly toxic to the environment and humans. Long term use of beauty products containing petrochemicals may cause acne, headaches, eye problems, premature aging, and hormonal imbalance.
When you choose conscious beauty products, you forego the use of harmful chemicals and invest in long term, slow and steady health and beauty benefits whilst being mindful, aware and environmentally responsible.
Invest in sustainable and green beauty products and be consciously beautiful!
