Natural skin care is the use of naturally-derived ingredients, such as plants, roots, herbs, and essential oils, to treat and nourish the skin. 

A whole host of scientific research groups have studied and proven the amazing skin care properties of natural ingredients, including apple stem cell and the prickly pear cactus. Even minerals have spectacular benefits for the skin (e.g. zinc oxide and titanium dioxide provide natural sun protection).

How Natural Is Natural?

The truth is that there are many loopholes when it comes to the cosmetics industry. Natural means different things to different people and many commercial companies will claim that their products are natural when others wouldn’t perceive them so. For example, it could mean that a product is made with plant-based ingredients, is free from synthetic chemicals, has not been manufactured or modified in the lab, is free from pesticides, etc.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide just how natural you want your skin care to be, but for the purpose of this article, we will discuss the use of plant-based ingredients versus chemical ingredients.

Chemical Skin Care Products

When we think of chemicals, we often picture bottles of bleach, toxic waste from factories, and the harmful toxins inhaled whilst smoking a cigarette. It wasn’t until recent years that the media moved the cosmetics industry into the spotlight. And once people’s eyes were open, there was no turning back. Now everyone knows that their shampoo contains sodium lauryl sulfate, that their deodorant uses propylene glycol, or that their moisturizer contains parabens.

However, are chemicals innately bad? There’s a lot of scaremongering these days, but is there any truth to the hearsay that chemicals in your cosmetics cause you harm?

Are Chemicals In Skin Care Bad For You?

“Chemical” has become a bit of a bad word, but in actual fact, everything is made from chemicals. If you look at something as essential as drinking water for example, without hydrogen and oxygen (both chemicals) we would have nothing to drink!

However, there are good and bad chemicals and many cosmetics companies use some nasty ones in their products. While many of these have their uses (they bind things, create texture, preserve the product, etc.), in large quantities, they can cause harm to our health and well-being. For example, some studies have shown that, after the use of synthetic cosmetics, measurable traces of chemicals have been found throughout the human body, causing endocrine disruption, skin allergies, and irritation.

Natural Vs. Chemical Skin Care Products

In small amounts, some of the chemicals used in skin care may not have a noticeable effect, but over time and when used in excess they can have damaging consequences. Furthermore, they aren’t always necessary! However, as previously mentioned, not all natural skin care products are created equal. It’s important that you do your research before buying cosmetics.

Nevertheless, scientifically-tested, plant-based ingredients have huge benefits for the skin and don’t pose the same risk as their chemical counterparts. At KINDri, we use the best natural, sustainable, vegan ingredients to create our products, which have been extensively tested to ensure their safety.

Read our previous article on why you should choose a vegan, cruelty-free beauty oil.

Below we have listed a few reasons as to why we prefer using natural, plant-based ingredients instead of chemicals in our KINDri products:

1. Best for Your Skin

Plants are packed full of nutrition and healthy ingredients. All of those nutrients they use to grow and protect themselves in nature can be harnessed and used to care for your skin. We’re talking vitamins, linoleic acid, antioxidants, fatty acids, and flavonoids! Plants provide the most effective protection from the elements because that’s what they do best.

2. Best for Your Health

Unlike chemicals, the plant-based ingredients used in KINDri products will not cause irritation, skin allergies, or hormone disruption. In fact, our ingredients are hand-picked due to their ability to nurture, protect, and replenish your skin!

3. Best for the Environment

One of the best reasons to leave chemicals out of our skin care products is due to their damaging effect on the planet. Amongst other things, chemical cosmetics have been identified as a cause of coral bleaching, which is another important reason why we choose to leave them out of our KINDri range.

Check out SunButter’s article to discover a great range of reef-safe products.

KINDri Natural Skin Care

Our founder, Robin McDonald, created KINDri on the basis that chemicals weren’t necessary to achieve healthy and revitalized skin. Using organic, natural, and sustainable plant-based ingredients, Robin created a range of cruelty-free skin care products that not only protect our skin, but also our health and the environment!

Check out our full range of sustainable and natural skin care products.