For thousands of years, we have known and used the properties of natural plant oils in protecting and moisturising our skin. Full of anti-oxidising vitamins which fight free radical damage, natural oils help keep our skin soft and supple, fighting wrinkling, drying out and cracking. They also add an extra layer of protection from environmental factors, even more necessary in these polluted days.
Commercial creams were developed, mixing oils and water with an emulsifier, commonly cetyl alcohol, which originally came from sperm whales, and is now made from palm oil. Once water is mixed with oils, a heavy-duty preservative is required, otherwise this emulsion become the perfect breeding ground for micro-organisms and bacteria. None of these additives are there for the benefit of your skin, however they do stretch out the active ingredients.
When we began the Blue Lemon we decided to go back to basics, making cosmetics for your skin in the same way we would expect to make food for your body – only with completely natural plant oils, butters and essential oils. We discovered Shea Butter in Africa, Olive oil in the Mediterranean and Rice Bran in Japan has been used for millennia and began with those.
We found we didn’t need an expensive laboratory or chemicals to make anaqueous skincare, just an ordinary mixer, and a piping bag to fill the jars. That was ten years ago, and we still make everything the same way today, in our unit on the banks of the River Severn, in Shrewsbury, although our mixers are a little more heavy-duty.
We quickly realised the multiple benefits of our anaqueous skincare.
- Texture. With no greasy emulsifiers and only natural plant oils, skin feels soft and silky, not sticky or greasy.
- Durability. As our creams and butters are not water based, they don’t evaporate away or rinse off easily. Our Body Butter, for example, will be effective from morning ‘till night.
- Fragrance. Using only essential oils, you get all the benefits of aromatherapy and none of the chemicals in commercial parfum.
- Value. Ne expensive processes or commercial marketing are used. What you pay for is what you put on your skin.
- Efficiency. Concentrated, anaqueous skincare is best used sparingly, a little goes a very long way. A fingertip of hand cream should keep your hands feeling soft and supple for hours.
- Environmental. We use fair traded ingredients where possible; we have used the same woman’s co-operative in Ghana for our Shea Butter since we began our business. Using more concentrated products means less overall packaging is required. Not using emulsifiers means one less reason for over development of palm oil plantations.
- Peace of Mind. Concerns have been raised over the years about the safety of preservatives in skincare, and some which were in regular use have since been banned, many are still under investigation. Because we don’t use any preservatives, you don’t have to worry about this at all.
If you’re a regular user of our products, you’ll know all this and perhaps found a few more for yourself. If you haven’t yet tried our anaqueous skincare, what’s stopping you?