Why Organic Skincare Might Make Your Skin Worse (and What to Do About It!)

You’ve done it. You’ve sipped the green beauty kool-aid, and have decided to make the switch to natural, organic skincare. You’ve read the latest and greatest of the greenest and cleanest beauty products on the top green beauty blogs, you’ve diligently researched the safety of these products and their individual ingredients on the EWG’s Skin Deep database, you’ve spent time testing products at your nearest Whole Foods Market to see which of the ones you’ve narrowed down feels and smells the best on the back of your hand, and finally, you’ve made your purchase.
You leave the store, bag in hand grinning ear to ear, and rush home to do what? Why, wash your face of course! Because let’s face it, there’s no way you’re going to wait until your evening regimen to take your new organic skincare regimen for a spin. You line your new products up all pretty on the sink, in order, of course–turn the faucets to the perfect not-too-hot, not-too cold temperature, and get to work with step 1–cleansing. You inhale deeply and sigh with delight with all the delicious aromas, and give your skin the face washing of a lifetime. You then proceed with the rest of the steps in the regimen, reveling in the pleasure of each moment as you massage the oils and creams into your skin. When you’re done, you smile at yourself in the mirror and think to yourself how beautiful you look at that moment.
You have another heavenly skincare regimen like this, or maybe a few. And then you wake up one morning, look in the mirror and…YIKES! You’ve got a nasty breakout on your cheeks. Or an itchy, ?scaly, puffy rash around your eyes. Or some other form of discomfort that can only mean one thing–your having an allergic or irritant reaction to your organic skincare products.

But isn’t that what wasn’t supposed to happen?

Isn’t avoiding irritant ingredients one of the reasons you crossed the path to the green side in the first place? Right now, you’re freaking out. These products were expensive! Your favorite blogger said they worked perfectly for her, and her skin is supposed to be the same type as yours! Do you return the products? Can you actually return partially used products? Or do you keep using them and think that maybe the reaction is from something else? Like mold or hay fever? Is this the dreadful purge you’ve read about? If so, then should you just keep using the products and hope that once the Purge has passed, your skin will go back to that soft, gorgeous glow it had after your first flirt with your regimen? But you’ve heard the Purge can last weeks…do you really want to have itchy, scaly, zitty skin for weeks? What do you do, WHAT DO YOU DO???

Unfortunately our little organic skincare scenario above happens in real life!

Despite our best efforts to choose safe, natural, clean, green, non-toxic, holistic, non-irritant, non-allergenic, organic skincare products–sometimes they end up making our skin worse, instead of better.

Here are 5 reasons why people might have sensitivities to organic skincare:

1.The product may contain too many ingredients.?Just because natural and organic skincare ingredients come directly from nature and haven’t been overly processed doesn’t mean they’re any less active or stimulating to the skin. Sometimes complex botanical blends can irritate the skin, especially more sensitive skin types. I?advocate?a ‘less is more’ approach to skincare, both with amount of products used, and with amount if ingredients used. The more ingredients there are, the more chance there is for one or a combination of ingredients to cause irritation.
2.You might have an allergy or sensitivity to one or more of the ingredients. Even with simple formulations, it’s always possible that you have an allergy or sensitivity to an ingredient in a product–even if you’re not someone who’s ever been diagnosed with allergies. Many carrier oils and butters come from seeds and nuts which may pose a problem for people with tree nut allergies. Sometimes it’s possible to not have any reaction to an allergen outside as a seasonal allergy, but to react negatively to it applied topically. It’s always best to start any new regimen with a patch test on a sensitive area, like the inside of your arm. Test there for a few days–and keep in mind that reactions don’t always show up on the face.
3.The product might have hidden synthetic ingredients. Many natural botanical extracts, hydrosols, herbal infusions, aloe vera gel, witch hazel, and other natural ingredients arrive to a manufacturer with a preservative already added. This is necessary for safety and stability of the product, but it’s not something a consumer will ever see on a label. Also, many organic products contain “natural fragrances,” which unfortunately do contain synthetic components, which aren’t required to be disclosed on a product label.
4.The products might be reacting with something else you use. Ingredients in skincare products don’t just combine with each other–they also have the ability to combine with ingredients in your laundry detergent, household cleaning products, and other substances in your environment. That could make the overall ‘blend’ sensitizing or overstimulating in some way. Also, certain health conditions and medications cause people to have increased skin sensitivity to ingredients that they would not normally react from.
5.The product might just not be the right product for you. Just because the product says it’s for your “type”, or because someone claims to have similar skin as you, doesn’t mean they have the same skin as you (even identical twins can have different skin needs).?That’s because everyone has combination skin, but everyone’s combination is different. But fear not–if one ingredient doesn’t work, you’re sure to find another that will.
Click HERE to find your Synergistic Skin Combination.

Here’s what to do if you’ve had a reaction:

Whatever the reason these organic skincare products didn’t work for you, don’t lose hope. DO stop using them right away though, and contact the store or company you got them from right away (don’t wait on this–call ASAP) because you?may?be able to get a refund. Also DO understand that it’s not because the products were natural or organic that this happened–in the grand scheme of things, people are still more likely to react adversely to synthetic products and ingredients than natural and organic.
In the meantime, don’t use anything else new on your skin, and avoid makeup. Stick to just water, until the irritation subsides. If it doesn’t go away or gets worse, consult with a licensed natural healthcare practitioner to find out what’s going on and get the right treatment. If you try a new batch of products and the same thing happens, that might be a sign of something going on internally that’s causing your skin to be super-sensitive and reactive, so again, check with a naturopathic or integrative physician to see what might be going on.

Have you ever reacted badly to an organic skincare product?

What do you think the reason was? Please share your experience in the comments below!