I recently had a guest tell me that her facial ritual consisted of baking soda on a scrubby pad as her exfoliation followed by olive oil as her moisturizer. While forcing the skin scratching and scraping visions from my mind I strain to hear her explain that this cherished home remedy was handed down to her from her mother and to her mother by her grandmother. This got me to thinking about the evolution of beauty regiments.
Since mankind has been in existence, there has always been some kind of skin care. Cleopatra stands out as the epitome of beauty (so history claims) and known for her beautiful skin. In her time, a mixture of milk and honey was used to make skin beautiful. There were no machines back then to process things so skin products were truly all natural.
A time line begins in 1889, where a woman named Margaret Kroesen created a product called Frownies, patches that held your skin tight. This removed wrinkles and made your face look younger. Moving on to 1920, Coco Chanel sparked the popularity of suntans after a sunny getaway on a yacht. In 1982 Chanel made the first wrinkle cream that had sunscreen in it. The skin care product industry was exploding into the world.
In 1988 the FDA put out reports with warnings about Retin-A (an acne medicine). They warned the world about its haphazard use in treating wrinkles. In a related move the FDA in 1995 approved an agent called tretinoic acid for use in skin care products. Why is this so significant? Tretonoic acid is the main component of Retin-A.
The skin care product industry has made and continues to make great strides in giving us products to choose from. At what cost though? It is important for you to know not only what is in your food but also what is in the products you put on your skin.
Which brings me to present-time and current trends in skin care. Ingredients are becoming more on trend that chemicals, adders or fillers. As consumers become more educated the products become more sophisticated. AVEDA is ahead of the pack in the evolution back to natural ingredients.
Argan Oil – To help protect skin against the harsh conditions of climate and environment. Green Tea – To help beautify skin and fight the effects of aging. Lavender – Soothing to stressed skin, refreshing and relaxing to both body and mind.
AVEDA provides us with natural ways to take care of our mind, body and spirit. Developing, since 1978, years of study and research leading to future discoveries in skin care that even Cleopatra would demand in royal abundance.
Blog post by Aveda Institute Tallahassee Spa Therapy Student: Renee Rubio
