We know that water is important for our life and health – drinking an adequate amount of water daily aids our organs in digestion, circulation, absorption and even excretion. But we often forget that our skin is also an organ. In fact, our skin is the largest living and breathing organ on our bodies!

Our skin is made up of cells, and like any cell in the body, our skin cells are made up of water. Similar to the other organs in our body, our skin cannot function properly without sufficient water. 

How does water help our skin? 

Water helps cells, including skin cells, retain moisture levels and enables vital organs such as the skin to function at optimal levels. In general, having hydrated skin cells boost skin health and appearance. Specifically, here's how water really helps our skin stay healthy and supple: 

• Water is needed to deliver essential nutrients to skin cells
• Drinking enough water increases our metabolic rate, improves skin digestion and flushes out toxins from the body, which in turn boosts healthier skin and reduces breakouts and acne
• Water replenishes the skin's cells and gives skin a smooth and fresh appearance
• Water plumps up skin cells and makes skin look less tired and wrinkled
• Properly hydrated skin cells have better elasticity, which helps delay signs of ageing such as wrinkles and fine lines
• Staying hydrated aids in combating skin issues such as psoriasis, eczema and dark under eye circles

We lose water in large quantities every day through perspiration, urination, and even breathing, but we often forget to replenish our water intake. This very easily leads to dehydration of our bodies and our skin. Lack of hydration on our skin can turn skin dry, tight, and flaky. Dry skin is also less resilient and more prone to wrinkling.

However, drinking water alone is not enough to keep skin hydrated. The water we drink gets circulated to the other organs first before it reaches the skin, and most times, there isn’t enough water to hydrate the skin to an optimum level. That’s why it’s so important to care for our skin externally and keep skin hydrated. 

How to keep skin hydrated

So if drinking water isn’t the way to keep skin hydrated, then what is? 

Well, here’s 4 tips on how to keep skin hydrated and promote beautiful, soft, and supple skin. 

1. Have cooler showers

We all enjoy a hot shower or soak in the bathtub once in awhile, but hot water can actually be detrimental to your skin's hydration. This is because hot water strips oil from the skin, leaving your skin more prone to dryness.

Keep skin hydrated by having cooler showers instead. Cold showers and baths help to calm your nerves and rejuvenate skin. If you must have a hot shower, keep it short to reduce your skin’s exposure to hot water and minimise the loss of your skin’s natural oils.

2. Apply a hydrating moisturizer after a shower

After a shower, our skin is still porous and absorbs skin care products better. To rehydrate your skin, apply a hydrating moisturizer or body oil within 2 minutes of leaving the bath or shower. Don't forget your face! Use Nourishing Face Creams and alcohol free Toners to keep skin hydrated. They also help plump up the skin cells on your face and reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. 

3. Use organic essential oils

Oils are actually great dry skin remedies because they're more readily absorbed by the skin, not greasy, and have a lower potential to clog pores. Plant-based natural oils such as lavender, patchouli, ylang ylang, and rose essential oils are known to promote skin cell regeneration, rejuvenate skin, and balance the production and reabsorption of sebum (skin oils). 

Look for organic essential oils that are 100% natural and pure. Soak in a cool bath with a few drops of essential oils to soothe the skin and allow your body to absorb the essential oils easily. Or, mix in 1-2 drops of essential oil into your skin care products to add an extra kick to your skin hydration routine. Alternatively, look for organic chemical free skin care products that already contain some hydrating essential oils. Because the face is usually the first to show obvious signs of dry skin, it’s a good idea to invest in facial oil cleansers that help cleanse your skin while keeping skin hydrated.

4. Exfoliate regularly

Even if you're using tons of amazing skin care products to hydrate your skin, it won't do any help if your skin isn't absorbing them properly from underneath layers of dead skin cells! This is where exfoliating comes in. Exfoliation is important to remove the dead skin cells from the top layer of your skin, which can prevent skin care ingredients from doing their job.

Use organic facial exfoliators and body exfoliators regularly and then apply a hydrating moisturizer afterward to boost your skin's water content. If you're going out into the sun, be sure to put on some sunscreen, as your skin will be more vulnerable after exfoliation.

Your skin is the largest living, breathing organ on your body. Up to 60% of what you apply on your skin gets absorbed into your bloodstream, which then gets circulated around your whole body. But if you knew what toxins non-organic skin care products contained, you would think twice before you use it. So it's no surprise to see more and more people switching to organic skin care products.

If you're still using non-organic products, it's time to reconsider. Read on to learn the 7 benefits of organic skin care products to see how they can be better for you.

7 benefits of using organic skincare products

1. Non-organic skin care products contain harmful ingredients

Pick up a bottle of any non-organic skin care product and read its ingredients label. How many ingredients can you actually recognize? Chances are, if you don't recognize them neither will your body.

Non-organic skin care products contain synthetic, man-made chemicals such as sodium laurel, mineral oils, laureth sulphate, and toxins that could be residues of pesticides. Studies have also found that they can contain mineral oil, petroleum, parabens, and other chemicals that, with long term use, can cause skin irritation, hormone imbalance, organ toxicity, and even cancer. 

2. Organic skin care products are made of natural ingredients

Now read the ingredients label of any organic skin care product. You'd probably recognize most, if not all of the items there.

Certified organic products are derived from plants and other naturally occurring ingredients. More importantly, those organic ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and other additives or chemicals. With that, you can be sure your skin and body absorb only real, natural ingredients that aren't harmful.

3. Organic products are non-allergenic

Without harsh chemicals, organic skin care products are less likely to cause allergic reactions, inflammations or irritations. If an allergic reaction does occur with the use of organic products, it would most likely be due to a natural ingredient (such as peanuts or strawberries), which would be easier to identify.

4. Organic skin care products work better

Plants grown organically are found to contain a higher level of vital antioxidant vitamins than non-organic plants. Because they are grown without herbicides and pesticides, their organic ingredients are also free from that contamination, which means the same for your skin and body.

Moreover, up to 95% of an organic skin care product's contents are active ingredients. In synthetic skin care products, on the other hand, active ingredients only make up 5 to 10% of its contents.

5. Going organic is better for your skin

The synthetic ingredients found in non-organic products may be fast acting, but they are also invasive, causing harm that cannot be seen. Their chemical ingredients may provide instant gratification and visible results, but most of these only help you aesthetically by smoothening out wrinkles, removing sunspots, and diminishing blemishes. 

With prolonged use, these chemicals may damage and weaken your skin as your body tries to cope with these foreign substances. As a result, oxygen exchange to the skin is reduced, causing premature aging and increased risk of developing sunspots.

Using natural, organic skin care products, though, ensure that you get the real nutritional benefits from its ingredients. Natural organic ingredients such as coconut oil, honey, aloe vera, and shea butter, for example, are known to soothe, nourish, moisturize and promote smooth skin. Even though the results may be slower, organic skin care products are gentle on your skin and won’t harm you in the long run.

6. You're supporting cruelty-free skin care products

The beauty industry has received backlash for conducting animal testing for their products to ensure that they are safe for human use. Organic products don't need to, because, with natural ingredients, they're safe and harmless!

When you buy organic skin care products, you are buying cruelty-free skin care products and also supporting the move towards abolishing animal testing in the industry.

7. You're helping to preserve the environment

Because organic products use naturally grown ingredients that are free from toxic pesticides and fertilizers, they don't leave a harmful footprint on the planet, particularly the soil, water, and air. 

Organic farming is also better for wildlife, causes lower pollution from pesticide and fertilizer sprays, and produces less carbon dioxide and less dangerous wastes. By using organic skin care products, you're helping to minimize your environmental impact and support the sustainability of our environment.

I hope this has helped you understand the benefits of organic skin care products and how they're better for your skin and health. Better yet, going organic is sustainable and better for the environment, too. So invest in your health today and make the change to organic skin care products if you haven't already done so.

If you aren't using organic skin care products, then it's about time to make the switch because these top 10 toxins should definitely be avoided!

In recent years, the beauty industry has come under greater scrutiny mainly due to the use of harmful chemicals and animals testing. While animal testing is understandably done to ensure proper quality control of these skin care products and that they are hypoallergenic - it is incredibly cruel and considered inhumane by many. 

That is why people are gravitating towards organic skin care products and cruelty free skin care products. Without these harmful chemicals and toxins, there's no need for animal testing to ensure that they’re safe for humans.  

Here are the top 10 toxins found in non-organic skin care products - are they in yours?

1. Preservatives

All products have an expiry date and in order to make sure they stay "fresh", preservatives are used. If you ask anyone, the largest culprit to look out for in any skin care product would be Parabens, Formaldehyde or Formaldehyde-Releasing Preservatives (FRPs).

These preservatives have had many studies linking their harmful effects on hormonal or endocrine activity, meaning this should definitely be avoided if a woman is pregnant or nursing.

Many countries have in fact banned these preservatives as excessive use can give rise to cancer, and/or cause allergic skin reactions.

2. Fragrances

It's no secret that when a beauty product smells good, it probably has a lot of unwanted and potentially toxic chemicals in it.

Some of these have been simply disguised as "Fragrance" or "Parfum" extracts, while the more scientific term "Phthalates" is what we should be wary of.

Studies have shown these synthetic compounds can cause dizziness, headache, asthma, allergies, reproductive defects and hormonal imbalances.

3. Synthetic Colors

You might want to think twice about putting on colorful lipstick or eyeshadow again, as synthetic colors have been widely linked to cancer and ADHD in children.

What you should be looking out for would be anything with FD&C or D&C labels, which stands for “Food, Drug and Cosmetics”. While many have already been banned, it's still good to stay away from these artificial dyes.

4. Petroleum

"This can't be in my skincare product!"

But it is, and it is usually stealthily disguised as either:

• Mineral oil,
• Toluene,
• Liquid paraffin, or
• Xylene

All these are carcinogenic.

5. Antibacterial Agents

The most common antibacterial ingredient out there is Triclosan, which ironically harms human health as a thyroid and hormone disruptor.

It's also been recently reviewed and prohibited in September 2016 by the FDA due to its lack of effectiveness in actually killing bacteria.

6. Foaming Agents

Do we really need our shampoo or soap to foam up?

The chemical names are Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), which have been known to cause kidney and respiratory issues.

7. Sunscreen Agents

One common agent, Oxybenzone, is used in sunscreen to absorb ultraviolet light, but while it’s supposed to protect us from the sun - it can damage our endocrine systems at a cellular level.

As such, it's better to use sunscreen in moderation and not stay out in the scorching sun for too long if possible.

8. Skin Whitening Agents

In contrast to sunscreen, the chemical Hydroquinone is used for "bleaching" our skin.

While you may appear fairer on the outside, you're actually altering your skin pigmentation on the inside while also weakening your natural collagen and elastin - essentials to keeping your skin firm and youthful!

9. Anti-Acne Chemicals

Benzoyl Peroxide is actually used for treating moderate acne by killing bacteria.

However, it's been linked to tumor growth and can produce toxic effects just by breathing it in.

10. Alcohol

Not the drinking kind, but the one that allows your skin care liquids to dry up fast so you can get on with life more quickly.

Regular skin exposure to alcohol means greater vulnerability to molds, viruses and bacteria, as well as dermatitis.

Luckily it's easy to identify alcoholic ingredients in skin care products as most of their chemical names end with the suffix "-ol".

Takeaway for Organic Skin Care Products

Regardless of whether you use organic skin care products or cruelty free skin care products  - do check the bottle to make sure the ingredients or fine print match up.

Even if it's advertised as "made with certified organic products", it's still possible to have 70% organic ingredients while the remaining 30% synthetic ingredients are potentially harmful.

So do keep a look out for the top 10 toxins found in non organic skin care products listed above, and ensure you're buying organic skin care products that will protect your skin, not damage it!