More Natural Healthier

HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENTFRIENDLY PRACTICES TAKE ON THE BODY LIKE A SACRED SHRINE, STAVING OFF CERTAIN CHEMICALS THAT MAKE PRODUCTIVE PROCESSES CHEAPER IN THE COSMETIC INDUSTRY

Today, many blends based on eggs, yogurt, salt, clay, sugar, mud, fruits, honey, vegetable oils, flowers, roots and the like are working miracles as they are increasingly used to prepare the base for attractive products in the booming natural cosmetics industry.

There are outstanding trendmakers to look at on the road to healthier practices that, in addition to expressing a growing awareness of the environment, take on the body as a sacred shrine, keeping it away from certain chemicals that make production processes cheaper, but take a high toll on health.

There are various scientific studies that relate some of the chemical substances used in the manufacture of industrial cosmetics, highly toxic to the body, with the appearance of diseases, injuries, allergies and even certain types of cancer.

Hence, experimenting with natural products such as vegetable and essential oils, clays and varieties of mud, as well as other elements

derived from flora and fauna has become an exciting practice that has aroused the interest of producers and consumers.

Cosmetology goes beyond the creams or makeup that we apply to the face or body, since it covers a wide range of hygiene products that we use daily, such as soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, gels, softeners, nail polish, creams for sun exposure and after shaving, exfoliants, depilatories and a long etcetera that has made this emerging market a niche of excellent commercial possibilities very much in vogue.

Some specialists and researchers insist that the current regulations establish that a cosmetic should not declare that it is natural, when it only contains ingredients of that origin. This is precisely the gap, the opportunity for deception. Natural cosmetics, however, only use organic or organically grown ingredients, are free of the most aggressive chemicals and do not experiment on animals.

In this sense, one of the most remarkable efforts is made by the seals Ecocert and Cosmebio, France, which have joined others as BDIH (Germany), Soil Association (UK) and AIAB (Italy). It is clear that Europe has become a leader in these procedures.

Ecocert insists, for example, that a product meets the requirements of being natural cosmetics, if at least 95% of its ingredients are natural and at least 5% of the final product comes from organic farming.

Today, among the most followed procedures in the world we can find hair removal known as sugaring, performed with bands of organic cotton, organic candy and lemon; manicure and pedicure with organic glazes, formulated with water and free of toxic ingredients; and makeup with vegetable oils and plants.

Cuba has not turned its back on these good trends. With the purpose of raising the levels of life quality, initiatives such as that of the cooperative Hada Laboratories, dedicated to the production and commercialization of natural cosmetics, have emerged.

The project of accountant Hilda Hernández, Master in Natural Medicine and Bioenergetics, was included in the experiences presented in the commission of Cos---

metology, of the I International Symposium on the development of Trade and Services.

Its products, with five trademarks registered in the Cuban Office of Industrial Property, are close to twenty. They range from circulation gels to anti-wrinkle gels, and use plants such as aloe, chamomile, calendula and algae concentrates.

Also interesting is the initiative of Sandra Aldama Suárez, who created D'brujas, so called because potions are made with plants. It is a store of handmade soaps made with honey, oats, rosemary, coconut, coffee, mint and chamomile, among others.

The Labiofam biological pharmaceutical laboratories also show their efforts. According to information consulted in the national press, this business group, in communion with the Génix laboratories, leaders in Spirulina cosmetic products - microalgae of high protein and nutritional value -, seeks to diversify its cosmetic line with proposals aimed at men: a lotion, a refreshing gel and an after-shave balm.

Beauty products made from this natural compound have been successfully marketed on the island for more than a decade, and the nutritional tablets and anti-wrinkle cream stand out. Likewise, work is being done on the introduction of two lip protectors.

There is a variety of paths and wide possibilities, all with a common destiny: to combine beauty, hygiene and treatments, with healthy and environmentally friendly practices. Nothing that calls for taking care of our health should be discarded. It is a good thing to know that in that green universe there are many colors to be discovered.

PHOTOS: EXCELENCIAS ARCHIVES