FutureDerm

What are the Best All-Natural Products?

Share Article

Best natural beauty products…hmm.

For years now, I have been advocating “natural does not always mean better.” Many of the studies that show ingredients like parabens are dangerous use the ingredients in tens to thousands of times the typical concentrations used in beauty products. Even vitamin C is toxic in concentrations that high!

What’s more, not all natural substances are beneficial; ingredients ranging from the seemingly benign, like lemons, can be incredibly irritating and photosensitizing for the skin.

Despite this, women want to do what is best for our health and our bodies (and, in many cases, our families). For better or worse, natural products are here to stay. As someone who is hoping to have a family in the next few years herself, I’ve even started to look at natural alternatives more, though still knowing that natural does not guarantee safe, nor does it guarantee greater efficacy.

With that said, here are the best natural* products I have found. (*–Please note that, when I say “natural,” I mean 70% or more natural ingredients.)

Best Natural Cleanser:  TATCHA PURE One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil

tatcha2

PURE One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil is based on the principles of the Japanese geisha’s skin care routine: The skin is to be nourished and revitalized, never stripped or irritated.

The oil is dense and translucent, with a beautiful light scent. It rinses away clear and leaves the skin feeling plush, supple, and hydrated.

One of the major ingredients is Oryza sativa, an emollient, moisturizing, and cleansing oil. The secret to this rice bran oil is that contains the antioxidant gamma oryzanol (African Journal of Biotechnology,International Journal of Toxicology), a free-radical scavenger. Amazingly enough, oryzanol also helps to improve the stability of oils and fatty acids within your skin (International Journal of Pharmaceutics).

FutureDerm Rice Germ Oil Oryza Sativa Skincare

Overall, this is a superior cleanser, and a great natural treatment. [Full review]

Best Natural Vitamin CE Serum: Kleem Organics Rejuvenating Vitamin C Serum

kleem3

Kleem Organics Intensive Rejuvenating Vitamin C Serum contains 20% vitamin C as sodium ascorbyl phosphate.

Sodium ascorbyl phosphate is a stable form of L-Ascorbic Acid. According to a 2001 study in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics, sodium ascorbyl phosphate has greater long-term stability than another common vitamin C alternative, ascorbyl palmitate. In addition, unlike many other vitamin C alternatives, sodium ascorbyl phosphate is stable in many different types of skin care products, including both water-in-oil emulsions and oil-in-water emulsions.

Like L-ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbyl phosphate may have the ability to protect skin from UVB light (Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 1999).

Kleem Organics Intensive Rejuvenating Vitamin C Serum is a very lightweight, clear serum. It glides across the skin very easily, and a two to three pumps is enough for the face, neck, and decolletage. It has a very faint smell that I can only describe as reminiscent of orange peel.

Due to the 20% L-ascorbic acid, you may notice a slight tingling or burning. That is normal.

I used Kleem Organics Intensive Rejuvenating Vitamin C Serum for a week under my favorite sunscreen, and I thought that it made my face smoother. I obviously use vitamin CE serum all of the time, so I wasn’t expecting miracles, but I definitely noticed the acidity of the product (pH is 3.8) helped cell turnover.

Best Natural Anti-Aging Night Serum: Drunk Elephant TLC Framboos Glycolic Night Serum

Drunk Elephant TLC Framboos Glycolic Night Serum

This is a fantastic product I can only surmise from the ingredients list to be somewhere around 60-70% natural. I have not talked to the company, so I cannot be sure. At any rate, it’s hard to find a product with natural extracts that contains 10% glycolic acid, and this serum has it.

Glycolic acid is the most common of all the alpha hydroxy acids. Glycolic acid advances desquamation and thinning of the stratum corneum (the uppermost layer of the skin). By exfoliating the top layer of the skin, glycolic acid may smooth the skin, quicken the rate of cell turnover (which is reduced by up to 7% every ten years), decrease small wrinkles and increase the fibroblast proliferation of collagen. (Dermatologic Surgery).

Glycolic acid is the smallest of the alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), and so it penetrates the skin well.

Glycolic Acid

Glycolic acid acts as both a moisturizer and an exfoliator; it increases the skin’s supply of hyaluronic acid, which can hold 1000 times its weight in water (Skin Therapy Letter).

Despite its hydrating property, glycolic acid sometimes gets the reputation for being drying. This is because glycolic acid can simply be irritating for the skin in high concentrations. When starting with Drunk Elephant TLC Framboos Night Serum, start with just one night/week, and gradually work up to twice/week, and then every other night. Do not use with other AHA or retinoid or acidic products. It definitely will make a huge difference in your skin, but you should be careful with it!

Best Natural Moisturizer: Fulom Skin Care Moisturizer

fulom2

Fulom Moisturizing Cream is primarily terrific due to the fulvic acid. Though many Americans have not heard of fulvic acid, it is popular in many other countries.

Currently in skin care, fulvic acid is known most for being a treatment for dry and irritated skin, as with contact dermatitis (Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2000), psoriasis (Karr), and eczema (Clinical, Cosmetic, and Investigative Dermatology, 2011).

Fulvic Acid

Fulvic acid is also anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory agent (Drug Development Research, 2001;Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2000).

But where I’m interested in fulvic acid is for more than just a treatment for irritated skin conditions.

Rather, fulvic acid is a very potent antioxidant, so much that many scientists suspect that it may have significant effects against fine lines, wrinkles, and skin sagging. This is because fulvic acid’s penetrates the skin quite well (Drug Development Delivery, 2002), enabling the ingredient to work in the skin at higher potency and for longer intervals of time.As a potent antioxidant, fulvic acid fights free radicals.

I currently like using Fulom Moisturizing Cream at night after a retinoid serum and before I apply an amino acid treatment. Fulom Moisturizing Cream is lightweight and sometimes I even apply another moisturizer over top, but most of the time, it is enough on its own to keep my skin smooth and hydrated.

Best Natural Eyelash Enhancer: Wink Natural Cosmetics Eyelash and Eyebrow Enhancer

wink2

As you may know, prostaglandin-based products like Latisse can cause irritation for some people, and discoloration of the eyes in a small number of individuals.

Still, we all want long lashes. So I’m happy that I found Wink Natural Cosmetics Eyelash and Eyebrow Enhancer ($39, FutureDerm.com/Shop), complete with a full array of essentially fatty acids. Fatty acids have been shown to take eyelashes out of the telogen phase of the growth cycle and into anagen phase, resulting in eyelash growth by 15-20% within weeks!

Wink Natural Cosmetics Eyelash and Eyebrow Enhancer has a very light and thin texture, despite being made of oils. I delicately took the applicator and swept it across the tops of my lashes on both sides, top and bottom, twice per day. I noticed that my lashes looked longer after about 2 weeks of regular use. It definitely also made my lashes look darker, for some reason. In house studies show significant results as well; go here!

Best Natural Exfoliator: Grand Central Beauty Skin Perfecting Polisher

gcb_polisher

If you’re looking for a shiny, healthy glow for your skin, try Grand Central Beauty Skin Perfecting Polisher. It definitely leaves skin polished and renewed, owing to a refined mix of sugar cane, fruit acids, and green tea.

As with many exfoliants, when you use Grand Central Beauty Skin Perfecting Polisher, some skin will come up and off. This is called desquamation, and is normal and is to be expected. I, however, was surprised that it occurred on me; I’m a religious user of nightly retinoids, weekly exfoliants, and regular facials, and I wasn’t anticipating any dry or dead skin cells. Grand Central Beauty Skin Perfecting Polisher picked them up, however. I was rubbing the product in for about 2-3 minutes and was still getting new skin brought up.

Grand Central Beauty Skin Perfecting Polisher definitely gives the skin a refined glow after use. I chose to leave it on, but you also have the option of rinsing afterwards.

For the full review, visit here.

Bottom Line

Natural does not always guarantee that products are better or safer. With that said, if you prefer not to take a chance and go natural anyway, you can’t go wrong with these picks! I’ve tried and honestly love them all.

What are your thoughts? Let me know in Comments!

You might also like

Product Review: Relastin Eye Silk

Accredited in [easyazon_link identifier=”0553383302″ locale=”US” tag=”cosmeticswiki-20″]The Skin Type Solution[/easyazon_link] by one of my idols, Dr. Leslie Baumann (director, Division of Cosmetic Dermatology and Assistant Professor of

About Myself

Nicki Zevola is the founder and editor-in-chief of FutureDerm.com. Named one of the top 30 beauty bloggers in the world by Konector.com since 2009, Nicki

#Mindey

@mindey