Waterless beauty is not new to Indians, those who did not westernize with the wave always used ancient- ayurvedic ways to wash and nourish the skin. Different herb /clay powders, oils & butter, and water in their respective state have made way as super-effective beauty ingredients. For example, oil is the moisturizer as a 100% true waterless product in place of lotion.
With various industrial revolutions in the past couple of decades, many ingredients especially chemicals & preservatives have made their way to skincare & beauty products with the mere motive to make them cost-effective & non-greasy. The focus in recent years has majorly shifted to fancy packaging, advertisements with tall claims, and misleading terms like pure, natural, organic, etc. simply to lure the customer.
Waterless beauty & skincare products come back is about returning to healthy, chemical & preservative-free products. Over the years, be it food or skincare, the growing side effects of synthetics- chemicals and preservatives have forced mankind to think on the return journey.
Hence waterless beauty is the said new era to dawn upon generations who did not witness their parents/grandparents using oil in place of lotion.
What is a waterless beauty or skincare product?
Waterless beauty or waterless skincare products simply means the product does not contain water at all. The waterless concept is making a strong comeback simply because in the past 3-4 decades there has been tremendous use of water in skin care products to make them economical – cost effective and of course non-greasy. Light texture, water/gel based, non-greasy (no chip) has been the promoted favored trend in the last few decades.
Water has been used as filler only because it’s inexpensive. The increased water usage reduced the overall effectiveness of the product. The more the water, the less effective is the product creating a constant urge to reapply. Hence waterless products are potent, efficient, and last long with a better shelf life of its own. And therefore a 100% waterless product does not need a preservative.
One of the simple examples of water-based waterless skin care products is Body Lotion. The lotion is a mix of water & oil which calls for the addition of an emulsifier to blend water & oil as the two do not blend with each other on its own. Additional ingredients like colour, fragrance/perfume, and thickener are added to enhance the colour, texture & aroma in the product. Lotions can never be chemical-free, here’s how?
After Bath Body oil is a Waterless skincare product to use in place of body lotion. The companies suggest applying the oil on the body immediately after the shower, on moist skin to lock the moisture and stay day long moisturized with no urge to look for a bottle of lotion multiple times a day.
Both water-based & waterless are used for the same purpose but applying water-based products means application of chemicals & preservatives as well. So in a way waterless skincare is economical, healthy & environmentally friendly.
Economical – A bottle of body oil lasts much longer than a bottle of body lotion as only a few drops help moisturize the body. Don’t have to pay for the water which is free-flowing from the tap and is the major ingredient in the bottle of a lotion.
Healthy – No water means no addition of emulsifiers, stabilizers and preservatives.
Environment Friendly – The usage of no chemicals and preservatives help keep the environment healthy.
In earlier times, mustard oil, sesame oil, coconut oil, desi ghee was used as skin moisturizer after the shower to keep the skin nourished- free from dryness and itch.
The rich royal community used aromatic plant oils like geranium essential oil, lavender essential oil etc. mixed with carrier oils to beautify the skin in ancient times.
Are water-based products bad for skin?
Water as an ingredient is beneficial for the skin as it helps in quick and easy absorption of oils in the skin pores. Water being light & non – greasy, ph balancing helps sink better in skin pores providing skin its needed hydration and long last relief from dryness/itch. Therefore, water is used with oils/butters to reap maximum benefit to the skin.
But water when added as an ingredient to the product like face cream, body lotion, face serum certainly needs chemicals & preservatives to give it a texture, consistency and shelf life.
These chemicals & preservatives may unknowingly and invisibly do more harm to the body than the good we expect from the product. Many brands claim to use less than 1% food preservatives in their formulation to prevent products from going bad calling the product completely safe.
Think if less than 1% preservative can save the 99% of the product from damage, isn’t the used food preservative strong enough to make an impact on our bodies?
And hence the water in the product as an ingredient is bad.
Is waterless beauty a new concept?
Washing the skin with different herb powders, using oil/ghee to moisturise the skin, using beeswax to set the hair are some of the traditional day to day skin beauty & care routines that were practiced in different Indian homes for times unknown. The chemicals & preservatives used in today’s formulation in different organic and ayurvedic products were not known in ancient times – and therefore has no mention in ayurveda.
The products were used in their own natural state with the least processing.
We are going back to the same concept of retaining the original natural physical & solubility state of the product with zero alteration.
Is water less beauty a step towards sustainability?
Waterless beauty definitely is a positive step towards sustainability but connecting it with only water scarcity is hype, a trend mostly seen as a marketing tool.
Going waterless in product formulation is just a tiny percentage of water saved as compared to water wasted in manufacturing, packaging & shipping of the product. Water used in producing chemicals & preservatives, wasted in baths/showers, toilets, kitchen etc are by far the most wasted – creating unthinkable water footprints.
But, going with a waterless skin care product has multiple health & sustainability benefits too.
- No water in the product – means no chemicals & preservatives needed in the product.
- Healthy product
- A powerful and effective product
- Product is environment friendly
- Economical in the long run- last longer than conventional products as only few drops/pea size is needed at a time.
Is Waterless and clean beauty the same thing?
SNAANA with 100% chemical & preservative-free – waterless beauty product line since 2017 is a game changer in altering the dynamics of the skin care industry.
The need and the desire of the founder to go completely natural in formulation of the skin care beauty products led to clean – effective and environment friendly product composition, something which came out to be new to the consumers in terms of texture, consistency, colour and aroma.
The thumb rule of the formulation is not to alter the state and solubility of the ingredient.
Waterless & clean beauty may not be the same completely in today’s marketing terminology.
Clean beauty means that the product is safe, free from toxic ingredients, all ingredients are labeled etc. However, the term is not regulated by any law. It is the term that has evolved over the years looking at the need of the market. Clean beauty may contain water and chemicals & preservatives thought to be safe for humans. Hence clean beauty can not always be waterless beauty or chemical/preservative free beauty.
A face or body moisturizer/lotion can be a clean product but not a waterless product. Since it contains both water & oil and the two do not mix on its own with each other – a solubilizer is needed to facilitate blending water and oil. Anything that contains water and is in liquid state certainly needs preservatives to enhance the shelf life.
It’s only the undiluted hydrosols/ steam distilled water/ark in a water state that stays without preservatives for more than a year or even 2-3 years if stored in proper conditions.
Know more about the traditional technique of making hydrosols and their multiple benefits. Click here for more details
Hence to keep the products clean – chemical and preservative-free – it is important to retain their natural property.
And that’s when SNAANA, the world's purest skincare & wellness brand started making a conscious effort to educate the customer in choosing the right chemical-free healthy product.
In the course, SNAANA found that consumers, a layman, are often lured by fancy attractive green & organic labels and choose their skin care product not by ingredients or solely by benefits but because their buy majorly depends on the product fragrance and preferably a non-greasy texture.
Conscious and health-savvy consumers are the torchbearers in appreciating and promoting the brand SNAANA for its clean work in the skin, health & wellness industry.
Products at SNAANA are prepared the traditional way and hence there is a close association with farmers cultivating herbs and cash crops to produce pure raw material to ensure a quality and effective product.
SNAANA online store is a unique shop for skin, health, and wellness products to cater to and suit almost all your needs.
Return to yourself to a healthy – beautiful you with SNAANA