A very well known moisturising ingredient, aloe vera is rich in polysaccharides and has become synonymous with after-sun treatments. Although its ability to heal burns is still debated by the scientific community, many people find it effective, and its history of medicinal use dates back at least to 2200 BCE, when it was detailed on clay tablets from Mesopotamia. The Ancient Eygptians were also fond of their aloe vera, using it as a standard treatment for burns and skin irritation. 

Phenoxyethanol: a terrible name to spell and maybe not so great for your body either. It's a preservative commonly found in cosmetics but has been linked to irritation, organ system toxicity and potential reproductive damage. 

You've probably noticed that there have been a few changes around here lately! As well as a brand new website, we also have a new name. I've been wanting to shorten the name to something more memorable and easier to type into a browser for a while now. I was thinking of just shortening it to Gaia Skincare, but I realised there's already a successful brand called that, so I needed a new angle. I played around with names for hours and hours, wanting something short and simple, but that also reflected the Welsh heritage of my brand. Eventually my mother came up with the solution. "Why don't you just call it Natur?" (That's Welsh for 'nature', for those not familiar with the language!) So simple, it simply hadn't occurred to me. 

The official name is Natur Cosmetics, just to make it clear what I'm actually selling. Now that I have a name for the long-term, I can go ahead with finalising designs for printed packaging, which was what sparked me off on this little introspection in the first place. But why incorporation? Well, since customised packaging costs a lot of money, it's important to protect the brand name that I'm having printed on it. But also, being incorporated as a limited company gives me access to new suppliers for ingredients, as many wholesale distributors will only establish relationships with registered companies. Being able to buy ingredients wholesale means I can buy in bulk for a lower environmental impact and also get better prices, which means I should in time be able to lower the cost of my products, benefiting you as a customer too. 

I'm pretty busy at the moment reviewing all my suppliers for ingredients and packaging, and seeing which I can switch to more eco-friendly and cost-effective alternatives. Rest assured it will not affect the quality of the products, as I will never go for an option that does not meet my high standards just because it's cheaper. As ever, I'll keep you posted!

I believe that as consumers we should have the right to know not only what is in the products we buy, but also where it comes from and how it got there. That's why I list the country of origin and method of manufacture for all of the ingredients I use on the product pages. Most companies don't tell you this information, so you don't know what sort of refinement and processing each ingredient might have gone through or how many air-miles it's clocked up before being added to the product you purchase.
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I've worked hard to research each ingredient I use and find the best supplier I can for my chosen constituents. It's an ongoing process, so I'm always striving to improve. I like to use organic products where possible, but I always choose local first and foremost. All cosmetic ingredients are screened for harmful chemicals as a matter of course before sale, and just because an ingredient supplier doesn't have an organic certification, it doesn't necessarily mean that their ingredient hasn't been grown in an environmentally responsible way, as certification is an expensive and time-consuming process. Many of the ingredients I've selected are grown and produced right here in the U.K., which tends to make them more expensive, but the cost to the planet is greatly reduced.

​You may have heard of the skin-nourishing properties of exotic-sounding additives like safflower oil and murumuru butter, but if they have to be flown 1,000s of miles to get here, then they're not exactly nourishing for our planet. There's also no way to be sure that plants were harvested ethically and sustainably when they come from faraway countries with high poverty rates and a lack of regulation. Many a marketing executive for big cosmetic brands would have us believe that their star ingredient is the only way to get a certain effect, but the truth is that the same phytochemicals occur again and again across the plant kingdom, so the likelihood is that any particular chemical will be found in plants from around the world. This means that it is possible to get the same effect as an oil from the Amazon rainforest or the jungles of Southeast Asia, from a plant that grows much closer to home.
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I'm always happy to share more information about the ingredients I use, so if you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.