"Nasties" - The Toxic Ingredients In Skincare and Which Ones We Avoid

"No Nasties"

Here at OWN SKIN CO. we're very passionate about ingredients...

If there's one thing we've based our ENTIRE skincare company on, it's good ingredients.

Something you'll see/hear us say a lot is that our skincare is made with "No Nasties".

Let us explain:

There are an overwhelming amount of toxins in our environment today, many of them located within the ingredients of personal care products.

Thankfully, there is a positive movement to clean up the skincare industry. Many consumers (ourselves included) are becoming more aware and informed that the ingredients in our personal care products are impacting our overall health, especially our hormones.

There are regulations/prohibitions on some ingredients in Canada and the US. Unfortunately, there are many ingredients (we're talking hundreds) that are still widely accepted and used, but are still quite nasty...

We're committed to natural ingredients that are pure, found in nature and free from - what we call, "nasties". We are incredibly particular when it comes to ingredients, because we now know that the ingredients in our personal care products do indeed impact our bodies. MANY (even some considered to be "natural" or "naturally derived") do more harm than good.

If you can't pronounce the ingredients in skincare, they are probably not that good - it's generally that obvious. And if you're not sure, looking them up is a great way to find out...there is a lot of info available online about skincare ingredients!

Becoming more aware and no longer supporting big corporations is a great start to cleaning up your skincare (think of the many skincare giants found easily in those giant stores). Those corporations really don't care what ingredients are in their skincare, as long as they function and sell with great profits. Many (if not all) of the "natural" options they offer, are greenwashed, which means "natural" is all in the wording or marketing, not in the actual product makeup or ingredients. Did you know that words like "natural" and "clean" aren't regulated at all? There is no base line or expectations for those claims! Choosing skincare from local, small businesses is a great alternative. Brands with people behind them that are actively trying to make better choices, make better products and help others do the same!

Thank you for supporting our small business, we pour our hearts into creating skincare that is *actually* clean & natural for our ourselves, you and your family too.

We're on a mission to create simple and natural skincare with clean ingredients - superior ingredients that have stood the test of time and pack a powerful punch...and of course, always made with NO NASTIES!!

Ingredients we LOVE:
- Top of the list is obviously TALLOW. Tallow in skincare is an all-star that is incredibly natural and clean, we could go on for hours about tallow...but you can read about the extensive benefits here.
- Naturally derived unrefined oils, low in PUFAs, the top two we LOVE are Jojoba and Olive.
- Other wholesome butters/oils like Cacao, Emu and Coconut.
- Natural scents like plant and fruit extracts, essential oils, plant/herbal infusions and other naturally-derived plant and fruit oils (absolutely NO artificial fragrance here...those are especially nasty!!).
- Ingredients that come from the earth, that are naturally occurring and don't require heavy processing or refining.
- Ingredients you can pronounce and easily recognize the natural source.
A few of the many ingredients we avoid (and despise):
- Fragrance (also called Parfum) - over 3000 chemicals fit under this small word on an ingredient list, prone to contain phthalates. Known as a way to "hide" ingredients...nasty.
- Patrolatum (also called Paraffin, Mineral Oil or Paraffinum Liquidum) and PEG - these are both big ones in the products marked to kids...like that little plastic container with the blue lid with "jelly" in it or the little clear bottle with the pink lid with "oil" for babies...highly refined byproduct of petroleum (yes, you read that right) and classified as a known human carcinogen. Nasty.
- Parabens - found in a lot of skincare as a preservative or unlabelled/hidden in fragrances. A major hormone disrupter (mimics estrogen) and linked to cancer...again, nasty.
- Artifical antioxidants like BHA & BHT, used as preservatives (a possible human carcinogen and endocrine disrupter)
- Dimethylphthalate (DMP), Dibutylphthalate (DBP) and Diethylphthalate (DEP) - the most common source of Phthalates (aka plastics that get absorbed into the body, studies have indicated potential reproductive and developmental toxicity)
- There are MANY MANY others, including Formaldehyde, Triclosan, SLS & SLES, Oxybenezone, Alcohols, Talc, All Polysorbates, Silicone-based Compounds, Phenoxyethanol, Heavy metals and MANY more.
- *Unfortunately, this list is not extensive...there are a LOT more nasties out there!
Ingredients we don't use because we can do better:
- Inflammatory and highly refined/processed oils like sunflower (very popular in skincare), safflower, soybean oil, canola (rapeseed), sweet almond, etc...they are just not that great and prone to oxidization (which we really don't want on our skin). They are cheap, that's why they're used. There are many amazing oils out there instead (although they aren't as inexpensive, but we're won't sacrifice quality and skin health for a few extra $).
- Synthetic preservatives - there are so many!! Using oil-based products without added water is the best way to avoid these preservatives, but any products created with water need a preservative (to keep the ingredients from spoiling). There are many natural options, which is why we're so surprised to still see so many synthetic preservatives used in water-based products (like Polysorbates, BHA, BHT, etc.).

That brings us to...TALLOW:

What is Tallow?
The tallow in OWN skin care is rendered from 100% grass fed + finished Canadian beef suet. Tallow is filled with an abundance of vitamins + minerals and it is completely natural + scentless.
Why Use Tallow?
Tallow is an excellent moisturizer that is deeply nourishing to skin. It is a natural nutrient powerhouse with many beneficial vitamins and minerals, making it an incredible skin food for all skin types!
Why OWN Tallow?
Our tallow skincare is made in BC, Canada with 100% natural ingredients. OWN skincare is perfect for normal + acne prone skin as well as soothing dry + sensitive skin, eczema and other skin ailments.