Many of us are committed to caring about what we put into our bodies because we care about our health and our future wellbeing, but it surprises me to see how many do not care about the quality of what we put ON our bodies. Although you might not think of skin as an organ, it is in fact the body’s largest. It acts not only as a protective barrier, but it also connects us to the outside world, which means it absorbs a lot of what you put on it. Not convinced? Think nicotine and birth control patches!

According to the National Geography, on average 18 square feet (3.6 KG!) of skin is wrapped around us doing its best to protect us from UV radiation, harmful bacteria, environmental toxins, pollution and much more. However, to enhance these abilities we need to understand the importance of a healthy skin and its influence on our overall healthy self.
Living in heavily polluted cities such as London and NYC, our skin encounters many environmental toxins every single day. It is quite shocking how much dirt stays on our skin and gets into our pores. Hence why I do my best to keep my skin happy and healthy by picking products that don’t add any other heavy chemicals on top of this pollution.

Over the years I have researched a range of products that are either natural, organic, and who as a brand have a sustainable ethos. The great thing is they don’t need to be expensive to be the best either, often I find they are even cheaper than most conventional make-up and skincare brands. Below I will list my top brands that fulfil these criteria.

My personal favourites (and mostly budget friendly brands) are Weleda, Dr. Bronners, Pai, Dr. Haushka, Sukin, Eco-Tan, Lotus Wei, Lavera, Primavera, RMS Beauty, Kjaer Weis, Jao, Hiram Green, Hurraw Balm and the list can go on…so many beautiful brands to pick from!

As part of my evening skincare ritual I cleanse my skin with the delicious smelling Australian Bush Flower Essence cleanser, followed by a refreshing Weleda tonic. Finally, I massage my face with rosehip oil in small circulations whilst my skin is still moist. Don’t forget your neck! It needs a lot of moisturizer too. I use rosehip oil from Pai, which is 100% organic, natural and smells wonderful. The skin soaks up the oil well, leaving your skin beautifully soft in the morning. Rosehip oil is rich in concentrated Trans-Retinoic Acid, an essential fuel for the skin’s natural repair function, which is what you need after being outside in a polluted city all day. Rosehip is the ultimate skin multi-tasker. With regular use, it conditions the skin, improving firmness and elasticity. High levels of Trans-Retinoic Acid are delivered directly to the epidermis, which converts it to Vitamin A which boosts the skin’s natural healing process. Clinical studies show rosehip oil is also effective at improving the appearance of scars, stretch marks, sun damage and fine lines.

It can be quite difficult to know where to start when choosing good skincare/shampoo/make-up/nail-polish products, especially since there are a lot of brands out there using confusing marketing language who are masquerading as organic and natural, but are however full of synthetics, such as Kiehls, Body Shop, Origins just to name a few. Especially as we are all inherently lazy people, we don’t all want to spend ages researching or deciphering the ingredients on the back of a body lotion or on our lipstick trying to remember that we should avoid the likes of parabens, talc, oxybenzone, mineral oil, sodium lauryl sulphate, formaldehyde, fragrance, mercury, polyethylene glycol, silicone, triclosan… and many more known carcinogenic substances. Therefore I am so happy to have a boutique like Content Beauty in London, which is regarded as one of the world’s leading organic and natural apothecaries. It provides a hand-picked selection of the most advanced, natural and organic brands from around the world. Their brand selection involves specific criteria, which ensures, undesirable synthetic chemicals are not part of the ingredients list. Content Beauty has launched some of the most advanced organic skincare brands into the UK market such as - RMS Beauty, Ilia Beauty, Lina Hanson, May Lindstrom, Absolution, Amala, One Love Organics, Therapi Honey Skincare, Tsi-La, Vapour Organic Make-Up, W3LL People, Soapwalla and many more. These beautiful brands prove that the desire to go natural is no longer a compromise on effectiveness or luxury!

About Zoe LVH

Zoe learned about health and nutrition from her mother, who has been in the health food industry for over 40 years. This knowledge and motivation has led her to start up her own business. Having travelled with her mother to Sri Lanka to experience and learn more about Ayurveda, Zoe learned about turmeric and its benefits. The following year she went back to Sri Lanka to establish a partnership with the suppliers of our most crucial ingredient, Turmeric, and begin her journey to starting WUNDERWORKSHOP. She also recently launched BOOBS’ESSENTIAL. An essential oil blend targeting breast cancer awareness in order to shift the focus to prevention rather than cure.