When I qualified as an aesthetician 20 years ago ‘soap free’ was a thing, as was the surge of awareness on animal testing. UV protection started to weave its way into the make-up industry and beauty trends and mainstream brands conquered.
Scientific discoveries and the evidence on appropriate care and daily rituals hasn’t really changed. The trends, and more importantly the consumer awareness has.
Today, we focus on individuality, packaged free goods, and a preference towards sustainable, architectural branding. Whilst we have seen profound improvements, many of my learnings in the industry are still concealed or misguided.
The Making
I had been making my own skincare off and on since my graduation. On during my quiet, pre children, commitment free life. Life that followed had really been more off, until my 5-year-old started demonstrating some inherently bad skin issues.
Time-poor, I looked everywhere to find an organic, all botanical, emulsifier, preservative, soap free (lye absent) cleanser for his young developing skin. Finding an unfragranced moisturiser that didn’t have water, “infusions” or “gels” in the top five ingredients was equally as difficult...
The frustrations lead me back to making, which lead to familiarity, gratification and most importantly, results.
Harlo’s skincare challenges conventional formulations and the need for gluttonous profit margins, cheap fillers, synthetic ingredients and fragrances. Here’s why.
The Oil Cleanser - A cleanser for all skin types including oily…
Your skin comprises of a protective film of natural oils & amino acids called the acid mantle. This is your skins own fighting shield, protecting its cells against bacteria and pollution whilst keeping the important things, like moisture, in. The acid mantle has an acidic pH of around 5.5 and, when dismantled by aqueous based alkaline washes, soaps, or cleansers, the skin becomes vulnerable and open to inflammation, allergies and even bacteria. This daily damage takes time to repair, between 15 minutes to 14 hours depending largely on the product.
When these conventional cleansers strip the skin from its natural oils, the body, thinking it’s being deprived, produces more to rebalance it, causing adverse results for people who suffer from problematic, oily skin.
Our oil cleanser contains no soap or water – meaning no cheap fillers, emulsifiers or preservatives and no pH concerns, keeping your natural acid mantle intact, always. When massaged into the skin the cleansing oils bind to surface impurities breaking up congestion at the source without clogging your pores. These natural cleansing oils are inherently antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and high in vitamins and fatty acids.
The Moisturiser – A fragrance free moisturiser containing no water, ‘infusions’ or ‘gels’.
Conventional creams comprise typically of water, waxes, and a few oils. The waxes have occlusive properties which increase moisture levels in the skin by locking them in. However, this barrier over time, can often prevent the beneficial oils from penetrating the skin.
Watered down products also require emulsifiers, modifiers and preservatives to maintain integrity, avoid separation and bacteria contamination. This leaves little room for the good stuff, which is why more often than not, you find them in tiny amounts at the very bottom of the ingredients list.
Natural oils are great at maintaining the integrity of the stratum corneum (i.e the protective top layer of your skin). They also prevent oxidative and peroxidative damage and feed your skin with an abundant of naturally derived benefits. The moisturiser’s selective ingredients are non-comedogenic and have high absorption ratings meaning they sink directly into the top layers of the epidermis without clogging your pores. The unrefined organic shea butter is often what is felt on the skin after application, and this is the creams regenerative, collagen- boosting, natural protector against the elements.
The collection includes various face and body oils and moisturisers, and, is entirely wax, synthetic, palm oil, water and filler free. Stored in recyclable ultraviolet glass for optimal preservation, labelled with ISO 14001 EMS accredited paper and created in small batches and in compliance with ethical and sustainable practices that are kind to our planet. Available in various sizes, singularly or as part of an assortment of homeware hampers and giftpacks.
Thank you for joining me on this new journey. I hope you enjoy the product as much as I do creating it.
Tarmaine