Today we want to explain why we consciously avoid ingredients like water to ensure the pure purity and quality of our body and face oils.
In our Hello Sue skin care products, we deliberately avoid water for a very simple reason:
Water has no meaningful role for your skin in cosmetics – quite the opposite. The formula always follows this rule: the more water, the more preservatives the cosmetic product needs, and the more it harms your health in turn. We want to explain to you in more detail why water as an ingredient in cosmetic products is so concerning!
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Reason 1: Germs form in water.
Although water is generally one of the favorite ingredients of the cosmetics industry, it is not necessarily required in many cosmetic products. Water is often used, among other things, to dilute the usually very expensive raw materials or to dissolve certain ingredients, such as in creams. One might think that water in cosmetics is not initially concerning, but unfortunately, the opposite is true. Water creates a habitat for microorganisms, so products have only a short shelf life because germs can enter after opening and first use of the cosmetics. So, if water is used, a good defense is always needed to protect the products from these microorganisms and to extend the expiration date. This is where synthetic preservatives come into play.
Reason 2: Water requires artificial or synthetic preservatives.
Don't you know this too? You want to choose a new care product and look at the long list of ingredients: a long series of chemical terms that mean nothing to you. Most of these terms are actually synthetic preservatives like formaldehyde, formaldehyde releasers, and parabens, which in turn harm your skin more than they pamper it. Synthetic preservatives serve to defend against bacteria and fungi, but they are also particularly harmful to the skin and its cells. All synthetic preservatives, such as parabens, deprive the skin of exactly what it needs most: moisture. Synthetic preservatives are often even suspected of causing allergies and affecting the hormonal balance.
Reason 3: Water requires alcohol as a natural preservative.
You will also often find alcohol as an antimicrobial ingredient in water-containing conventional as well as natural cosmetic products. Especially in natural cosmetics, alcohol, especially ethanol, is one of the most commonly used preservatives because alcohol on the one hand deprives bacteria of their habitat and on the other hand can serve as a solvent.
Although alcohol is generally well tolerated and known not to cause allergies, it is actually also concerning as an ingredient because alcohol dries out your skin. Alcohol draws water from the body and is therefore rather difficult for dry skin. For this reason, we at Hello have clearly decided against alcohol in our formulations.
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How can our Hello Sue products still have the same shelf life as conventional care products?
Every cosmetic product that is newly introduced to the market must pass an official microbial contamination test due to the aforementioned risk of germ formation. Now you might be wondering how our products, without the addition of synthetic preservatives and alcohol, can still have the same shelf life as conventional cosmetic products.
Reason 1: Essential oils have a natural antibacterial effect.
At Hello Sue, we rely on nature and its miracle substances because they can naturally have an incredibly preservative effect. There are many natural ingredients that on the one hand make your natural products last longer and on the other hand do only good for you and your skin. The base oils and essential oils we have chosen can prevent germs from thriving in the product through their antibacterial effect and can have a preservative effect. Oils that have high stability, such as jojoba oil, can additionally have a preservative effect on other fats.
Reason 2: Vitamin E – our antioxidant wonder from nature.
Above all, vitamin E, which is abundantly present in all our oils & balms, protects against oxidation. The tocopherol, as it is called in technical jargon, acts as an antioxidant not only against harmful oxygen compounds but also has valuable anti-aging properties and is considered a very efficient cell protection vitamin. Therefore, it protects not only our ingredients but also your skin.
Reason 3: Violet glass packaging – our protection from outside to inside.
A special type of protection is also our packaging. At Hello Sue, we have consciously chosen violet glass packaging so that our balms & oils are optimally protected from light and other external influences for 30 months when closed. After opening, however, we recommend using our products within 12 months.
All in all
For us at Hello Sue, it is incredibly important that we only use high-quality raw materials in unique quality without harmful additives. Susanne selects the important ingredients for each product with mindful precision, love, and her many years of growing knowledge. Her greatest wish is that her products deliver what they promise. "Because our body," says Susanne, "is our home, which we should treat with the greatest care."
Photo by @maggymelzer
Sources
Noureddine Halla et al.: Cosmetics Preservation: A Review on Present Strategies, Molecules 2018, 23, 1571.
Karolina Nowak et. al.: Controversy around parabens: Alternative strategies for preservative use in cosmetics and personal care products. In: Environmental Research, Volume 198, July 2021, 110488.
Lautenschläger, Hans Dr.: Minimum shelf life and preservation. Beauty Forum 2004 (6), 68–69.
Pharmaceutical Newspaper: Cream and ointment: Clearly separate terms. At: https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/2015-03/creme-und-salbe-begriffe-sauber-trennen/en/ (last accessed: 11.05.2022).
