We’ve recently highlighted the importance of natural skincare.
Recap
Here’s what you need to know:
Chemicals and toxins are not just in your food, they are also widely used in your favourite beauty products such as skincare, makeup, deodorant, and shampoo!
As a result our skin absorbs 60% of any topical product we use. There are more than 10,000 ingredients allowed for use in our personal care items. Many of these ingredients are hazardous to our health but they are used in everything from makeup to facial moisturiser and nail polish remover! It’s amazing that the average woman can wear up to 500 chemicals a day. She will eat nearly 2 kgs of lipstick in her lifetime, so make sure your lipstick does NOT contain lead or any chemicals.
So what should you avoid, what is toxic? How does it affect your health, the planet’s health, and do we need to take a chemistry class to understand what is in our moisturiser?
Understanding the ingredients in personal care products can be so confusing we tend to shut down. To reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals in beauty products, it can be as effortless as choosing the right natural skincare. Focus on those with a shorter list of ingredients.
More does not necessarily mean better. A lot of what is on a label is either bad for you, or cheap filler. Cheap, lathering ingredients known to have high irritation levels; Artificially sweet smelling oils laced with parabens, formaldehyde & phthalates (dispersant), amongst other nasties to extend the life of the created fragrance. These chemicals are non-bio degradable and leak into our waterways.
Action
Just by choosing natural skincare products that use less, will expose yourself to fewer toxins and fewer resources will be used in the manufacturing of the product.
So, if we can minimise our exposure by introducing effective alternatives that still feel luxurious to use, then we benefit…naturally. It’s simple – better for you and better for the environment.
Options
We highlighted natural skincare options here
and natural makeup options here
Now we have turned our attention to perfume.
Perfume
Not to ruin your day or anything, but here’s some potentially beauty routine–altering information: When it comes to ingredients, “fragrance” can mean, well, anything. That one little word nestled in your favorite beauty product’s ingredient list can that include a whole slew of chemicals, some of which may be harmful to your health, others that might just make you sneeze, but none of which are required to be disclosed.
Enter Cat Chen and
Skylar Natural Perfume
After working at The Honest Company, Cat Chen became a lot more aware of everything she put in and on her body. Perfume was no exception, especially since it stays on your skin, all day long.
When I searched for a fragrance that did not contain allergens and harmful chemicals and smelled fresh and sophisticated, I couldn’t find one. That’s what motivated me to create Skylar. I soon realised that many of my friends were searching for the same thing, and their friends. In an organic way, my conversations with real women helped to shape Skylar.
After many months of working with world-class perfumers and testing our products in real life, we created a collection of perfumes that gave us the answer we were all looking for.
Skylar is a brand of natural perfumes that you can feel great about spritzing. The name Skylar was inspired by the qualities of a clear day – airy, natural, and beautiful. We hope you’ll experience the Skylar difference for yourself.
Scents
Skylar’s packaging is chic and worthy of the ‘gram (Chen worked with an artist to create the watercolor design with the intention that customers could use it to double as décor or to hold makeup brushes), but the true test is in the scent—and Skylar more than surpassed my expectations. The brand currently offers four scents to satiate the main fragrance categories. Arrow is warm and spicy with black currant and vanilla; Coral is a juicy citrus with a hint of apple blossom; Isle is clean, fresh, and dewy with notes of bergamot and peony; and Meadow is a soft-yet-intoxicating floral with notes like orange blossom, tuberose, and peony. Not sure which scent is destined to be your new favourite? Take the quiz to see which is the perfect fragrance for you.
Skylar also offers a sampling service, where you can pay $20 to try vials of all four scents; then you can receive $20 credit to purchase the full-size bottle (which retails at $78).
They are also designed to be customised by layering.
Clean, Conscious & Customisable
Skylar scents are formulated by the Master Perfumer to be mixed and matched. Try each scent on its own. or layer multiple scents to create a signature that’s as individual as you. The possibilities are endless.
HOW TO LAYER
Spray one scent on your wrist, then spritz another scent on top and tap your wrists together.Press your wrists to your neck just below the ears ond enjoy your new signature scent.
