Eucalyptus Magazine / Issue-11 2010 / Beautiful Face ~ Healthy Planet

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Beautiful Face ~ Healthy Planet

The quest for natural skin care

Skin, the largest organ in our bodies, boasts some remarkable abilities. It continually sloughs off old cells and regenerates. It is waterproof, but also porous. But as skin ages and becomes vulnerable, it requires care and protection.

Manufacturers of skin care products would like us to follow multi-step rituals to pamper our skin. But regardless of how many skin care products we purchase and use, they ought to be good for our skin and easy on the planet.

“People are looking for more authenticity in their skin care products now,” says Denise Spanek, founder of Air Repair Skincare, whose products specifically combat the frequently drying effects of flying and travel. “Whether they are buying high-end luxury or all-natural brands, they are tired of exaggerated claims.”

Indeed, can a face cream really reduce the evidence of one’s age by 75 percent in two weeks? Some products are associated with legitimate studies of their effectiveness, but for some larger-than-life claims, it’s caveat emptor, or “let the buyer beware.”

The history of skin care is littered with dubious ingredients, from the white lead that 16th-century royalty slathered on their faces, to the mineral oil and petroleum jelly of the last 150 years, which researchers now know clogs pores and promotes the build-up of paraffins in breast milk, among other suspected problems. But we are lucky to be living in the midst of a natural skin care movement, a Bay Area-centric, healthy beauty boom.

Over the last 20 years, Bay Area residents’ obsessions with natural living, local ingredients, women’s health, and entrepreneurship have combined to produce a flowering of natural wellness and beauty companies. Together, they are making their mark in what Nutrition Business Journal estimates to be a $7.8 billion United States market for natural and organic personal care and household products.

Part of this movement was kick-started in 2002 when a study from the Environmental Working Group titled “Not Too Pretty” discovered phthalates—which are increasingly thought to cause developmental and reproductive-system defects—in about 70 percent of the women’s beauty products they tested. Consumer activism around the issue has since brought some changes to products offered by the big industry players, and as many as 30 small skin care and cosmetics companies have sprouted around the Bay.

Marie Veronique Nadeau, owner and founder of Marie Veronique Organics, is a former chemistry teacher who began her company at her kitchen table in 2003, creating a line of ecologically responsible, natural anti-aging products, with input and insight from her physicist daughter. The company’s sunscreens have been included on the Environmental Working Group’s list of top-recommended sun protection products.

For Nadeau, nicknamed “the Alice Waters of skin care,” if an ingredient is not proven to be both safe and nourishing, she won’t put it into her products. But when asked about medical spas and all the peels, Botox, and other procedures they offer, Nadeau says: “People are going to use what works, even if it means exposing themselves to harmful chemicals or invasive procedures. Our face is what people notice most and we want to look good.”

However, Nadeau adds, “Invasive procedures and toxic chemicals are not the only way to achieve results. In fact, more scientific studies are bearing out that the quick-fix does not wear well over the long haul, and, indeed, that many treatments actually accelerate the aging process.”

The foods we eat also exert a powerful influence on skin.

“Watermelon is high in lycopene, and it is very hydrating. That’s why nature provides watermelon in the summer when hydration is important. It is great for hydrating your skin as well as your body. Yogurt contains lactic acid, which is an effective and gentle exfoliant,” Nadeau says, adding that yogurt also contains probiotics that help to balance bacteria, not only internally but also topically. “And green tea contains powerful antioxidants, and it is also a humectant. This is why we use green tea as a base for most of our products.”

But a healthy skin care regimen does not need to be based completely on food. Air Repair founder Spanek promotes the middle way, which allows for “clean chemistry” to be combined with natural ingredients.

“We don’t need to go all-organic and all-natural, but we can decide that our skin care products will not have certain ingredients,” such as parabens (which are thought to mimic the hormone estrogen), mineral oils, or petroleums, Spanek says. “Air Repair products, for example, are chock full of natural antioxidants, with organic green tea, chamomile, and so on, but they also have ‘clean chemistry’ like hyaluronic acid and sodium PCA, things your body makes, that contribute to moisture retention.

“I love some natural brands, but others just sit on your skin and don’t do anything, and they are pretty expensive,” says Spanek. “I want to see real results for the cash I’m spending.”

Because of the lack of oversight and regulation of ingredients in personal-care products, experts say we should ask these questions about what we put on our skin: Where does it come from? How is it made? What are the ingredients, and are they safe? And does the process hurt or help our earth and water systems?