Although most people don’t realize it, their favorite skin care products may be filled with harmful ingredients, toxins, and chemicals. Fact is, the majority of store-bought, commercially produced beauty products come packed with artificial colors, fragrances, preservatives and stabilizers that can easily be absorbed through the skin’s pores, potentially causing a range of negative long-term health effects. Chemicals found in beauty products can be damaging throughout their entire life cycle, from the way they are produced and used by consumers, to the methods of their disposal and their negative impact on the environment.
So what does this mean for your beauty routine? The good news is that there’s still a plenty of natural ways to make your skin and your even hair, teeth or nails, look their best without needing to buy expensive and harmful commercial products. Women all over the world have been using natural skin care products for centuries and have some of the most admirable skin to show for it!
With anti-inflammatory and cooling properties, Aloe Vera gel is the perfect remedy for the sunburned skin. It provides a protective layer to the skin, which helps retain moisture. Aloe is also rich in antioxidants and minerals, which can help speed healing. For a moisturizer that doesn’t leave a greasy film on your face, look no further than Aloe Vera. It softens the skin without clogging pores. Aloe Vera gel can also be used as an aftershave treatment as it will both hydrate the skin and help heal razor burn and small nicks.
Raw honey is one of the best natural sources of nutrients, enzymes, vitamins and skin-boosting acids. Benefits of raw honey include reducing breakouts, providing moisturizing properties, containing antiseptic qualities, encouraging wound healing, fighting allergies or rashes, and helping to reduce scars. Raw honey is unheated, unprocessed and unpasteurized unlike most honey available in grocery stores. Therefore, it is able to keep all of its nutrients intact, as the processing does not destroy them. Antimicrobial honey is suitable as a dressing for wounds and burns. It’s also been included in treatments used to heal bacterial infections, dandruff, diaper dermatitis, psoriasis and more.
Sea salt comes loaded with tons of minerals and nutrients like magnesium, calcium, sodium, and potassium that it absorbs from the seawater where it’s produced. Many of these minerals are the same ones found in our skin cells and within our bodies, which is exactly why real sea salt can help balance, protect and restore the skin. Use real Himalayan or Celtic sea salts in homemade facial masks, toners, and scrubs with other skin-boosting ingredients like coconut oil, lavender essential oil, and raw honey. The salt contains anti-inflammatory properties to soothe skin and calm breakouts, remove dead skin cells and irritation, balance oil production, and help the skin retain moisture levels.
One of the most versatile skins (and food) ingredients there is, coconut oil’s skin benefits include: strengthening underlying epidermal tissue, removing dead skin cells, protecting us from sunburns, and containing antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antioxidant properties. Research even shows that coconut oil is strong enough to fight chronic skin diseases characterized by defects in the epidermal barrier function and cutaneous inflammation, including atopic dermatitis.
Use coconut oil for both your skin and hair to help cleanse, moisturize, remove makeup, heal wounds or scars quicker, and prevent razor burn. Coconut oil used internally is also beneficial for your looks. It contains antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, plus loads of healthy fats that help nourish your gut and increase immune function.