Beauty ingredients

Reassess your cosmetics cupboard – then supercharge it using natural wonders with this comprehensive guide.

What's in your products

The number of chemicals we expose ourselves to through beauty products is mind boggling. In fact, one 2008 US study showed that women use an average of 12 cosmetic products with 168 ingredients every day. And while we’re only applying tiny dabs to our skin each day, what is frightening to know is that some of the ingredients in your moisturiser could also be found in the surface cleaner you use to clean your kitchen bench.

“The thing about using tiny amounts of bad products is that the total load you’re absorbing can be quite large,” says Ben Warren, holistic health expert and founder of BePure. “There is opportunity for all sorts of harmful ingredients to have a place in your beauty regimen, and your body.”

Ecostore’s Kristin Mooney adds, “There are more than 84,000 cosmetic chemicals in existence for commercial use, with 1000 new chemicals being developed every year around the world. The problem is that legislation hasn’t been keeping up with chemical development, and retailers do not require proof that products are safe to use.” It’s one of the reasons the brand has adopted the tagline ‘Safer for you’ – a promise supported by the use of international sources such as the Environmental Working Group Cosmetic Database, which has allowed ecostore’s scientists to assess the health and safety of every ingredient they use.

We took a look at some of the beauty industry’s most often-used natural and synthetic ingredients to find out which are best for your skin.