Nat Kringoudis

It wasn’t that long ago, I remember washing my hair with a ‘natural’ shampoo and conditioner. I was nothing short of disappointed with the results; my hair felt like I’d given it a good scrub with dishwashing detergent and my purse was definitely lighter. Natural beauty wasn’t cheap or very effective. Fast forward to now, natural beauty isn’t only amazing, it’s affordable and in the long run may save you more than precious dollars, keeping you out of your doctor’s office and feeling happier and healthier in your skin.

I was adamant not to change my personal care products unless I could find an alternative that performed. I certainly wasn’t switching out my shampoo and conditioner for something that left me feeling as if I’d stripped those nourishing oils from my locks or sandpapered my face. I wasn’t keen on changing my makeup for something that felt like I was dragging sludge across my skin or that made me look and feel as though I’d really sacrificed for the sake of my health. As silly as that sounds, I liked my tried and tested products.

Thankfully as time has gone by, the natural beauty industry has come ahead in leaps and bounds, all in the nick of time to not only offer us exceptional alternatives, but to save our hormones and our health. You see, the beauty industry is somewhat unregulated, meaning that there are ingredients in our favorite makeup, skin care and body products that potentially should never be anywhere near your skin. Why you ask? Most often these ingredients improve the texture, shelf life, and allow the manufacturer the most profit (because they’re super cheap) meaning you’re not necessarily the one that benefits.

Just like food, what we put on our body is either of benefit or deficit. That is, it will either impact our body in a way that supports our health or it can lead our health to a place we don’t necessarily desire. Chemicals found in conventional body and hair products and our makeup (as well as house hold cleaners too) are known endocrine disruptors, meaning they can sadly cause and contribute to hormone imbalances. For some of us, there are known hormone challenges that present themselves like Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), fertility challenges, endometriosis, adenmyosis or horrid menopause to name only a few of the most common, there certainly are more. Whilst our genetics may dictate what we are dealt, it’s our environment (including diet, lifestyle, stress, chemical exposure, emotions etc.) that can effectively ‘turn on’ the body response in these instances, since chemicals alter hormone regulation. For others, there may be less physically obvious hormonal issues like ovulation pain, PMS or cravings. Whatever your body is showing is irrelevant because chemicals will alter how our hormones work and generally, not for the better.

One of the main reasons these endocrine disrupting chemicals affect our body so much is because they typically mimic oestrogen, leading your body to a state of excess. When oestrogen is high, progesterone typically becomes low which can leave us with a magnitude of symptoms. So whilst you aren’t necessarily knowingly feeding your body more oestrogen and adding to what’s naturally there, your body is doing its best to regulate, metabolise and detoxify these substantially high amounts of oestrogen. It’s important to understand that oestrogen isn’t the enemy here, we need oestrogen to build our uterine lining, alongside a host of other key body functions, but too much of anything is never ideal and high oestrogen is also linked to a range of illness’s including gynecological cancers and endometriosis.

Rather than sweat it and panic, there are some very simple things you can do to lead your body to a happier and more balanced state of operation. Simply switching your body products like your papaya ointment, to that which is natural and full of ingredients that care for you is one big leap in the right direction. Remember your skin is also your largest organ. It absorbs up to 70% of what you put on in so making it count is one very easy way of taking good care of yourself and your body.

For us, it’s all about helping you work smarter and not harder especially when you don’t need to compromise on quality or performance. But the real proof for us is in the tube. Beautiful products with amazing benefits that you don’t need to think twice about. Told you we were here to make your life easier (oh and that helps balance your hormones too!)