Let’s do a little test here - go and have a look at the ingredients of your favourite cream and tell me what’s the first one. Let me guess - is it ‘aqua’? I thought so… But water itself isn’t bad, you might be thinking. So why would you want your cosmetics to be waterless? There is, in fact, a couple of reasons.
High Potency Of Products
The majority of skincare products contains about 80-90% of water, leaving very little room for the active ingredients. Imagine spending hundreds of pounds on something that is mostly formulated from a filler that is plain water!
Here at Balmista, we utilise the natural power of botanical extracts, plant oils and butters. The products are more expensive to create, but the good news is that you’ll need less of it as the formula isn’t diluted. As a result you won’t contribute to the already existing product overconsumption.
Water-Free Skincare Is Considered More Sustainable
Only 3% of the Earth’s water supply is currently fresh and drinking water will become a luxury in the future. According to WWF, by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages! Mintel even calls water a “luxury ingredient”, as the commodity consumption outstrips supply. And water usage in the beauty industry goes often unnoticed.
Imagine the amount of unnecessary water and its carbon footprint, as it is extracted, purified, blended in the products, packed and then shipped to your home. Not to mention that such skincare usually needs some added ingredients that keep water and oils together, as they wouldn’t normally mix; and preservatives. As a consequence, you’re increasing rinse-off chemical waste that goes into our water system, which then requires more energy to purify.
Non-Toxic, Waterless Beauty
Any formula that incorporates water will always need a preservative. If there wasn’t one, bacteria would have a great party in your product and then, of course, on your skin. And you don’t want that. So why do I mention preservatives at all?
The sad news is that commonly used paraben may be linked to reproductive development and fertility issues; and they even cause ecological harm of coral reef destruction if included in the sunscreens. Besides this, preservatives are known to be skin irritants.
Waterless Products Won’t Dry You Out
As crazy as it sounds, water-based cosmetics can be drying. The explanation is simple here - as water evaporates, it takes the skin’s natural oils with it and strips it of its healthy oil barrier.
Our skin serves as a protective barrier and a passageway from the outside world into the bloodstream. Let’s make sure that we nurture it the right way and don’t just slather toxic chemicals into it.