What To Look For In Organic Skincare Treatments In Malaysia
Skin Management | | 11 Jul 2022
With social media, new skincare trends are always on the rise, such as skin rewilding or even skin icing. However, organic skincare in Malaysia has been an ongoing trend, and it looks like this trend is here to stay.
Due to various environmental factors that our skin is exposed to, having a proper skincare treatment is vital to keep our skin healthy and youthful looking. The right products can also help reduce and prevent skin problems such as acne and skin irritation. So, let's look at how organic skincare treatments will give your skin that healthy glow that everyone is talking about.
What Is Organic Skincare Treatment?
Organic skincare has been around since Ancient Egyptian times when soap pastes were made of clay and olive oil to cleanse the skin. Furthermore, Egyptian women would also use honey and milk masks to keep their skin moisturised. Taking milk baths and exfoliating their skin with dead sea salts was also a common practice during that era.
As suggested in the name, organic skincare treatments are products that are made of organically-farmed ingredients and do not use laboratory-made substances. Natural substances are used to keep the organic ingredients healthy, rather than chemically made preservatives. Besides that, organic farming helps reduce the impact on the environment. So, not only are you giving your skin the best treatment with organic ingredients, but you are also reducing your carbon footprints with organic skincare treatments.
Difference Between Organic And Conventional Skincare Treatments
While organic skin care treatments are products made of organically-farmed ingredients, conventional skin care treatments use synthetic chemicals in their ingredients. Due to these synthetic chemicals, some conventional skin care treatments can be too aggressive for certain people. These chemicals may cause allergic reactions to the skin, such as:
- contact urticaria
- intolerance
- irritant contact dermatitis
The difference between organic and conventional skincare treatments is that organic products do not contain the following ingredients while conventional products do. Those ingredients include:
- Pesticides
- fertilisers
- additives
- antibiotics
Besides that, conventional skincare treatment products have a longer life span than organic ones. This is due to the added preservatives that can cause adverse health effects and pollute the environment even more.
How To Read The Labels Of Organic Products
Reading labels on skincare products can get confusing and misleading as it is not written in layman's terms, instead they use scientific names. Here are a few tips that you can keep in mind the next time you are reading the labels of an organic product before making your purchase.
Look for logos
Logos are a great way to let you know if the products are organic. Depending on the product's country of origin, there are different logos that you can look out for, such as:
- EcoCert (which is one of the world's largest and most recognised organic certification bodies)
- Australian Certified Organic
- Soil Association
- USDA Organic
- COSMOS
Percentage of Organic Ingredients Used
There is a required percentage of organic ingredients to be used to make the skincare product for it to be considered an organic skincare treatment. Here are the three types of labelling:
- 100% organic: this means that the skin care product is made of 100% organic ingredients
- Organic: at least 95% of organic ingredients are used to make the product
- Made with organic ingredients: the product is made of at least 70% of organic ingredients
Five active ingredients you DON'T want to see in your cosmetic products
To ensure that your skincare products are organic and safe to use, here are five ingredients that you will want to avoid:
1. Parabens: This chemical is used to prevent the growth of bacteria and mould in skincare products.
2. Synthetic fragrance: Synthetic fragrance contains a combination of at least 3000 stock chemical ingredients.
3. BHA & BHT: These chemicals are used as stabilisers in skincare products which may cause liver damage in the long run.
4. Hydroquinone: Commonly found in skin lightening cream, which inhibits melanin production. This chemical is also linked to cancer and skin irritations.
5. EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid): EDTA is used as a binding agent to improve the stability of skincare products. However, the side effects include skin, eye and lung irritation and may be toxic to other organs.
Natural active ingredients you DO want to see in your cosmetic products
When purchasing your next skincare products, here are a few natural active ingredients that you will want to look out for as they are beneficial and healthy for your skin:
1. Hyaluronic acid: This ingredient is one of the best moisturising agents for oily and dry skin types. Hyaluronic acid is also an effective substance that occurs naturally in our bodies, which helps our skin to retain moisture and prevents the moisture from evaporating into the air.
2. Argan Oil: Argan oil contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents, which can help prevent and treat signs of sun damage and promote skin healing while also moisturising the skin. Besides that, argan oil also contains other healthy substances like Vitamin E, ferulic acid, carotenoids, oleic and linoleic acid.
3. Green Tea: As we know, drinking green tea itself has a lot of benefits to our health. Hence, there is no surprise that green tea is also suitable for our skin as it contains Vitamin C, which can help reduce sun damage, prevents skin cancer and decrease collagen breakdown.
If you are looking for a skin management centre in Malaysia, Doux Visage is the first leading medical skincare in Malaysia to combine the power of Chinese Medicine with the goodness of Western beauty ingredients. With the expertise of Dr. Jenny Goh (Ph.D), treating any skin condition is second to none. Speak to one of our consultants by contacting us at +603 7728 6113.