Most skincare products come with a recommendation as to how to store them so as to keep them safe and in top condition for as long as possible. Ours say ‘store below 30°C’. We go into further detail on our FAQs page:
“We recommend that products are stored away from direct sunlight and below 30°C. In warmer climates and in hot summer conditions we recommend that you store your products, particularly those in jars (Ultimate Face Cream, 2 in 1 Face Scrub + Mask), in the refrigerator.”
Refrigerator you say? That’s where mine have been these past 10 weeks to keep them as cool as possible. This summer in Australia has been extraordinarily hot and humidity has been at an all-time high. So how does this affect your skin care products?
We recently had a customer return a product to a stockist after some mould grew in the base of the jar, several months after opening. When I discussed this with the stockist I explained that we have had our products stability tested against mould and other common microbes, and they held up. So why would it still grow mould?
Once jars are opened and fingers go into them, products are introduced to a broad array of bacteria, viruses, yeasts and fungi. Add to this poor storage conditions (kept in a space that goes above 30°C and/or gets direct sunlight) and you compromise the preservative system. So why not use stronger preservatives?
There are preservatives and there are preservatives. The list is long and it goes from very mild (fermented radish root), all the way to killer (formaldehyde and other carcinogenic nasties). Because our products contain 100% natural and organic ingredients, we have chosen a preservative system that upholds these standards but also creates a safe and gentle product that is shelf stable.
We also do this because we want to keep our products fresh and as close to natural as possible. Skin care should be treated like a food in some respects. Products contain oils, butters and gels that are extracted directly from plants. These ingredients are then blended to form a skin care product. This product is food for your skin, containing vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to improve the health of your skin.
I am always concerned when I see a skin care product that looks and smells exactly the same as it did when it was first purchased years earlier. Alarm bells should be ringing! It’s like the McDonalds experiment where they sit a hamburger on a shelf and it looks and smells the same several years later. It can’t be good!
You don’t expect your food to stay fresh forever, especially when it’s not kept under the right storage conditions, so please take the time to look after your skin care. Kept cool and away from sunlight, your Clémence Organics will last as long as you can stop yourself from using it all up!
We are all told that we need to wash our face regularly to keep it healthy. But how do we know if we’re doing it right? Cleansing too frequently, with too harsh a cleanser and using the wrong methods, could be making skin issues worse.
We step you through the reasoning behind cleansing, which cleanser and exfoliant to choose for your skin, and how to use them to the best effect.
I am often being asked for my naturopathic advice when it comes to supplements: what should I take to help my skin? Will supplements make any difference to my particular issue?
Supplements can definitely be helpful when you are not getting sufficient nutrients in your diet but I always recommend looking to food first as its often better absorbed and comes with many more beneficial nutrients.
Having said this I do take a handful of supplements to help with my skin and immune system on a daily basis and so I thought I’d share with you what I take and why.
We get so many great questions about how best to use our products and one of the most recent ones is whether or not I should be using the Lime Caviar Eye Crème or the Brightening Eye + Skin Serum for around my eyes.
