Back to Nature - Skin Care Trends Toward Organic
In an age when Botox, harsh chemical treatments and plastic surgery are heralded as go-to quick-fixes for becoming beautiful, one recent list of "hot" skin care ingredients is a bit of an eye-opener.
Plant-derived ingredients from around the world dominate the 2009 list of top beauty ingredients from L.A based beauty-trend tracking company Pierce Mattie.
Instead of chemical treatments, many estheticians are now advising woman to put on their skin the same good stuff they've been taught to put in their bodies - healthful plant based products loaded with vitamins and antioxidants.
The trend is no suprise to esthetician Della Lansdell of Amplify Salon and Spa in Cloverdale.
A skin care expert for 12 years, Lansdell uses products from Aveda, a company that began its plant based pilosophy more than 30 years ago.
"It's not so much a Band-Aid for skin care. It is something that will cure from within the skin, Lansdell said about the concept.
In May, Aveda launched its Green Science collection, an anti-ageing line in which each item is packed with certified organic oils, including Argan oil.
Argan is on the lips of many beauty experts. The oil is said to be one of the richest natural sources of Vitamin E and essential fatty acids. It is created mainly by woman's co-ops in Morocco, where the oil is extracted from the Argan nut.
Lansdell and others in the industry find it amusing that Argan and other natural products are seen as new. She said Aveda has gone back to the indigenous tribes in the Himalayas, among other far-away locales, to draw on what those people have known for centuries.
"It's ancient knowledge that comes from their living with those plants," she said. As an example, jojoba oil, frequently used in plant-based lines, is probably as close as a substance can get to natural human body oils, she said, and the skin readily accepts the oil.
Lansdell said perhaps because of this strong back-to-nature philosophy, Aveda products have a huge local following - not just at Amplify but at other Aveda Concept salons, including 2940 Salon-Spa and Doug's 2 Salon-Spa.
But that brand isn't the only on that's changing the face of beauty from synthetic to nature based.
Spanning the Globe
Estheticians Sherry White and Ashley Williams at L'Esprit Salon and Spa in East Montgomery rave over a recent addition to the salon's product line -- Shea Terra Organics. Originating from and made in Africa, the products are 99-100 percent natural, using only pure fruit and plant extracts -- and they are free of sulfates, parabens, silicone, artificial coloring and synthetic fragrance.
Shea Terra also prominently features Argan oil in its Argan Face and Body Lotion. The results -- and the sensory experience -- keep the products in demand, White said.
"Ashley and I have seen a noticeable difference in the skin tone of our clients while using this product during a relaxing facial massage," she said, adding that another boon is the lasting impression aromas such as Frankincense, lavender and fynbos have left.
Like Aveda, which is so globally conscious that the company is wind-powered, Shea Terra Organics goes global by supporting an empowerment program in the African communities where the products are made.
At the Spa Montgomery at the Renaissance Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center, Skin Authority is one of the most popular beauty lines. The labels read like a virtual health food store compressed into little jars. Among many other ingredients are almond, apricot, avocado, bergamot, cranberry, cucumber, ginseng, green tea, olive, orange and soy.
Like many other plant-based product lines, this one prides itself on its recycled packaging, eco-sensitive treatment protocol, avoidance of animal testing and eschewing of added dyes and fragrances.
Bringing it Home
Christie's Salon & Spa on the Chantilly Parkway uses another plant-derived line: Sandy Scott is About Aesthetics. If the name sounds familiar, that's because Sandy Scott-Garner, who opened About Aesthetics Spa in Montgomery's Mulberry district in 1992, is the woman behind the formulas.
Scott-Garner, a longtime fan of botanicals, for years used a high-end line of plant-derived skin care products in her spa.
The problem, as with many natural products, was the expense. When she developed her new line (online at www.sandyscottis.com ) she made her tagline "Botanical skin care for practical people."
She said one advantage of plant-based products is that people with known allergies to some plants can simply read the ingredients listing to see if they should avoid the product -- not so easy when you're looking at a long list of synthetic substances.
And if you educate yourself, it's even better: Scott-Garner learned that chamomile is in the ragweed family, which can trigger allergy symptoms. Lansdell said some people see the slow-but-steady skin improvement as a drawback of plant-based products. But she believes everyone can benefit from a little patience.
"Skin does not need to be stressed," she said. "We in America are stressed enough as it is."
Unlike the synthetic quick-fixes out there, these remedies don't just work -- they last, Lansdell said.
And there are even natural ways of speeding up the product's effectiveness: the Aveda line includes a gem called tourmaline that can be added to the other products to push them further into the skin, encouraging them to work faster.
What it all comes down to is knowing what you're about to put on your skin, and there's only one way to do that, she said. "Just look at the ingredients."