How to Know If Your Beauty Product is Organic Botanics
When you hear 'natural' images of blue skies, birds singing and beautiful scenery come to mind. However when it comes to cosmetics the term "natural" is often misinterpreted. Many companies declare their products to be "natural", even when they contain processed ingredients. How do you know whether a product truly organic or not?
Bluh Alchemy
Bluh Alchemy is an innovative clean skincare brand with a limited, treatment-focused line that combines synergistic combinations of rare botanical extracts. The founder Becky Bluh studied cosmetic chemistry and was able to harness the power of plant-based ingredients that have transformative physiological effects on skin. She sought out a range of rare plant extracts that can provide an ideal skin health, and also protect against premature aging and free radical damage as well as oxidative stress.
Bluh's research and experimentation with rare botanicals led her discover the revolutionary Cellular Extraction process, which permits the extraction of a plant's entire phytoactive profile in its most potent and stable state. Her formulas employ this game-changing technology to provide Advanced Bioactive Solutions to the skin.
We chose two full-size Bluh Alchemy products for February's Beauty Heroes Discovery: the Botanic Retinol Cell Regeneration Concentrate (hero, but make it super!) and the Eye Oil serum (sidekick that every superhero needs). Bakuchiol is a derivative of retinol replicates the corrective qualities of retinol in this concentrated to effectively correct fine wrinkles, larger pores and breakouts. This is paired with a suite of antioxidants including Kakadu plum to boost cell regeneration and reduce appearance of hyperpigmentation and finger lime caviar to smooth and tone the skin and mountain pepper extract cellular with an unbeatable ORAC to help protect against premature ageing.
African Botanics
In a corner of Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden in Johannesburg, South Africa grows a yellow-tinged strelitzia (known as Mandela's Gold), an endemic plant that is also one of the nation's botanical symbols. It's a tribute to the moral leader and founder of the Rainbow Nation and a reminder that South Africa has a strong connection to nature.
For Craig and Julia Noik, founders of the luxury green beauty brand African Botanics, launching the line was about more than just a business idea. It was an opportunity to share a bit of their home with others, to give them the same sense of belonging to this amazing land and its age-old traditions that have always been a part of their lives.
The resultant skincare collection pays homage to traditional African beauty rituals, using the ancient African phytochemistry and cutting-edge phytopharmacology. The most powerful South African plants, sustainably sourced in the country's remote, unexplored regions, are then infused with powerful actives selected by biochemists and botanists from South Africa and around the world. The plants are then encapsulated using advanced extraction and encapsulation techniques to produce the ultimate eco-luxe high-performance green beauty.
Fifty7 Kind
Fifty7 Kind, an online-first brand, provides skincare products that are based on plants with eco-friendly packaging. The sleek line of body care and skincare includes ingredients sourced from Southern Africa. These include seeds and plant extracts and unique minerals from the desert, the ocean and the land. Gabrielle (founder Fifty7 Kind) was raised in the English countryside as a natural child. She claims that her mother taught to cook with raw ingredients and gather wild herbs for beauty.
Slow-fusion artisanal process using sustainable botanicals ensures concentrated extracts that promote skin health by providing nutrients, vitamins, trace minerals such as fatty acids, non-polar amino acids. The brand sources rare, wildcrafted, and under the radar botanicals like Ugandan Vanilla, a subspecies of shea referred to as Vitellaria Nilotica. It is a source of high levels Vitamin A E, K, and, and non-polar antioxidants.
YINA is an organic skincare line developed by two female doctors from Chinese Medicine millenia ago. Eastern herbal remedies combine the natural beauty of botanicals in this California based brand. YINA products include traditional herbal remedies and medicinal plants like Ashwagandha, Hawthorne Berry and other organic ingredients that are commonly used.
Live Botanical
Botanical skincare that combines traditional & modern methods & helps to create harmony and balance to enhance what makes you uniquely beautiful. Made in Portland, OR.
A botanical plant is a or part of a plant that is valued for its healing properties and flavor or scent. organic cbd have been used since ancient times to help maintain and improve health, for example, in skin care.
Botanicals can be bought in fresh or dried form, and in a variety preparations. They are available in the produce aisle in a supermarket or in the dietary supplement section in tablets, capsules, tea bags, or liquid preparations. A single chemical may also be isolated from a botanical and then sold as a dietary supplement in tablet or capsule form.
The safety of a plant is contingent on its chemical composition, how it functions within the body and the method of preparation. The amount of botanicals included in a product may also impact its safety. Tea contains just a tiny amount of botanical, while extracts or tinctures are much more concentrated.
A tincture can be made by soaking a herb in a liquid such as alcohol or water to extract the essential constituents. A tincture may be diluted into different strengths. The strength of a plant tincture can be measured in terms of a ratio between the extract and the botanical.
YINA
The founders of YINA, Angela Chau Gray and Ervina Wu, are experts in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Their brand is a tribute to ancient traditions and has TCM experts at the steering wheel. The result is advanced, handcrafted, and luxurious formulas that are specifically designed for modern-day wellness practices such as Acupressure, acupuncture, jade rolling, and gua sha for the whole body.
YINA is produced sustainably in California, and its products are rich in powerful bio-adaptive herbal extracts. Their most popular products are the NOURISH botanical oil serum and the anti-pollution mask. Both are rich in nourishing camellia seed oil, safflower oil and the licorice root. They also contain anti-aging botanicals like rhodiola, bakuchiol, and Asian knotweed. The mask also contains coconut, pear powder carbon and moringa to cleanse.
Felicia is a member of the super-efficient operations team at YINA and loves exploring new products for health and implementing the self-care routines that were formulated by the founders of the company. She especially loves the YINA anti-pollution cream that is a cleansing blend of ingredients such as skullcap root, pearl powder, tea seeds and moringa.
Malaya Organics
Malaya Organics, a Brooklyn-based 100 100% natural, high-performance product, was founded by Katya Slepak. She is an expert formulator and product designer, and also a certified aromatherapist. The company's nourishing and effective products help skin as it gets older and are safe for both men and women. Their balance oils are infused a therapeutic blend that is rich in anti-aging plant oils, essences, and phytonutrients.
The ingredients are sourced from the taigas in Siberia and the forests of India, the Amazon and the deserts of Morocco. They have been designed to help you connect to your inner landscape, which is one of balance, peace and healing. The name "Malaya" originates from a Shambhala sandalwood forest also refers to a sacred garland that is worn during ceremonies. These were the inspirations for the thoughtfully designed collection.
Fran Miller
The collection includes everything from shea butter and goji berry body shaver to a hair-smoothing spritz and multi-tasking face oil that can be used for multiple purposes. The line includes everything, from a goji berry-infused shea butter body buff to a hair smoothing spritz and multitasking face oil.
Prioritizing ethically sourced, certified organic ingredients and partnering with mindful companies both locally and around the globe, F. Miller has been committed to environmental sustainability since its beginning. All of their high-performance products are free of harmful preservatives, synthetic fragrances and colorings, parabens, phthalates, petrolatum, mineral oils, aluminum, GMO's, and SLS's.
To ensure freshness All products are blended by hand and then bottled in small batches. The label works with cosmetic chemists to create high-nutrient blends of plants that nourish and nurture radiant skin. The company is also environmentally conscious and this extends to packaging and the practices. They prioritize environmentally-friendly packaging and utilize biodegradable and recyclable glass. They offer an annual subscription and refill program to reduce waste.