Petroleum on my skin? No, thank you!

How often do you read these vague names on your labels: Mineral Oil, Liquid Paraffin, Paraffinum Liquidum, White Oil, Liquid Petroleum... Let me answer for you - too often!! And these are the names of the same product - liquid by-product of the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum-based products from crude oil. Wait a minute! From what? Yes, liquid that is used as a main ingredient in baby products (oils, lotions), body oils and Vaseline (to name few) is actually made of crude oil!!

When applied mineral oil creates a thin layer on your skin and blocks the pores, so ultimately it doesn't allow skin to breath and eliminate toxins (normal healthy "exchange" process). So it leads to skin dryness and premature aging. It's used so unbelievably widely because of its cheap price and availability (it's just a by-product). Most of the baby oils are 100% mineral oil or mineral oil is listed as the first ingredient - meaning that mineral oil is its main component (just pick up any baby oil or baby lotion bottle and see for yourself).

Skin is our largest organ and let's treat is nicely. Explore the beauty of natural creations - those wonderful apricot, avocado, sweet almond, olive oils (mostly available in pharmacies and supermarkets)... There are so many to choose from - they are great for the skin, safe for humans (most importantly for our little ones!) and environment, they are packed with vitamins and antioxidants. What's not to love? 

See, it's really easy to make the switch towards the healthier lifestyle, just need to be aware :)

Love as always,

Anya

Natural colorants

One thing I really like experimenting with is color. There are hundreds of man-made colors out there - bright, pastel, anything ... But as you know - here at 7 Elements we just love working with all-natural ingredients instead. So here is what we use:

1. Clays. Clays have wonderful properties and are great for the skin, body and health! And what's not to like about the idea of having the coloring element that actually helps taking care of various skin conditions.


Pictures: Blue and Red Argiletz clays. 

Here is our Lavender soap with blue clay

2. Natural pigments and micas. Very shiny, bright and come in various colors! In cosmetics they are used mainly in mineral make-up to add shimmer and color

 Pictures: Emerald and Copper micas 

3. Kitchen drawer colors. Yes, there is lots of of hidden "spice" in 7 Elemets soaps - like Turmeric powder in Grand Bazaar; cocoa powder in Caramel soap. I always knew there was lots in common between cooking and soap-making! 

This is a very exciting area - studying properties of various spices and plants including them in products formulas in actual form (dried herbs, powdered spices) and as essential oils of course!

 Pictures: Paprika, Turmeric and Cocoa powders

4. Surprising ingredients. 

These are new comers in 7 Elements colors basket. But they are definitely not new in the world of natural skin care! How about some Spirulina - this superfood is as good in soaps as it is in your green smothies! And another dramatically_looking ingredient yet to be tested is Charcoal! 

To be honest, many times I just opt for plain - let the oils, butters and other pretty things decide how the final product is going to look like! 

This is by no means a complete list of natural colorants, just a brief overview, attempt to show that there is always an alternative. "Alternative to what?" You may ask. Well... actually in non-sustainable world it can take lots of chemicals to get a flawless white color or pleasantly looking caramel... I am not even talking about reds and blues... 

So why again should we use something that was created by man to compete with "products" that Mother Nature has been making for thousands of years?! 

Love,

Anya

How to read labels

Happy 2011!
Please join me in welcoming the new year and kicking the nasties out of our bathrooms!

Making informed decisions can be both exciting and frustrating - exciting because by choosing sustainable products we do a great thing for ourselves and for the environment (e.g. by opting for chemicals-free items and items containing less chemicals we reduce the carbon footprint of our shopping basket, we make sure that less waste goes into the environment and well... your body will thank you for not letting more toxins in). Why frustrating? Because when we actually stand in front of the shelves containing dozens of products we simply don't know where to start... 

While issues like labeling and misleading information are highly important, let's not talk about politics now and try to focus on actual labels-reading. I am also not a scientist, so I am not going into scientific explanation of elements. 

So, what do you think - is going natural as simple as buying the cream that says Natural? Or choosing  shampoo that claims it's made with Pure Essential Oils? Or getting that "Herbal" shower gel? Not too fast... First of all - read the back label as claims you see written in big letters might not mean much... When you get onto the ingredients list (which might look very long and very "scientific" at first) there are few very important things you need to look for. Let's start with Sodium Laureth Sulphate and Paraben. 

Sodium laureth sulphate (SLS). 

How to spot? 

Go to you bathroom and you'll see "Sodium laureth sulphate" written  in the beginning of ingredients list on most of the "foamy" products - shampoos, soaps, shower gels even the toothpaste, detergents.

Why? 

Its main role is to make foam, I'd say "synthetic foam" as natural products can be produced without SLS and have a nice bubbly foam. It's quite inexpensive and widely used in the great majority of products. 

Why is it bad? 

It's a very harsh chemical, that can irritate skin, eyes and hair. As studies show in the long term it can be linked to serious diseases like cancer. You might wonder how long is that "long term", but just imagine how many times you washed your hair with SLS-loaded shampoo last year, scrubbed your body with that "SLS-shower gel", washed your dishes with super-foamy detergent, etc... And by the way, many of those tests were performed on animals - another argument against using products containing SLS... 

Is there an alternative? 

Yes! Use SLS-free products! To know for sure - read your labels.

Paraben

How to spot? 

Paraben has many cousins - Butylparaban, ethylparaben, methylparaben and other, key combination is "-paraben". Today it is the most used and available preservative, so chances that your beauty products contain paraben are quite high. It can be found in items that contain water (or "aqua" as it might be written on ingredients list) - moisturizers, shampoos, etc

Why? 
If a product contain water and is intended to have a long life it needs to be preserved to avoid bacterial growth. Just imagine leaving your soup on the counter for a few days and you'll get an idea of what I am talking about.

Why is it bad? 
Parabens are the most widely used preservatives, they've been on the market for a long time and the truth is that they do what they are supposed to do. However similarly to SLS, parabens have a controvertial reputation. They can be harsh and nasty on skin, especially in the amounts they are used in the commercially produced beauty products. If you google "paraben" you'll get all sorts of contradictory information - some claim that parabens are currently the best available preservatives; others say that paraben have been linked to serious diseases including breast cancer. It's only fair to add that those claims have not been proved or disproved.

Is there an alternative?
Yes!
First, if you are choosing paraben-free but water-based products, keep in mind couple of things:
- if it's a trully natural product without preservatives it has a shorter shelf life, so you need to make sure you are using it as fresh as possible and follow sellers usage recommendations
- check for other nasty preservatives ("no parabens" does not equal "no chemicals") - popular ones are Phenoxyethanol and Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate...
Second, you can switch to the waterless alternatives - use soap instead of shower gel, oil and butter-based lotions and moisturizers, solid deodorants, etc. Generally oils do not need to be preserved, but as usual - always consult the labels to make sure threre is no paraben in your soap bar.


Hope this information was useful! We'll be back with more soon.

A word about preservatives

So why do 7 Elements products can stay fresh for about 12 months and why we don't use preservatives? 

First of all, there is no need for us to extend the shelf life of our products. We mostly deal with end customers who get the products as fresh as possible. 

Second, our current products don't contain any water (ok, you'll see water/agua on the ingredients list of our soaps and solid shampoos, but the process is such that water just goes through the "soap making" reaction and completely evaporates by the time the soap is ready to be sold). So since there is no water that can create bacteria-friendly environment, there is no need to "preserve" our products.

Therefore please note that our products stay fresh without any preservative as long as water is not introduced into the container during use - so be sure to take care of your natural care products!

Third, in some products we use natural preservatives such as Vitamin E. Natural preservatives are not as strong as manufactured-ones, but again - we don't need to create an extremely long shelf life of our products. They are made to be enjoyed while using not only by looking at them :)

And forth, oils, butters and other natural ingredients we use to make our products stay fresh for 12-18 months (some even much longer). So the "final results" stay fresh for a minimum of 12 months!

Hope this was helpful! Now... how many times did I write "preservative" and "product" in this post?? :))

Love,

Anya