Did you know that the skin is our largest organ? Everything we apply to our skin gets absorbed into our bodies. That can be a wonderful thing (cue essential oils), but it’s also a quite terrifying realisation when you take a look on the back-labels of your skincare and beauty products. Most of the words written are unpronounceable, regulations for ingredients are few and with new chemicals coming out on the market each day, there’s simply no longterm research on how these affect our health.
I say, if you cant eat it, don’t put it on your skin. With that in mind, let me introduce you to our new skincare and beauty obsession; Lost Art Organics. Tried and tasted by yours truly, here is finally a company policy that we 100% stand behind!
Tell us more about your skin and body care line- what are 3 things we must know about it?
First and foremost we take pride in making products that are 100% organic and worry free. We wanted to make organics really transparent and make ingredient checking simple so you always know exactly what is in all of our products. Another practice we take a lot of pride in is making everything by hand in small batches. This is something that is practiced a lot in the small town I currently reside in. People take a lot of pride in doing things themselves and using the earth to their benefit due to the influence of farming and more rural lifestyles. Using a made-to-order style of creation, our products are guaranteed to be fresh and more personalized.
And lastly we want to make sure that we not only choose ingredients that are safe and effective for our customers, but in our creation process it’s very important to us not to source ingredients that are detrimental to harvest from the environment. All of our ingredients are sourced from sustainable ethical fair trade sources. We hope to use our brand to help promote more conscious buying that not only benefits the customer because it’s safer for both them and the environment, but also makes them feel like incorporating organic alternatives into their routine is easily do-able without compromising their ethics or time. Research is usually necessary with a lot of commercial brands to make sure things check out as organic and safe. With our products this is never a question.
What are the advantages to creating an eco-friendly all organic products in small batch (as opposed a chemical based, consumer item)?
There are several benefits to making all around more natural and safe products. Not only does it align morally with a lot of people who are attempting to make more informed buying decisions, but it’s much less detrimental to the environment, we can be majorly selective about our ingredients, and everything is at it’s peak freshness and quality is strictly controlled. We feel more connected to our products as creators because it’s the work of our own hands. I feel like it really shows in the quality of our products and how instantly people get hooked once they make the switch.
Do you have a skin care ritual? If so, explain to us the process.
My skincare ritual is mostly organic save for a few favorite products and usually changes depending on season. In the current winter time my skincare routine usually consists of cleansing with a gentle soy cleanser with amino acids, toning with our Bulgarian white rose water toner, moisturizing with oils like marula, rosehip, and moroccan argan that I apply bare to my face, and applying a multi purpose serum twice a day in the morning and evening. If I plan on leaving the house or being in the sun I always apply some form of SPF on my face whether it’s a BB cream or a moisturizer with SPF. Sun damage is very detrimental to skin and SPF is so important. I also do a lot of deep moisture masks in the winter. I prefer ones that contain hyaluronic acid, evening primrose, tsubaki oil, or madecassoside. If my skin ever gets winter flakiness I throw an exfoliator in there or use a konjac sponge with an oil based cleanser like Josie Marans argan oil cleanser and follow up with a light facial oil. My skin tends to be dry in the winter and combination in the summer so my winter routine is largely focused on moisture and staying dewy.
What are the best ingredients to use for healthy skin? Does it change based on skin types (oily, dry, breakout prone etc.)?
The best ingredients for one’s skin type is going to differ a lot from person to person. You can categorize things in to general categories based upon someones overall skin tone, texture, pore size, oil production levels, levels of linoleic acid vs oleic acid in their skin, tendency for breakouts, reactions to certain ingredients etc.
While some may find citrus derived serums, for example, highly effective others could become irritated and break out in a rash if they have sensitive enough skin. Or someone who is prone to breakouts would not benefit from choosing an oil with a high comedogenic rating or high level or oleic acid as it makes sebum stickier and clogs pores easier.
So to say which ingredients are best can be tough and it differs. There are some general ingredients we all accept in the beauty community to be effective. I have ones that I prefer like rose based ingredients. Rosewater, rosehip oil, and rose absolute essential oil has a lot of beauty benefits for all skin types because it’s gentle but powerful. Or certain oils like carrot seed that counteract signs of aging and fatigue. I also really love any ingredient that has a high antioxidant content like fruit or tea derived extracts or vitamin extracts like C or B that have wonderful topical results on the skin.
Sometimes the best ingredients can also be internal. A lot of what we eat directly effects our skin and sometimes topical solutions aren’t all we need for healthy, dewy complexion.
What are five tips people can practice in their day to day lives who search to maintain their skin’s vibrancy, health, and glow?
Eat for your skin! I can’t stress this enough. Avoiding things like greasy fried foods, excessive amounts of sugar, dairy, trans fats, and processed foods will do wonder for your skin. Instead try to find healthy alternatives that are high in vitamin and antioxidant content and low in unhealthy fats. I highly recommend the book “Eat Pretty’ for people who want an on-the-go guide on what kind of foods to eat for overall skin beauty. It’s written by Jolene Hart who is a AADP certified beauty and health coach based out of Philadelphia. It definitely helped me transition into better beauty eating practices and it’s a nice little book to always have at hand.
Another thing I can’t stress enough is sticking to your skincare routine diligently and be adamant about avoiding ingredients that are toxic and contribute to early aging and skin problems. Never overdo it, never sleep in your makeup, and keep your bedding clean to avoid unforeseen breakouts. Always wear SPF when you aren’t indoors.
Oils are, in my opinion, the secret to maintaining balance and skin health. Using them in between and in tandem with other products has been something I have been obsessed with for years now and I find it to be especially effective for people with dry and combination skin.
Is there a difference in products we should be using on our face versus our entire body?
Certainly. Like I mentioned before, many oils have different comedogenic ratings, acid levels, and organic compositions. When choosing ingredients to make our products all of these different factors are taken into consideration to make each product targeted for a specific need. For instance avocado and coconut oil are a few I prefer to put on peoples bodies versus their face because it’s comedogenic (=clogging) rating is generally higher than say an oil like hemp seed or sea buckthorn that has a rating of 0-1. This general concept applies to all organic ingredients as they are all so unique and fill different roles when applied to our bodies.
How did Lost Organics start?
I had been working for a year or so making organic spa products like bath bombs and basic creams and scrubs that were organic. I really enjoyed it as opposed to my normal fine arts background working as a freelance illustrator and lifestyle blogger. I dived in head first because I just really wanted to do something different that felt like it meant something to me. I quickly become obsessed with trying to make my skincare routine more and more organic and taking solutions into my own hands. After I noticed it was actually effective I just couldn’t let it go. It quickly grew into a small business then later transition into this separate company that focuses more on skincare as opposed to spa products. I really felt like my passion for skincare was something that was always so important to me but I never really knew how I would convey that to the world or make a career out of it. Now it’s more than a career or hobby, it’s truly a passion that I feel like I can utilize both my creativity and my passion for caring for others. Especially when it comes to their skin.
According to your perspective, what makes your product line special and stand out?
I believe that our transparency, simplicity, and quality speak for themselves. I’ve always believed that if you’re going to do something you should never do it only partially, but take it all the way and put everything you have into it. I always took a lot of pride in my ability to brand and make things pleasant for people to look at and I feel it shows in our brand although we are small. When people message me with the most positive reviews and tell me that they’re using our products everyday, it truly makes me feel like I can make a difference in people’s everyday life and that’s important to me even if the impact is small.
The environmental integrity of your product is truly fantastic for how beauty pleasing it is! With that said, what are steps that we as consumers can take to treat ourselves well and lavishly without hurting the environment that we live in?
Always be selective and refuse to compromise. Do your research on the brands you choose to support, don’t be afraid sacrifice convenience for ethics, and refuse to buy products that contribute to the destruction of our environment and our bodies. I know in a commercial world it isn’t always easy to make informed decisions but the more we choose to be mindful and ask ourselves important questions the demand for organics will hopefully be the norm rather than the alternative.