HOLISM IN BEAUTY
Herbologia goes beyond clean. For optimal health, vitality, and radiance of skin, it’s not enough to just exclude harmful chemicals. It is also necessary to include wholesome ingredients that heal imbalances from within, nourish, repair and restore proper function. Moreover, what happens within the bottle once the product is filled, stored, and then used, is also crucial to your wellbeing. Most companies stop at anti-microbial preservation, but Herbologia also includes oxidation, lipid rancidity, and actives degradation into consideration, ensuring the best possible product condition and quality till its last drop.
CLEAN 100% NON-TOXIC INGREDIENTS
Non-toxic formulation of premium quality is actually a new field within cosmetic chemistry. The standard ingredients in textbooks used for specific functions within beauty formulas — such as thickeners, emulsifiers, stabilizers, surfactants, etc. — are harmful chemicals. It took us ten years in order to find clean substitutes that work just as well and even better! Our olive-based liquid crystal emulsion system in creams and lotions is a natural and much more skin and wildlife friendly alternative to the standard polysorbates and PEGs.
We exclude all substances that have evidence of irritation or toxicity either to humans or wildlife, according to EWG and Pubmed. Our “To Avoid” list contains many ingredients that other clean brands often add to their formulations such as retinol and alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E). Instead, we use beta-carotene naturally high in sea buckthorn oil and rosehip CO2 extract and a complete sunflower tocopherol extract, both of which are the non-toxic alternatives.
AIRLESS BOTTLE DESIGN
Air is really quite toxic! Oxygen in the air can oxidize (damage) actives, antioxidants, botanicals, plant oils, and vitamins. No matter how organic a cream is, if it’s exposed to air, it becomes unhealthy fairly quickly. Oxidized plant oils irritate skin and can even damage skin structures and cells. Vitamins and antioxidants often get destroyed by oxygen and lose their effectiveness. Herbs and other actives get oxidized and may also damage skin.
Herbologia therefore decided to use airless bottles, a recent innovation in cosmetic packaging. Airless bottles include a chamber with a tiny vacuum pump inside that excludes air completely. As the product is used, it is pushed up by the pump, without ever allowing air inside. As a result, the product remains stable for much longer than regular open-air jars. Another benefit is that the product is squeezed out through a pump and never comes in contact with fingers that may carry microbes and other impurities.
LIPID ANTIOXIDANTS
Herbologia goes a step further while preserving oils and other lipids in formulas. Lipids are very sensitive to damage by oxidation, especially the high-end plant oils high in omega 3, 6, 9 fatty acids. The process of oxidation starts when these oils are produced or pressed from their source material such as nuts, seeds, and grains. The longer they have been kept after production, the more they become oxidized. Eventually, they turn rancid, in the last step of oxidation reaction. Unfortunately, once the process has started, the lipids within an oil continue to be damaged in a chain reaction without the presence of oxygen.
Therefore, no matter how fresh an oil is, once it is pressed and used in a formulation, it eventually becomes oxidized, shortening the shelf life of the product and even making it unhealthy for the skin. Herbologia solves this problem by adding specialty Rosemary antioxidants that halt the process of lipid oxidation. Rosemary is a unique plant that produces lipid-based antioxidants such as carnosol and ursolic acid that preserve precious and delicate plant oils to keep them active longer. Rosemary antioxidants are sensitive to heat, however, and are not effective at temperatures above 104 degrees (40C).
