The 3 “Golden Rules” for Clean Skincare

Here are three Golden Rules to follow when looking for clean skincare products:

1. Look at the ingredients label.

If you are looking at an advertisement for the product online, does it show the full ingredient list of the product, such as in the FAQ area at the bottom of the page? (If it doesn’t show the full ingredient label, there’s typically a reason.)

2. Choose only certified organic products.

Look for the USDA Certified Organic designation or a similar designation per your country that guarantees verification independent of the company.

For independent verification as USDA Certified Organic, it means the product must prove:

• It contains at least 95% true organic ingredients.
• The remaining 5% of ingredients are on an approved safe list.
• It is free of synthetic additives, including pesticides, chemical fertilizers, petrochemicals, and dyes.
• It wasn’t processed using industrial solvents or irradiation.
• It’s free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

On farms that supply USDA Certified Organic ingredients, organic producers use more natural processes and materials in their farming systems. These processes contribute to soil health, manage pests and weeds more naturally, and promote the conservation of biological diversity and ecological balance.

USDA Certified Organic standards prohibit the use of sewage sludge, synthetic fertilizers, and genetic engineering. They also require producers to maintain the integrity of organic crops, preventing contact between organic and conventionally grown crops, as well as contact with prohibited pesticides and fertilizers.

3. Feed your skin healthy, nourishing ingredients.

So what do you want to feed your skin? Good, healthy, nourishing (and organically grown) skin food. In the section below, we’ll cover clean, safe ingredients to look for when choosing skincare products.

Top 10 Anti-Aging Ingredients Your Skin Will Love

Below are 10 of nature’s most powerful ingredients to support healthy, radiant skin and clean beauty, presented in countdown style to the big #1.

However, of course, there is some subjectivity to any list like this.

Everyone’s skin shares many similarities, but each person’s skin — and what each person would like to improve with their skin — is also unique. As such, certain ingredients may rank higher for you personally.

Chosen for their effectiveness and the range of benefits they can provide, these are the top 10 natural anti-aging ingredients to look for in clean beauty products.

10. Camellia Seed Oil (Camellia Oleifera)

Also known as the oil-seed camellia and tea oil camellia, this remarkable oil comes from cold-pressing the seeds of camellia oleifera, a flowering evergreen shrub native to Asia that the Japanese call Tsubaki, or “rose of winter.”

Camellia seed oil has a molecular structure and weight similar to the skin’s natural oil, so it is absorbed deeply into the skin.

Rich in vitamins A, B, C, D, and E, camellia seed oil is excellent for moisturizing skin, helping to achieve velvety smoothness. It also contains nutrients that strongly support a youthful glow and combat signs of aging.

Camellia seed oil is particularly rich in squalene, which is an important part of the skin’s hydration system and which helps protect skin against external environmental elements.

9. Cocoa Seed Butter (Theobroma Cacao)

Hey, if it comes from the same plant as chocolate — the Cacao tree — it’s got to be good, right? Well, this classic skincare ingredient truly is.

Cocoa seed butter is rich in natural compounds that promote soft, supple, and radiant-looking skin. It’s high in oleic acids, linoleic acid, palmitoleic acid, vitamin E, and vitamin K, which can reduce the appearance of aging from wrinkles and fine lines.

Cocoa seed butter is also high in stearic acid, which can actually help eliminate dirt, sweat, and excess sebum from the skin. And it contains compounds that can help lock moisture into the skin, tighten the skin, enhance the skin’s appearance of brightness, and even reduce unhealthy inflammation.

8. Astaxanthin Extract

Sun is a wonderful way to expand your vitamin D levels. But the downside is that over the years, too much sun exposure can get your skin in trouble. Especially if you occasionally get burned.

In fact, one of the biggest reasons skin can look wrinkled, weathered, and otherwise “old” is because of excess sun.

Enter the superstar clean skincare ingredient called astaxanthin.

Astaxanthin is formed naturally in certain types of algae. (Interestingly, sea creatures such as wild salmon and shrimp get their pink color by consuming these algae.)

It’s a highly effective “carotenoid,” an antioxidant that provides superior protection for the skin. And it has powerful blocking properties against the sun’s UV rays. Astaxanthin supports the skin in combating photoaging and that “weathered look,” such as the appearance of dark spots and wrinkles from sun-related damage.

Astaxanthin can also help with elasticity, skin moisture and moisture retention, and in promoting skin smoothness while decreasing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

7. Sunflower Seed Oil (Helianthus Annuus)

Sunflower oil, reputedly prized for centuries by the Iroquois, is rich in vitamin E, an antioxidant powerhouse that can also ward off damage caused by overexposure to the sun.

What’s more, sunflower seed oil contains beneficial linoleic acid — even more than olive oil — which has skin barrier-enhancing properties.

In fact, when adult volunteers applied six drops of sunflower seed oil to their forearm twice a day for five weeks, they had improved integrity of the outer layer of their skin as well as improved hydration.

6. Mango Seed Butter (Mangifera Indica)

Mango butter, which you can find cold-pressed from the seed, has exceptional skin-enhancing effects. Rich in vitamin C, it can help enhance collagen synthesis for smoother, plumper, and brighter-looking skin. And it may act as a protective factor against skin damage from the sun.

Mango seed butter provides supreme moisturizing and soothing benefits. It provides your skin with an abundance of antioxidants and vitamins, including vitamin A, which is known for smoothing the appearance of fine lines.

Fun fact: In India, the mango tree is a sacred symbol of love. And some people believe that mango trees can even grant wishes. If your wish is for healthier skin, perhaps your wish can be granted, too!

5. Aloe Vera Juice (Aloe Barbadensis)

If you have an aloe vera plant at home, you can cut off a leaf and scoop out the gel inside.

Applying this vitamin- and enzyme-rich gel to your skin may help with exfoliation and provide powerful anti-inflammatory and soothing effects (it’s great for anti-aging and, as many already know, also great for helping to heal cuts and other skin wounds.)

It can also potentially reduce the appearance of wrinkles and boost elasticity in human skin when taken orally. Interestingly, researchers have found that consuming aloe gel may also be beneficial because it may increase collagen production and decrease the collagen-degrading MMP-1 gene expression.

Note: Aloe vera can have a laxative effect when taken internally, so start with a very small amount to avoid any… ahem… surprises.

4. Camu Camu Extract (Myrciaria Dubia)

Camu camu is fun to say, but that’s the least of its good points. It’s a low-growing shrub that grows near rivers in the western and central Amazon basin in South America. And its berries might be even more of a nutrition powerhouse for you than the famed açai berry.

Camu camu is a rich source of polyphenols, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, tannins, stilbenes, and lignans. With a higher phenolic and vitamin C content than many other tropical fruits, camu camu is bursting with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory power.

Applying camu camu extract to your skin may provide a range of powerful anti-aging benefits, such as lightening the appearance of dark spots, smoothing the appearance of wrinkles, and evening out your complexion.

Along with the amazing benefits of applying it to your skin, eating camu camu has shown strong potential to help with weight loss and fight excess inflammation, too.

As noted in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine:

“[T]here is a pressing need to increase the visibility of natural products such as camu camu to point to their potential benefits in populations that are not only aging but also experiencing the negative effect of inflammatory and oxidative conditions.”

3. German Chamomile Extract (Chamomilla Recutita)

Chamomilla recutita (Matricaria), also known as German chamomile, is not just another pretty flower.

This plant has very impressive antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory effects.

While chamomile tea and extracts may be useful for dampening systemic inflammation, chamomile applied to skin penetrates below your skin’s surface to the deeper layers. It also has a soothing, anti-inflammatory effect that helps calm dry or irritated skin areas.

Chamomile can also be excellent for promoting the appearance of tighter, healthier, and “plump-looking” skin.

2. Indian Gooseberry Extract (Phyllanthus Emblica)

Indian gooseberry is a medicinal plant traditionally used in Ayurvedic systems of medicine to restore lost vitality and vigor.

Ayurvedic texts have long considered Indian gooseberry to be a Rasayana, which is a compound ideal for longevity and rejuvenation. And today, science is showing that this is precisely the case.

Indian gooseberry is a very rich source of vitamin C, amino acids, minerals, and phenolic compounds – all reasons why it can be so beneficial to apply to your skin. It stimulates pro-collagen (a precursor of collagen) and may protect your skin from sun damage, helping to prevent dark spots and wrinkles.

It’s also known for shrinking and unclogging your pores, leading to a fresher, smoother skin appearance.

1. Maple Leaf Extract (Acer Rubrum, Acer Saccharum, Acer Pennsylvanicum)

Native Americans have long treasured maple leaves for their healing properties. Modern science is finally catching up and seems to be in total agreement.

New research shows that maple leaf extracts may be among the closest things we have on earth to a real fountain of youth!

You see, it turns out that maple leaves contain phenolic compounds that can boost elastin and may restore the look of youth to your skin better than anything else out there.

When researchers looked in detail at red maple leaves, they found 106 such compounds, including 11 that may have never been discovered before and 75 that weren’t known to exist in red maple until now.

Now, perhaps THE key reason skin can increasingly look wrinkled, saggy, and otherwise “old” is because the elastin in skin that maintains skin’s flexibility increasingly breaks down.

Well, certain glucitol-core-containing “gallotannins” in red maple leaves were even found to inhibit this breakdown of elastin in the skin, and at the same time, they may also fight skin inflammation and lighten age spots.

The researchers described them as having the potential to tighten up skin like a plant-based Botox, and with just topical application — not an injection.

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