Even with the abundance of ingredients and labels in the personal care industry, one bold claim recently caught my eye. Could "ingredient free" really be the next big thing in beauty?
Even with the abundance of ingredients and labels in the personal care industry, one bold claim recently caught my eye. Could "ingredient free" really be the next big thing in beauty?
I thrive on seeing innovations in the natural and organic beauty industry—and I have not been disappointed by exotic oils and topical probiotics, plant stem cells and beauty supplements, new certifications, and even these little deodorant wipe thingies that look like hand sanitizers and fit in your wallet (!). So when a small box recently landed on my desk, right in time for the holidays, I expected nothing short of beauty opulence. A new fabulous innovation. The latest! The greatest! The … "first ingredient-free cosmetic?"
After running around the office to facetiously share my latest findings, I did my best to give this new product the benefit of the doubt. Here’s how it (allegedly) works: A ceramic ball uses an advanced memory technology to program the ion compounds in water. The water (purified tap water, ideally) becomes a powerful tonic that helps clear and rejuvenate skin. Cleanse, spray, moisturize, voila!
This isn’t the first new product I’ve seen to use ionized water. Bill Nye THE Science Guy (yeah, I know) recently launched a cleaning product that uses the water to attract dirt and grime sans chemicals. It is, however, the first beauty product that I know of to use the “ingredient,” and hence not use a lot of others.
My recent discovery could indicate one of two things. One: Ionized water is all the rage. It’s the ingredient of the future. It will make you—and your home—look fantastic. Or, what I think: Increasingly, consumers are wanting simple, natural products, and manufacturers are catching on. From the feedback we’ve gotten at Delicious Living, many natural products shoppers don’t want to see too many ingredients in their personal care. They don’t want ingredients they can’t read. And they sure don’t want chemicals and preservatives. This applies to everything from cleaning products to personal care. Oh, yeah, option three is that it’s just a bunch of marketing baloney. But for a second, let’s pretend like I’m right.
This doesn’t mean ionized water products will be taking over our grocery shelves. What it does mean is that we will continue to see more and more personal care companies cutting out unnecessary ingredients—particularly synthetic ingredients—to only include the necessary elements. And if this is, well, none, then so be it! So maybe it’s not that “ingredient-free” is the next big label claim for personal care—but you can expect to see a lot more companies getting certifications that demand a high level of purity.
