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In answer to the title of this article you may expect that the response is “it’s organic or natural” but that goes without saying. However, this article takes a deeper look at the classes of ingredients, the skin benefits of these ingredients and their impact on the skin. The basic aims of a good moisturiser is to maintain or restore skin barrier systems and to improve overall skin health. At a cellular level it is important that the formation of the epidermis or outer layer of skin is supported, as this is the foundation of an effective protective layer.

A well-formulated moisturiser will have the following properties:
• Mimic skin structure and function
• Slow trans epidermal water loss
• Maintain the skin’s protective barrier
• Nourish the skin by providing nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and essential fats
• Have a moisture saturating effect i.e. provide the skin with the moisture it needs
• Have a balanced pH
• Have a restorative effect i.e. work to improve superficial skin damage

In addition, it is important that the formulation looks, feels and smells nice. The aesthetics of a formulation have a large impact on its use. After all, a formulation can have amazing properties but if it sits on the bathroom shelf without being used, it is no good to anyone.

In order to achieve the above aims, a good moisturiser obviously needs to contain active ingredients but just as important are the base ingredients. In many cases, the base carriers, emollients (softening and soothing) and humectants (retains water) could also be considered active ingredients if well chosen.

Base ingredients are those that make up over 50 – 70% of the formulation. They are responsible largely for protection and hydration. If formulated well with ingredients such as fruit, seed and plant oils or gels, they will also provide some nutritional value.

The growing sophistication of natural and organic formulations highlights the key differences between these and their synthetic counterparts. Obviously the lack of potential toxic or irritating colours, fragrances and preservatives is a major difference, however, returning to the original premise of the article, “what makes a good formulation”, the key difference by proportion of formulation is actually the base ingredients. Comprising over half of the formulation, they can either actively promote skin health, or have a somewhat neutral effect.

By way of example, petroleum has an excellent and immediate barrier effect on the skin however, it sits on the surface of the skin and so stops the skin breathing and depending on where it is sourced may potentially be a source of toxic contamination. On the other hand, Shea Butter also has an excellent barrier effect but is also a source of vitamins A and E, iron and essential fatty acids. In addition it penetrates the skin readily, has an emollient effect and supports skin elasticizing. As you can imagine, a formulation containing Shea Butter is much more likely to meet the essential criteria of a good formulation.

Active ingredients are more likely to help to restore skin health and provide skin nourishment. These include antioxidants, vitamins, amino acids and minerals. They may make up between 5-10% of a formulation. These days it is common to see the same active ingredients in a good organic formulation as it is in an expensive department store brand or dermatologist cosmedic range. Ingredients such as vitamin C, alpha hydroxy acids, retinoids, hyaluronic acid and peptides are no longer the exclusive domains of dermatologists.

Depending on the formulation colours and fragrances make up less than 5%. An organic formulation is unlikely to have any added colours or fragrances but rather utilizes the natural fragrances of essential oils, which are in fact considered actives or essential oil based preservatives, which again give the formulation its fragrance.

Preservatives may also contribute up to 5% of a formulation. Depending on whether the formulation is natural or synthetically based, the preservatives will be either essential oil or plant based or a synthetic alternative such as parabens. Some organic products contain chemically modified preservatives i.e. the starting material is natural but it is modified to have a preservative-like effect. One example of this is phenoxyethanol. There are a number of ways of manufacturing this preservative however the form that is acceptable in organic formulations is based on natural starting materials.

Determining a good moisturiser from one that is…well average cannot be based on the active ingredients alone. A holistic review of the ingredients including the base formulation, colours, fragrances and preservatives will determine this and if after this you are still unsure, ask! Contact the manufacture, check the Skin Deep database or ask the retailer for a detailed explanation of ingredients so that you really know what you are putting on your face each day.

To review the ingredients of some very good organic moisturisers, click here!

One of my major bugbears is the use of “green-washing” when it comes to the natural & organic skin care industry. Waving an organic tea-bag over a jar of skin care doesn’t make it organic. I think a healthy dose of transparency is needed in this industry. This youtube video by Pure & Green Organics is a good one as it helps to identify some of the marketing tricks used as well as showing consumers how to identify certified organic ranges.

I do want to point out that using natural skin care (which isn’t necessarily organic) is the first step to healthier skin…going organic is the next step however it isn’t always possible to find products that work for you that are both natural AND organic. Ultimately I believe you have to choose the product that suits your skin first over organic certification (please comment if you disagree as I love to read what y’all think). I can imagine a world where this will be possible…and quite soon, but we aren’t there yet.

Organic Skincare – Real or Fake by Pure and Green Organics

As you may know at Vitale we are huge fans of the Australian, certified organic range La Mav. Recently they have relaunched their range and made some great changes which are outlined below:

1. Gorgeous new packaging that is colour coded for the skin issue each addresses (see below for more explanation about this). The plant design printed on the packaging consists of a combination of the stems, branches, flowers and other raw materials that are used in La Mav products.
2. Eliminating problems such as dodgy dispensers and airless pumps that don’t work
3. Increasing the size of the cleansers, toners and moisturisers without increasing the price!
4. Introducing some amazing new cosmeceutical products that address key skin issues such as pigmentation (Skin Brightening range), dehydration (Ultra hydration range), slow aging (Wrinkle Smoothing products) and the needs of mature skin (Lift & Firm products)

From La Mav founder, Tarj Mavi: “We are extremely satisfied with our product formulations which remain completely unchanged. The decision to update our core and secondary packaging was so that we could more closely reflect the essence of the brand – age defying results, inspired by skin science and delivered through nature.”

The new packaging is coloured coded to reflect the different product ranges and skin types:

• Purify and clean packaging is covered in an earthy green to represent the plant bio-actives contained in the products
• Gentle and clean packaging is coloured light peach to represent the soothing and gentle nature of the key ingredients
• Skin Brightening products are coloured in pale yellow packaging to represent the lightness and clarity the key ingredients provide
• The Lift and Firm range is packaged in a sophisticated purple colour representing the needs of the more mature skin.
• Age Defence range is packaged in the core pink colour – feminine, grounded, luxurious
• Wrinkle Smoothing range is a bold tone of the La Mav core pink colour
• Ultra Hydration range is coloured in a calming hydrating watery blue.

Over the next few weeks I will review some of the new La Mav products and give you my thoughts. As always we would love to hear your thoughts once you have tried the products.

View the La Mav range

My excitement with the new La Mav range was tempered somewhat when I realized I couldn’t try all the new products at once (I really am still very excited). To really assess the range our Vitale Natural team has had to trial each product at a time. Some of the products we are already familiar with such as the favorite amongst staff and indeed, award winning Bio-A7 Firming Eye Lotion but others are new to us. Over the next few months we will reveal our thoughts on many of the new products but first I wanted to review another of my favorites: Argania Extract Lift and Firm Serum (Lift & Firm Serum for short). Lift & Firm Serum contains some key bio-active ingredients (and this is these are the ingredients that really get me excited as they are considered “active” and have real therapeutic benefits on the skin) including:

• Commiphora Mukul Extract, Wheat Protein & Milk Protein firms and tones
• Argania Spinosa Extract, Acacia Senegal Gum and Rhizobian Gum acts as natural skin tightening agents delivering firmer and lifted appearance.
• Aloe Vera Juice and Rose Distillate instantly revitalise tired skin delivering refreshed, hydrated and healthy glow
• Natural Vitamin E and Jojoba seed oil protect the skin delivering long lasting anti-ageing benefits.

Of these, Argania Spinosa extract, Acacia Senegal and Rhozbian Gum have immediate effects on the skin acting like a flash balm by tightening and lifting skin which is ideal for tired skin around the eyes. Argania also has a long-term biological effect, working to reduce wrinkles particularly on the neck. My first experience of this product was one morning when I had had a late night and a very early start – I looked very tired and quite dehydrated which shows up around my eyes in particular. I thought this was the ideal opportunity to try out this product. I put it on and dashed out the door. Later that morning I checked out the progress and indeed I thought I looked better (I certainly looked better than I felt). Based on that response I have been using it under my moisturizer every day since and generally think my skin looks good. I can’t really notice a difference on my neck as yet as I am a bit haphazard about application in that area. Lift & Firm Serum goes really well with Hibiscus Extract Ultra-Lift Moisturiser.

If you have used this product please add your comments as we would love to hear what you think.

I have been meaning to write an article about just what “organic” means for ages and ages. I am really pleased to say now I don’t have to as Pure & Green Organics just sent me this neat video about the topic that is easy to understand and cuts out the jargon – love it! Watch the video below:

View all of the certified organic range from Pure & Green Organics

As we move into the cooler months I checked in with the Vitale Team about their favorite products. Basically they had nothing to do with drier, cooler weather and we all about individual skin type or needs:

• Jodie (our aromatherapy guru) loves the Devita Aloe Cleanser. She has combination skin and says it cleanses well without leaving her skin feel stripped.Jodie is getting married soon (hurrah) and so in her words “as a special honeymoon treat” she has the Remedica Monoi Body Oil and Bath Milk to take away with her.
• Tamzin (our centre coordinator) loves the Third Stone Botanicals Mango Belly Balm. Tamzin who is due to have her baby at any moment says she doesn’t have one stretch mark. She did show us and while her skin is taught, it is smooth and clear of any marks. Tamzin noted that she stared using this product from the very beginning to prepare her skin for stretching in advance…looks like it worked!
  

  Mango Belly Balm

• Roechelle (our marketing gal) chose the Lavera Sunless Tanner. Coming into the cooler months, she wanted a bit of colour and said it gives an even colour without being orange. We get positive feedback about this product all the time which is great.
• Karen (fitness guru) is quite amazed by the Lavera My Age Cooling Eye Gel. Karen swims a lot and often ends up with puffy eyes from the goggles. To test this product the first few times Karen only used it on one eye then asked all her friends if they could see the difference. They could and now she uses it on both eyes every morning. She is addicted!
• Mary (our beauty therapist) can’t go past the Devita Solar Protect Moisturiser which is also a customer favorite. Mary said she likes this product be
  

  Lavera My Age Cooling Eye Gel

  cause it is natural but doesn’t leave a white cast to the skin like other mineral sun protection products. In a minor concession to my question about Autumn skincare, she added that sun protection is important all year round and looking at her skin, which is gorgeous, you can tell she means it!

• Me (Ananda). After summer I am moving back from gel based serums to oil sermus at night again. My skin is drinking up moisture and loving it. Remedica Regenerate Visage is my favorite night-time serum as it sinks in quickly without leaving a heavy film on the skin.

We would love to know what your favorite product is!

Covering up redness

A question from a customer struck home for me this month. It was about red skin, not rosacea rather a red or pink tone to the skin. This is more common in pale skins like myself and I have always tended to a slightly pink nose and red cheeks. Ironically now that my skin tone has evened out, I use blush!

This question from Nadia: I am a 39 year old redhead with freckly skin (from the sun!) and fairly red skin on my chin and cheeks, other than that, my skin is in good condition, with no wrinkles and I am regularly told I look late 20’s.   I have had the redness for many years (I have had two try at expensive laser treatment twice, (its not rosacea ), though it hasn’t worked and I was very disappointed.

My skin doesn’t appear to be sensitive at all.  I wear a lot of foundation to cover the redness (I don’t have any freckles on my face).  I would love to get away from wearing foundation all the time, though it is quite a sensitive topic for me, as it stops me doing many outdoor activities, sports etc, as I am always touching up my make up, as I am so self conscious about my skin.

My response to Nadia was: Thank you for your e-mail. Based on what you have written below I have a couple of suggestions. Firstly it is great that your skin looks so good – it shows you have looked after it.

With regard to redness…the cause may be internal. I have attached a link to an article I wrote recently about Facial Diagnosis which looks at the internal causes of skin issues including red skin. The thing that makes my redness worse is when I drink too much coffee, alcohol or eat sugary, processed foods. These foods are pro-inflammatory and so can cause redness in the skin. For me, minimising these foods helps a great deal.

Topically I find that vitamin C products help reduce redness. They increase the antioxidant network in the skin and improve skin immunity all which seem to dampen down redness. Personally, as one with red cheeks, I have used Devita C Accelerate to great effect with redness. I have also used antioxidants internally (vitamins A, C, E and zinc along with grapeseed) and this markedly decreased the redness in my cheeks. The grapeseed works by strengthening the capillary network reducing reactivity and “blushing”.

In addition, while it may not be obvious, sun exposure can contribute to redness over time so wearing sunscreen on your face is important. Where the damage is permanent and long lasting Devita Sun Damage Repair Gel may help as it promotes repair of damaged skin and helps lighten spots. To cover redness, I recommend and use Mineral Makeup (my savior on many occasions). Minerelle, the brand we stock is a professional range and the cover is excellent. I only need to apply once a day for great long-lasting cover.

Ed note: I did go onto to discuss feelings of self-consciousness with Nadia because on a personal note, I do understand the feeling of being self-conscious about my skin. It took me a long time to feel ok about going without makeup and even now sometimes I look in the mirror and think that my skin looks terrible. However, I finally realised that the more I focused on it, the more of an issue it became and I was making myself miserable. These days I am far more accepting of how I look and it is quite frankly, a relief.

I would love to read your comments, how you feel about your skin and what helps you feel better.

This is a big step in the right direction for Pure & Green Organics. This statement from Plant Ark explains what this acutally means for you, the user of Pure & Green’s Organic skin care:

Pure & Green are Silver Medal Winners

We are very proud to announce Plant Ark endorsement of Pure & Green Organics products. Endorsed products will be clearly identified with the “Proudly Endorsed by Planet Ark” logo. Look for this logo on individual products.

“Our endorsement means consumers can now buy quality beauty products whose environmental claims they can trust without worrying about “greenwash” and false claims”, says Paul Klymenko, Planet Ark CEO.

To gain the Planet Ark endorsement Pure & Green Organics was evaluated against four criteria – its environmental impact, health, quality and cost. This confirms that products don’t impact the environment, do not contain synthetics or petrochemicals, have the highest quality ingredients and offer maximum value for money.

“Our aim is to create one of the world’s most sustainable, truly organic beauty brands. Both the ACO bud logo and our new Planet Ark endorsement shows that we have become pioneers in the cosmetics industry,” says Grace Culhaci, founder Pure & Green Organics.

Why Planet Ark?

Planet Ark is an Australian not-for-profit Environmental organisation, founded in 1992. Plant Ark is non-political and is not aligned with any political party. Well-known for planting 15 million trees for its National Tree Day Campaign, and the Recycling Near You programme promoting the recyclability of household items via celebrity ambassadors. The Planet Ark Environmental Foundation aims to work with people and business to teach them the simple ways in which they can reduce their impact on the planet, at home, at work and in the community. Planet Ark is largely funded by corporate sponsorship working in partnership with businesses and organisations that want to help bring about real environmental change. Buy purchasing endorsed Pure & Green Organics products a percentage of the sale goes back to Planet Ark to allow their wonderful educational work to continue.

Ed note: This article is from the La Mav blog and is by Tarj Mavi, the creator of this wonderful brand. I have included it because it describes the 3 tier process Tarj uses to formulate her products and is the reason these products are so very effective. There will be more on this concept in up coming blogs:

An aging population – by Tarj Mavi

Certified Organic Anti-aging Skincare from Australia

By 2020 more than half of our country’s population will be over the age of 40 and there will be more people aged 50 than any other age. Due to these startling statistics anti-ageing skin care products are becoming all the rage – there are even special diets, super foods and supplements all intended to reduce or reverse the things that we’re told time and again were inevitable: wrinkles, sagging (especially around the chin) and age spots (I’m getting depressed just thinking about it).

The main reason the skin starts to sag and forms wrinkles is that elastin and collagen network start to break down. Collagen and elastin are important proteins in the body that help the skin stay firm, supple and strong and without them, the skin loses its elasticity, forms lines, wrinkles and eventually sags (gloomy and dismal but true). Exposure to the sun and pollution can also cause further damage to your skin.

More and more attention is being centred on the ageing population and consequently many skin care companies are madly racing to flood retail shelves both online and offline without doing the necessary research before. As a result many products on the market don’t contain or don’t contain enough active ingredients to actually have long term and effective results on ageing skin. For a skin care product to be effective it must contain active ingredients that help to stimulate the skin’s repair process.

Every single ingredient that goes in La Mav products is selected on the basis of its properties to formulate the best skincare range for your ageing skin with high concentration of active ingredients to successfully aid in increasing elasticity and firmness of the skin. All of our products follow the unique La Mav Three Tier Formula™:

· Tier 3 – Active Constituents

· Tier 2 – Specialty Oils

· Tier 1 – Base Ingredients

The unique Three-Tier Formula™ consists of antioxidants, vitamins, essential fatty acids, therapeutic grade herbal extracts, carrier oils and very gentle and soothing Essential Oils that provide a potent, result-driven concentration for the repair, restoration and rejuvenation of skin at a cellular level.

La Mav is formulated with nutrients for the skin that your pores will drink up and use to produce & support new collagen and elastin fibres. When you use La Mav products your skin will start to look younger, healthier and more radiant so that maybe the next time a shop assistant tells you that your daughter looks like your sister, you will believe her.