Elementally Good - FAQ's - Natural skincare cosmetics, body lotions, powders and balms

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What's the big deal about natural products?

Your skin is your body's biggest organ. What is placed upon it is absorbed in, sometimes all the way into the bloodstream. There are many debates raging about the safety of certain ingredients, and while they rage, we’re not going to condemn or pass judgment either way. For us, going natural is a personal decision based upon our own experiences. Following my diagnosis of contact dermatitis, plant and seed based oils provided the best moisturization and healing for my sensitive skin. Pure essential oils don’t cause the red rash I got from fragrances. The open sores on my children’s bottoms (a side effect of food allergies) were healed, and didn’t return, following treatment with the natural starches, clays and botanical powder blends I made. Which, were created out of necessity after petroleum based ointments failed. These, and many more successes, have made us decide to incorporate natural based products into our lives as much as possible. We hope they’ll become as big of a deal in your life as well.

What constitutes "natural"?

This is a question which is open to some debate. It seems that there is no one definition of what natural truly is, so we can only tell you our philosophy. For inclusion in our products, an ingredient must either be directly from natural (i.e. - olive oil, orange essential oil, beeswax), found in the human body or in nature (i.e. - hyaluronic acid, alpha lipoic acid, MSM), or a normally ingested ingredient (i.e. - vitamin A, vitamin E, panthenol (vitamin B5), caffeine). Basically, you should feel safe ingesting any of the product ingredients.

Are your products certified organic?

We shoot for organic ingredients as much as possible. All of the herbs used are certified organic, along with several of the oils. Some ingredients, such as many of the additives, while found in nature, are not available in an organic form. So, including ingredients which are not available in a certified organic form means we can’t be 100% certified organic. However, every ingredient can be found in nature, whether directly (organic herbs, oils, waxes and extracts) or indirectly (lab synthesized vitamins, antioxidants, emulsifiers and preservatives). And, in every product, the organic based ingredients outweigh the inorganic.

Do you use preservatives?

In any of the water containing products (body emulsions, facial emulsions, sunscreen lotion), yes. Water and botanicals together create a perfect breeding ground for bacteria, fungi and molds. Even with strict refrigeration, the shelf life of an unpreserved product is severely limited. Proper preservation is necessary in order to safely create a water based product which can be kept for any significant length of time.

For true broad spectrum protection, we use a combination of two preservatives, Leucidal Liquid SF and NeoDefend. Leucidal Liquid SF is a probiotic-based ingredient created by the fermentation of Lactobacillus. Lactobacillus is one of the microorganisms used to produce fermented products, such as sauerkraut and kimchi. It is capable of restricting the growth of other microorganisms by acidifying its environment, as well as producing antimicrobial peptides, also known as bacteriocins, that are capable of providing broad spectrum antimicrobial protection. It is naturally derived, salicylate, GMO, ethoxylation, irradiation, sulphonation, hydrogenation, ethylene oxide, formaldehyde and paraben free and REACH (European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use) compliant. NeoDefend is a blend of gluconolactone (a naturally occurring food additive) and Sodium Benzoate (a food grade preservative) and calcium gluconate. It is ECOCERT and approved for certified organic products, offering broad spectrum protection free of parabens, formaldehyde and isothiazolinones. Together, these two products provide true broad spectrum protection, while still being safe, gentle and naturally derived.

After researching all available options (must be globally approved, broad spectrum, generally regarded as safe), we feel these two together are the best and safest options. However, we are always researching new ingredients, so if better options become available, we will definitely consider them.

Water free products (Healing Balm, Healing Lip Balm) utilize natural vitamin E as an antioxidant. Water is necessary for microbial growth, so anhydrous products do not require preservation beyond slowing rancidity.

What is the shelf life of the products?

Because all of the products utilize proper preservation, they are mainly limited by the shelf life of the oils used. It is realistic to expect most of the products to last up to a year

Why are some products orange?

Sea Buckthorn oil, while utterly amazing, is also really dark red. Sea Buckthorn offers so many wonderful skin benefitting properties like cell healing and regeneration, before and after sun care and scar, stretch mark and wrinkle treatment. High in phytoesters, vitamin E and vitamin A, it’s that high vitamin A content that gives it the deep, rich red color. Because it is so amazing, we love to use it as much as we can. Its strong color does limit the concentration which can be used and not make one look like an oompa loompa, but all of its amazing benefits definitely outweigh the tinge in our book!