Why Natural Skincare Matters
The skin is the largest organ in the body, which means we have to think carefully about what we apply to it. Any particles that are small enough to be absorbed through the top layer of our skin will ultimately end up in the bloodstream. This means that toxic ingredients applied to your skin have the potential to end up inside your body. A good way to think about it is to never put anything on your skin that you wouldn’t consider ingesting (there are obvious caveats to this rule such as sunblock or zinc, which are specifically designed to have large enough particles so that they are too big to be absorbed through the epidermis layer).
Substances routinely pass through the outer surface of the skin, enter into the deeper layers and finally reach the bloodstream. The diffusion of chemicals through the skin takes place from an area of high concentration outside the skin to an area of low concentration inside the skin, when there are available pathways for movement of particles.
When we apply substances to our skin, we generally see a higher concentration of the substances on the outside of the skin’s surface than inside it, at least initially. Then the substance becomes part of the inner layer of the skin and the bloodstream, where it circulates around the body, reaching all our limbs, organs and brain.
Watching what you put on your skin is equally as important as watching what you eat, because both actions allow new substances to enter the body, where they may provide positive benefit or harm. Dermal absorption makes up one of the four main routes of exposure of the body to the outside world, along with inhalation, ingestion and injection. For example, using ink on your skin introduces toxic chemicals to your body that your body has to waste energy excreting.
Our range of Aotea products are made entirely out of natural ingredients because we know the importance of only using ingredients that are safe and can support good health. Every single component of our unique formulas is a 100% natural substance. By refusing to use any chemicals such as artificial preservatives, we remove the risk of potentially harmful chemicals entering the body. Making products with entirely natural ingredients can be more challenging, because chemicals often play a role in product preservation and stability. As a result natural products are often more unstable and prone to denaturing, so it’s always worth trying to keep your products in cool and consistent environments. Whatever products you decide to use, at the very least, it is always worth checking the ingredients list to make sure there is nothing gnarly and if ever in doubt, check in with your GP or dermatologist before applying.
