Unboxed: 5 potent wildcrafted beauty products
A recent wave of plant-forward personal care brands are bringing clean, green beauty to a whole new level by using wild harvested ingredients. Here are four category standouts.
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Annemarie Skin Care incorporates wildharvested Kakadu plum (a vitamin C powerhouse), organic apple and resveratrol-rich knotweed extracts into its Wild Fruit Serum. The blend also contains copper, a mineral naturally present in skin tissue that strengthens the link between collagen and elastin. The Anti-Aging Serum uses wildharvested jasmine sambac absolute and gotu kola leaves to help soothe, hydrate and protect skin from environmental stressors. The base for this serum is aloe vera, a mainstay natural ingredient for consumers with skin sensitivities. Both products are suitable for all skin types.
akar SKIN incorporates wildcrafted "super berry" sea buckthorn (sourced from Tibet's high altitudes) across its product line, and the brand's newest venture–two beautifully packaged cleansers–are no exception. The Soothe Cleanser, a perfect pick for winter-chapped faces, contains quinoa, yucca root extract, pumpkin fruit ferment filtrate and lavender flower water for a punch of exfoliation while remaining nonirritating.
Wildcrafting pioneer Juniper Ridge recently dove into the often-toxic world of fragrance, releasing a line of heady gender-neutral colognes that evoke the sweet smells of the great outdoors. In particular, the Coastal Pine scent beautifully blends essential oils sourced from sticky pine needles, conifers and other local trees with organic sugar cane alcohol.
The wildharvested marula oil from Togo, Africa, that makes up part of this impressive (and wonderfully scented, thanks to the addition of neroli) blend of oils is rich in antioxidants, essential fatty acids and amino acids. Moringa oil, which is packed with overall health-promoting properties, helps this product absorb into skin easily and is full of nutrients such as vitamins A, C and E.
The wildharvested marula oil from Togo, Africa, that makes up part of this impressive (and wonderfully scented, thanks to the addition of neroli) blend of oils is rich in antioxidants, essential fatty acids and amino acids. Moringa oil, which is packed with overall health-promoting properties, helps this product absorb into skin easily and is full of nutrients such as vitamins A, C and E.
When you think “wild harvested,” what comes to mind? Most likely the growing number of on-trend restaurants that serve dishes using hyperlocal, foraged ingredients. But wild harvesting, or wildcrafting, has been a rising trend in the natural personal care sphere throughout 2019.
The premise is simple: These brands do not farm their plant-based ingredients but rather pluck them straight from the earth where they naturally thrive. Research from the University of Alaska has shown that this makes the plants richer in nutrients as well as totally organic by virtue of having grown sans pesticides.
The term “wildcrafted” stands out to consumers because it cuts through the many greenwashing phrases being co-opted by beauty brands left and right. Front labels can tout misleading terms like “natural,” “herbal,” “plant-derived,” “green” and “botanical” while containing any number of irritating or harmful ingredients.
Not that the blame should be placed on brands alone—there are few federal laws or regulations keeping them in check. For instance, the USDA Organic certification can only be obtained if a personal care product contains exclusively food-grade ingredients, but the term ”organic” is fair game for labeling and marketing purposes.
All that being said, wildcrafted beauty brands have a scaling problem on the horizon. What will happen when more and more consumers turn to them for efficacious, safe products? There is no way of manually increasing the amount of plants available to harvest, leading some experts to wonder whether popularizing some potent herbs and botanicals would be the wrong move with respect to the environment. However, most of these brands do emphasize mindful sourcing methods of crops that are abundant, even overgrown, in the wild.
Click through the gallery to learn about five innovative products from brands that continue to drive the wildcrafted movement forward.
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