Why choose this cream?

On average, a woman uses about fifteen cosmetics a day.

And I am sure if you ask three of your friends what kind of skin care they use, none of them will tell you the same thing.

So what is the incentive to buy this or that cream or serum?

Efficacy? The texture? The smell? The brand?

My friends and family often ask me how to choose the right creams.

That's why I share with you the 4 criteria that are important for me to choose the right cosmetics.

 

Choose natural products

I recommend natural care.

Because your skin is not an impenetrable barrier, for better or worse.
Take as example the patches, these stickers that are applied directly to a certain part of the body.

They release a dose of medicine through the skin into the bloodstream.

The toxic ingredients of some conventional cosmetics easily enter your body.

Fortunately, legislation in this area is getting stricter and stricter, but some ingredients are still very controversial..
With natural products you run only a small or no risk at all. You can care for yourself and your skin without affecting your health.

I sometimes hear that natural cosmetics are expensive.

It is true that the price is sometimes higher, but so are the raw materials.

Then there is the dosage of the active ingredients, which is usually higher in natural skin care.

And this allows me to talk to you about my second criteria for the right choice of your cosmetics.

 

A high dose of active substances

The active ingredients and their concentration are what make a beauty product effective.

Let me give you an overview of the production of cosmetics.

Cosmetics are made up of 3 types of ingredients: An adjuvant is the carrier (water, oil...), which allows the active ingredients to be distributed on your skin;
The active ingredients, they give the care its properties (moisturising, anti-aging, cleansing, lightening...);
The additives that stabilise and preserve the cream and give it its colour and scent. The active ingredients used in conventional cosmetics are very often synthetic.
The active ingredients used in conventional cosmetics are very often synthetic.

And they often make up only a tiny percentage of the composition of the skin care product - usually around 1%.

In conventional cosmetics, water is the most important excipient, making up between 60 and 90% of the skin care product.

Natural cosmetics, on the other hand, use only natural active ingredients, which are usually obtained from plant extracts .

These ingredients have a large amount of active molecules and nutrients that are perfectly adapted to your skin.
Therefore, you should pay attention to the INCI list.

To help you find it easier: the main ingredients are listed first (usually 2/3 of the total product), while substances dosed at less than 1% can be placed almost anywhere at the end of the list.

If you have any doubts, do not hesitate to use an application on your smartphone, such as Clean Beauty or CodeCheck.

You scan and analyse the INCI list and identify controversial products.

 

3. Avoid any allergens on your skin

When I ask my friends what they like about their beauty treatments, they tell me about their performance, their texture and very often about their smell.

However, the synthetic fragrances used in conventional cosmetics are generally bad for the skin because they cause irritation and/or allergies.

In fact, you will find the same fragrances in household cleaning products.
You have probably seen or used an air freshener before.

Now, if you read the instructions carefully, you will find that it is recommended to wear gloves when using it to avoid allergies and irritations.

But fragrances are not the only type of allergen::

• Preservatives (some parabens, methylisothiazolinone...) ;
• Emulsifiers (SLS...);
• and some natural ingredients like propolis, pigments, resins and soya oil can cause allergies...

 

4. Avoid any unnecessary ingredients

I've talked to you about smell and texture, but there's another criteria that is important to me when you buy a beauty product - one that you don't think about.

This is the colour..

For me, it is far from being important, but from a purely "marketing" point of view, it must be"whiter than white".

How often have I showed my clients creams that I had developed, only to find that they were not white enough.
"Would it be possible to have a lighter white cream? »

"We love the texture of this product and its smell, but it is too creamy, we want it to be snow white.

I really have a problem with this type of request because the raw materials I use, the active ingredients, are (sometimes) coloured.

However, when customers want a care product that is perfectly white, this is generally at the expense of the efficiency of the product.

Because in these cases, there are two possibilities: either I reduce the active agent concentration of the product - and it becomes less effective;;
or I am obliged to add white pigments, such as titanium dioxide, a mineral UV filter that dulls the other ingredients but dries out the skin.
But white is not the only colour you want to have.

Makeup and hair care products contain coloutings to create vibrant tones. Are you thinking about nail polish or eye shadow?

Avoid these atificial colourings as much as possible!

I hope that the 4 criteria I gave you will help you to choose your cosmetic products.

• Choose natural products
• These products must contain a high concentration of active agents (read the INCI list).
• Avoid allergens,
• and unnecessary ingredients.

What about you? What criteria do you use to choose your body and face care products? Are you a fan of naturalness? Let me make a comment.

Tell me also, if you want to hear more about the pitfalls to avoid in INCI lists: I could tell you about them in another article.
You will hear from me soon,

Stay positive and healthy.
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