Let’s talk about skin care for a moment.
I believe that taking care of your skin is important to your physical and emotional health. In my upcoming summer self care program, we’ll actually spend an entire day focusing on skin care as self-care.
Your skin is the largest organ in your body. It’s like a giant mouth that can absorb nourishing ingredients or toxins. Many current products on the market include endocrine disruptors that can cause estrogen dominance and hormone imbalances.
Olga, the founder of Arboretum Skincare is a molecular biologist and I have known her for 22 years. She’s donated products to the Celebrate You care package. Her products are made from the best all natural, powerful ingredients including organic herbal extracts and organic shea butter. They’re also free of parabens and emulsifiers to protect your skin and health.
Last month, I sat down with Olga to learn more about her products and how they promote healthier, happier skin.
How did you get started in skin care?
Olga Goldberger (OG): I have a science background and I’ve worked in science since I was 17.
In my research I study mitochondria which are tiny organelles that are responsible for cells’ energy production. Their function is tightly connected to our aging, especially to our skin’s aging. I came from Russia in 1984 and I found that my skin was very sensitive to many products on the market. I figured out that I was sensitive to some emulsifiers in the products.
I thought, okay, I’m a scientist. I will make my own products without emulsifiers. And I figured out how to do this.
How can people identify what emulsifiers are in their skin care products?
OG: There are many emulsifiers in skin care products. Basically, they are needed to mix oil and water. It’s a chemical that’s needed to mix oil and water. I do it differently. I use phospholipids, which is a natural substance. They’re purified from soy, purified from sunflower seeds and in my formulas, only phospholipids help mix oil and water. But there are so many chemicals in our products. Even the so-called natural emulsifiers, they’re still not so good for your skin.
Emulsifiers can stay in your skin longer after you finish using the product and every time you wash your face, these emulsifiers can help natural oils from your skin escape. So it’s basically you moisturize, moisturize, moisturize many times a day. But it’s not good for you because you’re getting such a big dose of the emulsifiers that ultimately they will dry your skin.
Unfortunately, like 90% of skin care brands use chemical emulsifiers. They are largely not regulated, they’re cheap, they’re easy to use--that’s why everyone uses them.
They’re synthetic and some of them cause allergies.
How can you identify them on the product labels? They are listed as ingredients ending with ‘ETH. They’re often also called PAG polyethylene glycol, pag ate, laurate, polyethylene, polysorbate. There are many different emulsifiers, so it’s always good if you have a product to google some ingredients that you don’t know. But basically all emulsifiers, even natural ones, can impair what we call our skin’s TEWL. Transepidermal water loss .
Olga has agreed to offer one of her products in my summer Celebrate You self-care challenge. Tell us a little about it.
OG: It’s a very, very light hydrater. It’s great for the summer and good for all skin types. It’s basically almost liquid and it provides much needed hydration for the summer, especially after you’ve been in the sun. It has liposomes, Hyaluronic acid and it has other botanical extracts which will help your skin to moisturize and keep it healthy during the summer.
Want to try Olga’s product? Register for Celebrate You!
Olga has also agreed to offer my followers a special discount on any of her products online shop: HOLLIBASSIN20%OFF