A Healthier Approach
When you’ve been perfecting your craft for as long as Mother Nature has, you tend to get things right. Trying to improve on this kind of expertise would be fruitless. So, instead, we feel it’s best to trust her wisdom and preserve as much of the goodness of nature as possible.
This is the idea behind Farm to Face, a movement embraced by skin care brands looking for a healthier way to better skin. The less we interfere, the more the purity and power of nature can be harnessed and put to good use.
What Does Farm to Face Really Mean?
Farm to Face is an approach to skin care that starts with the mindful growing of high-quality plant-based ingredients at a local farm, and ends with products that are fresh, wholesome, and rich with nutrients.
The term is adapted from the Farm to Table concept used by many health-food restaurants. Similarly, the food they serve is more flavorful and nutritious because the ingredients were sourced nearby and spent less time between being harvested and reaching your stomach.
This process, in both food and in skincare, is better for the planet and better for the community. Growing plants locally reduces the need for long-distance transportation, which uses less fuel and creates less pollution. It also keeps local land in use, enriches the soil, and boosts local economies.
Another great benefit of the Farm to Face approach is transparency. As consumers like you become more and more aware about the harms of common business practices and the dangers of certain common ingredients, knowing where your skin care comes from is of utmost importance when it comes to knowing who to trust.
The focus on transparency has even led to many people doing it themselves and making their own skin and hair care at home. This has become very popular in the past few years because people started to realize that many ingredients in their everyday products are unrecognizable, unpronounceable, and ultimately harmful to their bodies.
With Farm to Face, you can enjoy all the benefits of using real, recognizable ingredients from home, but without all the work. Nurture My Body does the work for you so you can trust you’re getting the cleanest, freshest, and most gentle skin care you can find.
What Not to Use
Your skin acts as a barrier to protect your body. However, it’s not impenetrable. It contains small pores that can absorb whatever you put on it. And in some areas, including your face, it’s even more delicate and porous than others.
Toxic chemicals in skin care can easily be absorbed and end up in your bloodstream, potentially causing a host of health problems. That’s why you should avoid using products that contain certain harmful ingredients.
Some of the most common chemicals found in many skincare products are listed below. (For a full list, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database.)
Fragrance
The word “fragrance” on labels may seem harmless enough. But the truth is "fragrance" chemicals contain hormone disruptors and carcinogens and are one of leading causes of contact dermatitis. Federal labeling laws don’t require skincare companies to disclose what ingredients make up their “fragrance.” In fact, studies have shown that 14 chemicals in 17 name-brand fragrance products were never even included on the ingredients list.
Parabens
Parabens are preservatives that prevent cosmetics and skincare products from going bad and growing bacteria. Sounds like this could be a good thing, but the fact is that these chemicals have estrogen-mimicking properties, are readily absorbed into the skin, and have been linked to certain cancers. They can also end up in our oceans, having devastating effects on marine life.
Phthalates
A chemical used to increase the flexibility and softness of plastics, phthalates can be found in nail polishes, hair sprays, perfumes and lotions, and are what makes products stick to hair and skin. The problem is that they’re known to be endocrine disruptors, are linked to increased risk of breast cancer, and can cause birth defects and developmental problems. Similar to the “fragrance loophole,” these chemicals aren’t easy to spot on a product’s label.
Oxybenzone
A chemical in most popular sunscreens, oxybenzone is known to lead to bleaching and ultimately killing coral reefs, which causes significant harm to the health of marine life. It‘s such a huge threat to those organisms, the state of Hawaii has banned the use of any sunscreen containing oxybenzone through a law that went into effect in 2021.
What About Hair?
Hair care has also changed for the better with a similar approach (can we say Farm to Hair?).
If you’re new to the world of all-natural hair care, you might notice something a little different. You’ve probably grown accustomed to working up a big bubbly lather when you wash your hair with regular shampoo. The reason these shampoos get so frothy is due to chemicals in them known as sulfates. Sulfates are basically detergents, like the ones found in common cleaning products.
Lots of luxurious lather is nice, but the problem is sulfates are harsh and will strip your hair and scalp of their natural oils. This leaves the cuticle exposed and prone to damage and breakage, and can also result in an itchy, dry and irritated scalp.
When you use a shampoo that’s made with nothing but gentle, natural ingredients and doesn’t contain sulfates, you won’t be stripping away these protective oils. Instead, you’ll get clean hair that’s stronger, shinier and healthier. Lack of lather doesn’t mean it’s not working. It just means it’s working better!
Say no to dryness, damage and frizz, and continue to stick with your new hair care routine for the best results.
How We Do It
Each and every ingredient we use here at Nurture My Body is grown in our own sustainable organic garden near Point Reyes National Seashore, a beautiful cape off the coast of Northern California. We carefully nurture the plants as they grow and when they’ve reached their peak and are ready for harvest, we pick ‘em and blend ‘em into our super gentle, chemical-free cleansers, moisturizers, creams, serums, toners, body washes, and hair-care products.
Growing all our ingredients and processing them in one location means that they're used at their ripest and freshest. Some plants we choose to only grow and use seasonally for the best results.
We make everything in small batches to preserve the quality of the ingredients and ensure optimal freshness. From these small batches, our BPA-free recyclable plastic bottles are hand-filled and shipped in 100% recyclable packaging to our customers, who then get to enjoy the healing benefits of our pure and healthy skin care.
Why We Do It
We believe the Earth provides us with everything we need to take care of ourselves, especially when it comes to our sensitive skin. There’s no need to reach for products loaded with irritating toxic chemicals that claim to fix our problems when there are so many truly natural solutions to our skin’s challenges that can be found right outside our doors.
What you use on the outside, eventually ends up on the inside, and it’s time we take that into account when choosing the best and least harmful products to cleanse and moisturize our skin and hair.
If you’re looking to reap the benefits of a truly natural skincare regimen, Nurture My Body offers you products you can rely on to deliver only the finest, most trustworthy ingredients created by Mother Nature herself.