All Natural Beauty Products, Their Ingredients & How They Work
By Skin Care Editor | July 9, 2010
The benefits of all natural beauty products depend on what they contain. Here’s a look at some of the compounds you might see on the list of ingredients and the benefits associated with them.
Active Manuka Honey
Active Manuka honey can be found in some of the better body lotions, nighttime facial creams, under eye gels and deep cleansing masks. The benefits have to do with the antioxidant and the antibacterial activity.
Antioxidants of all kinds are beneficial to the skin’s health and appearance. They prevent and sometimes repair free radical damage, which dermatologists believe to be the primary cause of wrinkles, age spots and other visible signs of aging.
The antibacterial activity of Manuka honey will help heal pimples, scrapes and other injuries. It will help prevent those things from becoming infected. It can also help to prevent future pimples caused by over-growth of the P acnes bacteria.
All honey varieties have been used in cosmetics, but few have proven benefits. Manuka honey is tested for its antibacterial and antioxidant activity, before it is shipped. It is graded with a “Unique Manuka Factor”. A high UMF number is equivalent to a highly active honey.
You might think that all natural beauty products would contain manuka. In some cases, it is just not necessary or other ingredients are more beneficial. For example, daytime moisturizers do not usually contain it. As long as you use a nighttime cream that does, you can reap the benefits.
Maracuja
Maracuja is a kind of passion fruit. The tree is native to Brazil. All passion fruits have been included in skincare creams and lotions, because of the antioxidant and the moisturizing benefits.
Maracuja is unique, because it is very similar on a molecular level to the skin’s own oils, which are called sebum. Because of its similarity to sebum, maracuja balances sebum production.
All natural beauty products containing the ingredient will help prevent your skin from becoming too dry or too oily.
That also means it can be used by any complexion type; oily, dry or combination.
Babassu Palm Oil
The benefits of Babassu are similar to those of maracuja. It is one of the few moisturizers that can be used on oily and acne-prone complexions.
It is Babassu wax that is most beneficial, because the wax helps to prevent moisture loss. Most companies use paraffin for this purpose. But, paraffin should not be included in all natural beauty products. It is not close enough to human skin. So, it causes dryness and clogs the pores.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is another antioxidant. People with acne typically have low blood levels of the vitamin. The same deficiency is seen in many different skin conditions.
If used on a regular basis, creams containing vitamin E can prevent age spots. Age spots are heavily pigmented areas. They are sometimes referred to as senile freckles. They are caused by free radical damage, typically due to excessive sun exposure.
All natural beauty products may contain a number of anti-aging ingredients or they may contain none. Check the label before you buy to be sure what you are getting.
Be sure to read our page on the best natural skin care products. It is frequently updated and contains information on our #1 recommended product line.
Topics: Anti Aging, Collagen & Elastin, Herbal Skin Care, Holistic Skin Care, Natural Skin Care, Organic Skin Care, Skin Care Ingredients, Skin Health | No Comments »
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