Natural & organic skin care by Green People

I have to hold my hands up and admit that when it comes to skincare my approach has been to stick with what I know. Having sensitive skin means that I have to be careful about what products I use and I have basically stuck with products that I know agree with my skin.

Only recently have I changed the moisturiser that I use and, admittedly, that was down to money rather than thinking about ingredients. You may have read a couple of weeks ago that I am re-thinking this approach.

Indeed, the moisturiser that I was using was an aloe vera one but the ingredients listed aloe vera on the second page, which makes me suspicious of how much is actually in the product.

I figured I wanted to look for more natural and organic skincare but I wasn’t sure where to start. I do know that detoxifying is important in recovery and given that the skin is the body’s largest organ, it makes sense to think carefully about what skincare products I use.

I recently learned of a company called Green People* through reading the blog Spoonie Sophia and I decided to give a couple of their products a try.

Green People produce a range of products such as skincare, hair care and make-up that are packed with active natural and organic ingredients. They avoid using ingredients such as parabens, lanolin, alcohol (ethyl alcohol, ethanol), artificial perfumes, petrochemicals, methylisothiazolinone, methylchloroisothiazolinone, phthalates and colourants.

These have been linked to health issues and some are known skin irritants. Their products are also vegetarian (with some even being vegan), are fairly traded and not tested on animals.

I decided to purchase two products to try– their Neutral/Scent Free Hand & Body Lotion* and their Day Solution SPF15 (Day Cream)*. I was debating whether to go for their sensitive face moisturiser but decided I wanted the SPF of the day solution cream.

Packaging

Both the ‘sensitive hand & body lotion’ and the ‘day solution cream SPF15’ come in plastic bottles with pump dispensers and removable lids. The body lotion is 200ml and the face cream 50ml.

I find the pump is really handy and useful for the body cream, dispensing a good amount of product. However, I think I would prefer it if the ‘day solution cream SPF15’ came in a tub with a screw-on lid.

I find that the pump dispenses more product than I need and it took me a few uses to figure out exactly how much I needed to use without causing any waste.

Ingredients

As mentioned above, these products are free from parabens, alcohol (ethyl alcohol, ethanol), methylisothiazolinone, methylchloroisothiazolinone and phthalates and artificial perfumes.

The body lotion is also free from SLS/SLES, artificial colourants and artificial fragrances and the ‘day solution cream SPF15’ is also free from lanolin and petrochemicals.

The ‘sensitive hand & body lotion’ contains ingredients such as shea butter, sunflower oil, olive oil, jojoba, aloe vera, marshmallow, evening primrose seed oil, rosemary and chamomile.

It contains high levels of GLA, which is an omega-6 fatty acid, and this is said to have protective properties and keeps the skin supple and strong. It is also rich in nutritive plant oils that moisturise the skin and the lotion has soothing and antioxidant properties thanks to extracts of chamomile, marshmallow and rosemary.

The ingredients are 91.6% organic. It is suitable for people who suffer from eczema and psoriasis.

The ‘day solution cream SPF15’ contains ingredients such as sunflower seed oil, titanium dioxide, jojoba, olive oil, aloe vera, rosemary, green tea and chamomile.

Green tea and chamomile are both rich in flavonoids that are said to protect against the free-radicals that may be generated by exposure to UV rays. The titanium dioxide is what reflects and absorbs the UV rays and reduces the risk of burning and damage from sun exposure.

This product contains 85.1% organic ingredients.

Both products are suitable for vegans.

Consistency, scent & application

The body lotion has been created for sensitive skin and is therefore scent-free. It is a white cream that has a nice consistency and applies well, though be careful not to use too much of the product or you will spend a while working it into your skin.

It leaves your skin feeling well moisturised and is completely non-greasy. It can be used as a hand moisturiser too and leaves my hands (which are prone to being dry) feeling soft and hydrated.

The ‘day solution cream SPF15’ has a slight fresh fragrance that dissipates once applied to the skin. It is also a white cream but has a thicker consistency– a little goes a long way with this cream and

I do not even need one full pump of product for applying to my face. My first impression was that this cream would feel heavy on the face because of its consistency. However, I was completely wrong.

Despite its thick consistency, this cream applies well and absorbs quickly into the skin and is a light moisturiser. It leaves you feeling as though you have nothing on your skin and dries completely matt, which is great as many SPF containing products can leave your skin feeling rather greasy.

Thoughts on these products

I really like both of these products. The body lotion is great for my sensitive skin and leaves my skin feeling nourished and moisturised. It is more expensive than the body lotion I was using but I guess that is only to be expected for a product containing organic ingredients.

I would buy this again, however, purely because I do want to be mindful of what I put on my skin and want to live as chemical-free as possible to aid my recovery. I also feel like this product will last quite a few weeks, which to me means it is good value for money.

I also have to say that I used a Clinique face moisturiser in the past and the cost of the body lotion plus the day cream from Green People amounts to not much more than what I used to spend on this one Clinique product.

The ‘day solution cream SPF15’ is a great product too. I feel it is good value for money and not much more than I was spending on the aloe vera cream I was previously using. I love how it leaves my skin feeling silky soft and that it also protects from the sun.

However, now we are headed into winter I may opt to try another face moisturiser from Green People when this one runs out as I find that my skin can go really dry in winter and I may need a more intense cream.

UPDATE: over winter I have been using the Vita Min Fix – Day & Night Cream* and it has been absolutely brilliant for my dry skin. I would highly recommend it.

What do you think of these products by Green People? Are you mindful of the products you use? Would you change over to natural and organic skincare? I plan to slowly change over the products I use and I look forward to trying more products by Green People.