We are bombarded with skincare companies in stores, online, and through influencers on social media. How do you choose what skincare is best? As a mom and nurse, I became fascinated years ago with what was and wasn’t allowed in the US regarding ingredient standards in personal care products. If you’ve gone down this rabbit hole like me, you know that unfortunately, there is little to no regulation on ingredients in our personal care products, including known carcinogens. There are also “loophole” laws that allow companies to “protect” their proprietary blends as trade secrets, where they do not have to disclose hundreds of ingredients to their consumers.
After years of seeking out and trying many different clean skincare brands, I’ve finally found one that checks all my boxes! Not only are all the ingredients disclosed and clean, but the products are effective and do what they say they will! Oliveda is a European waterless skincare and wellness company. Why waterless? Oliveda’s main ingredient is olive leaf extract, which has a high concentration of hydroxytyrosol. When water is the first ingredient (like most skincare brands), the product is usually approximately 75% water. Although water is not inherently bad, when you have water in products, you have to have preservatives and emulsifiers to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria and mold. The problem with preservatives is that they can lead to skin inflammation, which may be causing your skin concerns in the first place. Once you take away the water, preservatives, and emulsifiers, you are left with a very small percentage of active ingredients in those products. So what are you paying for? And since those products are essentially “watered down,” you need to use more product to get the effects you’re after, resulting in a more costly product for you.
Instead of water, all of Oliveda’s products’ main ingredient is hydroxytyrosol. Hydroxytyrosol is a potent antioxidant that acts as a shield against environmental stressors by neutralizing free radicals to prevent damage. It is also scientifically proven to reduce oxidative stress as well as promote collagen production. Hydroxytyrosol also has anti-inflammatory properties, which address many skin care concerns that arise from inflammation.
Oliveda is a European company, manufacturing all products in Germany, which is a big deal when it comes to the safety of the ingredients. Oliveda also sources all of their ingredients used in their products from olive groves in Spain that use biodynamic farming; they are wild-growing and eco-certified. This is important because biodynamic plants and trees are grown in living soil, which provides higher quality health and nutrition that is not possible when chemical fertilizers are used or hydroponic growing is used. In the US, personal care product companies do not have to register with the FDA or provide them with ingredient statements. European personal care standards are much stricter than the US, with over 1,300 banned substances compared to the US’s 11. Of all the regulations in our country, cosmetics and personal care products have some of the lowest, if not the lowest, standards. This is very worrisome when you realize these are the products you are applying daily, sometimes multiple times a day, onto your largest organ – your skin.
There are many benefits to using waterless skincare based on hydroxytyrosol. First, you’re getting what you’re paying for, instead of water and preservatives. Because these products are highly concentrated, a little goes a long way, meaning you will save money because you will be buying products less frequently. The antioxidant power of hydroxytyrosol has many benefits for the skin, including but not limited to: helping to retain moisture, anti-aging by combating free radicals that can damage cells, promoting skin brightening by supporting cell turnover, and reducing inflammation, hyperpigmentation, acne, and dark spots.
