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“The products that we put on our body do affect our health, either positively or negatively.“
E.thical comes to help in strengthening accessibility in Indonesia in the form of sustainability-centered educational programs. We help communities and businesses to innovate and become more proactive in tackling complex sustainability issues and challenges. Our pilot project was held in Ende last year, with a two-month long pilot bootcamp structured into six modules covering specific concepts such as leadership, sustainability, human-centered design thinking, ethical business model canvas, financial sustainability and legal clinic.
Taking care of your skin is very important as it is in fact, the largest organ that you have. Not only that, skin also acts as the guard of your body to shield it from extreme temperature, sunlight, as well as harmful chemicals. Up to 60% of what we put on our skin gets absorbed, hence we have to be aware of what we put on our skin as it will eventually enter our body. The products that we put on our body do affect our health, either positively or negatively. One of the ways to take care of skin is having a consistent skin care routine that uses products that are harm-free and ethically conscious.
Dangerous substances from cosmetics and skincare products affect the health of the body. Few of many substances that you have to avoid while purchasing skin care products are the ones that contain SLS or Parabens.
Parabens are preservatives that are used to increase the lifetime of the products, and they can cause all sorts of problems that disturb our hormonal system and worse cause cancer. While, SLS can slowly build up dangerous effects in your body, such as irritation to your eyes, skin, mouth and lungs.
Other than the two, ensure that you don’t purchase products that use palm oil and heavy minerals, like mercury. Not only are they harmful to our bodies, they are also harmful to mother earth. Products that contain palm oil were extracted heavily from mineral oil on earth. while mercury and some sunscreen substances that are mixed up in the water are able to cause pollution.
How would, then, we know which products are good and ethical? Fortunately, there are more and more platforms out there that are created to identify the ingredients in our skincare products. One that we always go to is the EWG’s Skin Deep that shows safety and transparency of thousands of skin products.
It would be such a good decision to use local, ethical products when it comes to skin care, as you don’t only help your own skin, but you also help to bring forth the local economy. Because, ethical brands always try to empower and build the welfare of the local communities.
Ethical Skincare Brands from Indonesia
We have put up a list of ethical local brands for your skincare choices. These brands are just some of the many local, ethical products that you can choose to purchase for the better good of your body as well as society as a whole. Here are our favourite three:
Yagi Natural
Yagi Natural is a brand that originated from Aceh. Its products are in the form of cacao skin food such as body butter, soap bar and shampoo. Yagi has a commitment to produce natural and sustainable ingredients and to create a positive impact on the environment. In fact, they will plant a tree every $1 purchase from the customers. To know more about this brand and read their catalogues, head over to their website.
Utama Spice
Made and operated in Bali, Utama Spice offers 100% natural skincare products. Their brand focuses on applying traditional herbal knowledge to create products that enhance natural beauty of the skin as well highlighting the raw power of nature. Check out their website to findout their product range.
Wangsa Jelita
Born in Jakarta. Wangsa Jelita promotes well-being and their products are 100% harmful chemical free. Some of the products that they sell are face mist and facial oil. However, they don’t only sell skincare products, they also sell well-being themed journals and stickers. In addition to this, they also have their own podcast on spotify that motivates listeners to empathize and prioritize their well-being as a whole. To read more about what they do and what kind of products that they sell, go to their website.
It’s enlightening to see all these amazing ethical brands sprouting in Indonesia. We definitely need more of them. Using ethical products is indeed possible! So, next time you want to buy a skincare product, remember that choosing an ethical one is not only good for your skin, but also for mother earth and the society as a whole. Please consider that the next time you go on skincare shopping.
