Tips & Frequently Asked Questions on Buying Natural & Organic Skin Care Products for the first time… Please read before you purchase: Important, IF YOU HAVE ANY SKIN CONDITIONS OR SENSITIVITIES, THESE CONDITIONS SHOULD BE TREATED FIRST AS A PRIORITY - please choose products suitable for sensitive skins only (please contact us if you need advice before purchasing) and if you have not used natural and organic essential oil based skin care before you need to check for potential allergies*. This is because Natural and organic skin care products rely heavily on these natural chemicals, so there is a potential for irritations for the more sensitive. You should limit your choice to a few products at a time, (eg. if you need to purchase a new skincare line, instead of buying the whole range of cleanser, toner and moisturiser, just try one of these to establish your own skin compatibility towards the product). With natural and organic skin care products, you no longer need to use huge amounts of product to obtain good results, a little goes a long way. If you are unsure of where to start, it would be a good idea to make a choice from the unscented and baby/child care range – these formulations are ideal for skins not used to essential oil based skin care.
* If you are susceptible to allergies, the first step is to organise a patch test with your doctor, who can then establish your own allergy triggers. Once a patch test has taken place you can then use your list of allergy triggers to avoid certain ingredients - by using the product ingredient listings provided beside every single product. To make this procedure fail safe, please email us to let us know your own allergy triggers, so that we can check your shopping list for the ingredient(s) you need to personally avoid.
The more likely suspects for allergies are Tea Tree, Chamomile, Citrus based oils (known as photo-sensitive) and Eucalyptus. Note: even if a product declares it is ok for sensitive skins – you may be one of the few people that may have personal allergies towards a particular component in a specific essential oil used in that skin care product.
But, in most cases, the healing properties of the oils can be of great benefit to an array of different skin conditions and disorders.
Changing Organic and Natural Formulations unfortunately, with natural products, the ingredients can change on a very regular basis as some ingredients are very hard to get a hold of, the crops were a failure/they are seasonal/were not good enough for the product in question, etc. So for this reason, natural and organic products can vary in smell, texture and abilities all year round. It would be impossible for us to flag changes on this amount of change, so we here at TMBABW ask our customers to check the ingredient listings on a regular basis, before purchasing regular items. Unfortunately, this is the characteristic of natural and organic formulations and as most people are so used to consistent synthetic chemical compositions, most think that natural should be the same too… and they are far from it.
Please do not bulk buy – only purchase what you need. We always try to keep a stock level that matches demand. All products are freshly produced.
By limiting your purchase to a few products, you can see how your skin reacts in a controlled situation. For example, how does the new natural / organic SLS free shampoo feel? In some respects it can take up to 2 months to stop your scalp from itching/causing dandruff (see point 4 in how the skin forms).
Your skin takes from 15 days (in younger people) to 45 days (in older people) to surface from the base layer to the uppermost layer. There are 5 layers in total within the Epidermis. To see if a product truly works it can take the full cycle from 15 days to 45 days to show true results. You cannot tell within just 2 or 3 days if a product works or not. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule:
1. If the product is too oily, which can cause instant spots in oilier skin types.
2. If the product does not contain enough hydrating properties for drier skins.
3. If an unpleasant reaction occurs, stop using the product immediately.
Reducing the amount of products you purchase when trying organic skin care products will help to alleviate the possible costs incurred should the product not work for you. We have a selection of unscented products available for this purpose.
If you suffer an illness, i.e. stomach upset, become too stressed, your diet is poor (little or no fruit and vegetables) or you are drinking little or no water, it can take from 15 days to 45 days to show the affects this may have in your uppermost skin layer. If you are prone to an oilier and/or sensitive skin type, the affect of illness/stress/little water intake/poor diet in relation to your skin can be immediate, simply because the defence mechanism is triggered to produce more sebum/oil. This is why it can be so difficult to gauge what our skin truly likes and dislikes.
If a certain skin care product works for someone else, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you; skin is as individual as we are to each other. Throw in personal skin allergies, and it makes the choice even more difficult!
Always keep natural and organic products out of direct sunlight and heat.
Don’t be tempted to ‘save’ natural and organic products – best results are assured when the fresh products are used straight away.
Important:If you have found that you are indeed allergic to essential oils, it would be better for you to try our unscented range. This also goes for people who desperately want to try natural and organic, but have had difficulty and countless reactions to petro-chemical skin care ingredients in the past. You need to give your skin some time to calm down before being more adventurous with the more exotic sounding herbal and aromatherapy based items. Immediately changing from petro-chemical ingredients to the more loaded herbal and essential oil based products can possibly leave you with the same problems. Perhaps stay with the baby/child and unscented products for the time being?
Using deodorants: your underarm area can be the most sensitive place indeed. If you shave under your arms it is important not to use a deodorant straight after shaving – as this in itself can cause irritation. If you are highly sensitive in this area, a good option is to shave the night before/every other night (best option is to leave shaving as long as you possibly can) to decrease sensitivity. Again, try unscented deodorants. Deodorants are not antiperspirants. Most, if not all organic and natural skin care suppliers agree, it’s not good to halt the perspiration process. There is a large collection of Lymph Nodes found in the armpit area; their main purpose is to eliminate the body’s toxic waste. If the pores have been blocked by an antiperspirant – what happens to the toxins?
Using Cleansers: Try visiting a Beauty/Holistic Therapist who can show you the facial massage movements. See this page for more details for a thorough skincare routine>>> Weleda Skin Care Routine >>>
If you or your family possess very sensitive skin, read about Cocamidopropyl Betaine, before shopping for Shampoos and Shower Gels.
Why do we not carry all products from every single brand?
It could be, we just have not got around to stocking that item as yet...
The particular product in question is not too popular.
Or, we are not happy with the ingredient listing - this is especially true of shampoos, that, in our opinion contain too many foam boosters and detergents for our preference - which can cause numerous irritations. If you have a query in this regard, please do feel free to contact us.
Q. Some natural shampoos don't seem to lather a great deal. How can a shampoo clean the hair without a lot of lather?
A. Shampoos don't need to generate lots of suds to clean hair effectively. Here's what happens when you shampoo - detergent and soap molecules have two ends: a hydrophilic (water loving) "head" and a lipophilic (oil loving) "tail". The oil-loving tails attach to the oil and dirt in your hair. When you rinse, the water loving heads attach to the rinse water, so the oil and dirt are pulled out of your hair. When detergent molecules mix with water and align in a spherical shape, suds, or lather, are formed. Lather doesn't really assist the cleansing process, except that it might make it easier for you to feel that your shampoo has been evenly distributed. We've been conditioned to like lather. But many shampoos rely on inexpensive, petrochemical derived detergents such as sodium lauryl sulphates etc. for their foam building properties. These chemicals can dry out the hair and scalp, and may cause allergic reactions as well as environmental problems. Aubrey Organics shampoos are made with natural cleansing agents such as coconut oil-corn oil soap (coconut fatty alcohols reacted with cornstarch glucose) and quillaya bark (saponins), which clean the hair effectively with a quick, modest lather. *Reference taken from: Aubrey Organics FAQ's
The use of essential oils is necessary for their anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. All essential oils used in the products we have chosen have been tested to ensure that every single essential oil is pure and true, and not adulterated to make the finished product go further. Oils that have been adulterated (or are synthetic based) to further the profit margin of a certain product can lead to serious sensitivities (which is not associated with the original true and pure essential oil!!!*). Anyone using an aromatherapy product should always find out where the manufacturer obtains their oils from - are they pure and unadulterated - are they safe to use? Or could they lead to future problems for you and your family?
* Guidance should always be obtained from a Qualified Aromatherapist when using essential oils for therapeutic purposes.
Why do we refuse to carry Lanolin? See report for more information>>>
However, we have checked with our suppliers and we are happy to carry Lanolin from Weleda and Burt’s Bees as their source of Lanolin is strictly checked for pesticide residues. Lanolin is a very valuable ingredient for nourishing extra dry skins and is especially invaluable in foot based products, for example, exceedingly dry and cracked heels. However, we understand that some of you may still wish to avoid this ingredient. So of course, as usual, if the product contains Lanolin it will be shown in the product ingredient listing.
Still not sure what skin type you are? Please see the attached'Facial Skin Analysis' by Anne Thomas, Holistic Therapist, Fellow of International Council of Holistic Therapists >>>
Taking on board the above recommendations will hopefully enable you to enjoy this new experience instead of coming up with new problems. Particularly as most people opt for the organic and natural lifestyle because of the many allergies encountered with petro-chemical skin care. Take it slowly, purchase smaller quantities and listen to what your skin truly desires. Hopefully this will mean that you spend less and find better results with these beautiful products.
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