Potential Of Green Cosmetics. 5 Natural Ingredients For Better Skin Moisturizing.

Dorotheaan
myskincare
Published in
5 min readMar 19, 2024

Never more than now, beauty consumers are looking for “green” options when choosing cosmetics for face or body care. The ever-growing interest in ecology and sustainable development forced producers to change the direction of cosmetics production 180 degrees. Consumers are starting to be more interested in how the product was produced than in what brand it represents.

What Are Green Cosmetics?

“Green cosmetics” are environmentally friendly beauty products. Produced to not be harmful to health and reduce pollution. While public interest in sustainability continues to climb, manufacturers are seeking more natural and eco-friendly ingredients for their products like cream, serum or body lotion. Therefore, in recent years, many scientific studies have been conducted that confirm the harmfulness of conventional cosmetics containing large doses of alcohol and other chemical substances that are dangerous not only to our skin but also to the natural environment.

If you want your product to be environmentally friendly, you should buy products free from petroleum, silicone oils, GMO ingredients, animal testing, synthetic colours and artificial fragrances.

Unfortunately, the field of “green cosmetics” still requires clarification. Often this term is associated with environmentally friendly formulations, manufacturing practices or packaging methods. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published guidelines clarifying what “green” or “natural” means in marketing terms, although these guidelines are still loosely defined. Green Cosmetics: The Push for Sustainable Beauty | Read More (acme-hardesty.com).

So what can we call a “green cosmetic”? Generally speaking, these will be products such as:

  • natural oils
  • agricultural plants
  • bacteria

5 Natural And Green Ingredients For Your Skin

  1. Olive oil

The olive is a natural and ecological source of squalane. This is a powerful antioxidant source that protects and repairs from damaging free radicals. Usually, products containing olive oil penetrate your skin very quickly and support your healing process at its deepest level of the skin. In the context of moisturizing, olive oil stimulates skin regeneration, which allows your skin to be refreshed and smooth.

Currently, the cosmetics market offers entire product lines based on olives as the main product. Products containing olives can be easily found in creams, tonics, serums, essences and balms.

2. Coconut oil

Currently, there is no vegetable oil on the cosmetics market that is as popular as coconut oil. It is not recommended for consumption as part of our diet, even though it is the mentioned vegetable oil. However, it is perfect for the care of our skin, having antibacterial and antifungal, moisturizing, regenerating and nourishing properties. Half of the composition of coconut oil is lauric acid. This is a very important acid that has strong antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties.

Coconut oil is rich in ingredients such as saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins B, C and E, folic acid, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, sodium and zinc.

The composition of this oil contains numerous ingredients whose properties are believed to be responsible for:

  • protection against harmful external factors
  • preventing water loss, i.e. drying of the skin
  • nutritional and antioxidant properties
  • soothing irritation and inflammation
  • accelerating the wound healing process by
  • stimulating the natural regeneration processes of the epidermis
  • improving skin tension and elasticity

3. Nanoparticles

In recent years, scientists have focused their attention on nanoparticles made from natural polymers and ingredients derived from waste materials. They believe that they give the cosmetics industry great hope and an opportunity to develop safe and environmentally friendly cosmetic products that care for skin health and are consistent with the goals of the green economy.

The use of these molecules would help reduce the use of natural ingredients, which are becoming increasingly scarce, and allow the use of consumable materials that can circulate indefinitely.

Research and production of this type of cosmetics, however, requires appropriate technology and financial resources. That’s why we currently only have a few manufacturers in whose products we can find nanomolecules.

However, the properties of such products are very wide. They allow water to be retained in the skin tissue and effectively fight against injured skin, helping to produce a protective barrier. Green beauty promise with sustainable, circular nanoparticles from waste material for skin health (cosmeticsdesign-europe.com)

3. Aloe Vera

Aloe vera, also called Aloe barbadensis, is a common household plant. It is a cactus-like plant that grows mostly in dry climates regions around the world. As a succulent, aloe vera is more than 95% water.

Because of this rich water content, it helps your skin to retain moisture. It is like additional natural hydration to help your skin feel smooth and youthful. Since aloe vera contains humectants that attract water from the air, it can be especially beneficial for dry skin types. It binds moisture into the skin by sticking together flaking epidermal skin cells. As a result our skin is much softer and skin integrity is improved. How to do it? Apply a small amount of the gel to the face and leave it on for 8–10 minutes. Rinse off with cool water and gently pat dry.

Why You Should Choose Green Cosmetics?

Cosmetics manufacturers are constantly innovating to find natural and plant-based alternatives to the ingredients in their products. Thanks to such solutions, they can reduce CO2 emissions, but also protect some of animal species.

When choosing a cream or serum, we increasingly wonder whether any chemical substance has been tested on animals before it is offered to people. By choosing natural, green and proven cosmetics for years, we can be sure that no violence was used in the production of our cream and no animals were harmed. Innovation means not only new methods of production but also adding value to previously neglected raw materials through the upcycling process, like for example olive oils.

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