Information The products sold by Little Green Nursery have been carefully selected. They are the purest and most natural available using the best quality ingredients, which we feel is vital for delicate skin. A cream or lotion is made up of a fat element and a water element which needs to be held together using an emulsifier to produce a stable emulsion. A lot of so called natural products use emulisfier that have been processed to make a chemical, albeit from natural, vegetable sources. Vegetable emulsifying wax is a good example of how something that sounds pretty natural is actually far from it. We did some research into this and found that one brand which will appear on labels as "vegetable emulsifying wax" actually contains Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. The creams we supply mostly use organic unrefined beeswax as an emulsifer. Unlike bleached beeswax the unrefined wax retains the smell of honey from the hive and varies in colour depending on the type of flowers the bees have been collecting from.
There are two types of emulsions - oil in water and water in oil. The majority of commercially produced creams are the first one. These are generally 70% water, the other 30% being fats, added mositurisers, emulsifiers & preservatives. The high content of water makes it feel that the cream is easily absorbed, but in reality means that there is very little skin nutrition in these products and they are the ideal environment for bacteria to flourish, hence the need for preservatives. "Aqua" at the top of the ingredient list identifies this type of cream.
In an water in oil emulsion it is oil that is the main ingredient as is the case for the products we stock. This doesn't mean that the cream will be hard for the skin to absorb however as this depends on the type of vegetable oil used. Coconut oil for example take a long time to absorb, which is why it is often used in facial cleansers. The oils used by our suppliers tend to be lighter oils which are more easily absorbed and have natural emollient properties. The water content is much lower and the water used is distilled flower water which has a natural shelf life of up to 3 years and is a much less friendly environment for bacteria. The majority of the ingredients used in these creams have naturally lengthy shelf-lives. For example beeswax, honey, shea butter, tree resins, olive oil & most essential oils will not go 'off' or rancid. As a result the products are preservative free.
The products vary in their shelf life depending on their ingredients. Earthbound Organics advise that the total shelf life of their products is 9 months and 3 months (due to the potency of the active herbal ingredients declining after that ) once opened. Akamuti use more of the above ingredients and have a longer shelf life of 12 - 18 months. This is obviously considerably shorter to mass produced products whose shelf life can be up to 5 years but we consider shorter shelf life a small price to pay for fresher creams full of natural active ingredients and without any chemicals - see the New Scientist article below about parabans, a commonly used preservative to see why we feel this is vital. It is important to look after your products well. Keep them in a cool, dark place, out of direct sunlight. If you use your finger to get cream from a jar, make sure you have washed your hands first or use a spoon or spatula.
Links We will be expanding our links to articles and other useful sites that we think will interest you over the coming months. There's several below to get you started. If you haven't time for a browse, before you go please spare a moment to read midwife Sharon Trotter's research on
Neo-natal skin care where she explains how plain water is all you need for your baby's skin for at least the first 4 weeks of their life.
