The waterless skincare industry is growing. It’s a trend that has been going on for a while now, and it only seems to be picking up steam as more people are learning about the benefits water-free cosmetics can have. But what exactly does waterless mean? Why should you care if your skin care routine doesn’t include water? And how do water-free products work with anhydrous skincare ingredients? We’ll answer all of these questions and more in this blog post!
What is water-based skin care?
If you take a look at the label of any skincare product you will most certainly find water as the first ingredient of the ingredient list, which means that this is the ingredient in the highest proportion within the product. And, why not? water is a great solvent and it’s a natural ingredient that usually doesn’t pose any threat to the skin.
However skincare which use water as its main ingredient have raised some concerns:
- Some skincare companies have added water in excess which means that active ingredients that could really feed your skin are less concentrated.
- Water is definitely the greatest environmental preservation concern nowadays and more sustainable options are being demanded by the consumers
- Products with water means the risk of bacteria contamination and therefore the need of using preservatives which are not necessary well tolerated by all the skin types.
- Traditional products considered in the water beauty segment, like creams or shower gels, need packaging options which most often are made of glass or plastic. Less packaging has become a strong trend due to the carbon footprint that skin care products containers generate. If you want to read more about how cosmetic products can affect environment you can read our previous post on this regards.
- Water is not the best medium for delivering actives. Actives are the ingredients that are responsible for the skin care product’s effectiveness. In other words, they are the most important ingredients that need to be delivered to your body. Since water molecules are attracted to each other and form strong bonds, they can prevent actives from penetrating the skin efficiently, thus hindering the delivery of water-soluble actives.
What is waterless beauty?
With these limitations, countless companies in the beauty space have been implementing waterless beauty products. This is just how it sounds like – skincare products that do not contain water. These products are able to surpass the different limitations that come with products that include that precious resource called water as its main ingredient.
Why waterless beauty is becoming a huge trend in the beauty industry?
Now that we’ve talked about water-based skincare, it is time we present the key benefits that beauty products of anhydrous nature can bring to your skin.
Concentration and unnecessary fillers
First of all, waterless beauty can offer highly concentrated products that could offer better benefits. This happens because by not depending on water as the main solvent, these beauty products do not have to worry about their ingredients diluting offering a higher percentage of active ingredients that feed your skin in a more potent way.
Sustainable Choice
Including free of water products in your beauty routine, can reduce water consumption which is a major sustainability concern nowadays. On the other hand, because these products usually come in solid presentation, a wider range of sustainable packaging may be used, which is very appreciated by consumers and by our planet.
Moisturizing properties
A proper moisturizer is a MUST in your beauty range and it refers to bringing the correct level of water to your skin. This can be done in two ways: feeding your skin with water or preventing water evaporates from you.
Anhydrous beauty can offer same results and moisturizing benefits, by creating a protective film within your skin that prevents either water or good stuff included in the formula from evaporating as quickly.
Harsh ingredients
Waterless beauty products tend to be more gentle since they do not have the same harsh ingredients that most beauty products contain and that are used to prevent bacteria appearance and extend shelf life.
In contrast, anhydrous products can have a longer shelf life just by adding antioxidant ingredients like vitamin e, so they do not have to depend on chemical preservatives or other synthetics to last for a long time.
Waterless beauty vs Water based beauty
Ok, so far we have seen which are the reasons why anhydrous skincare is opening itself a big space in the beauty industry and the weakness that water based products have shown that have allowed this trend. But it would be unfair if we don’t cover the pros and cons of both water-based and waterless products. Then, you can have all the elements to take a proper decision about how to keep your skin healthy while you help to the planet.
Disadvantages of waterless skin care
Cost. Anhydrous products are more expensive precisely because the absence of water. Traditional products using water as its main ingredient, result in a very economical formula compared to using a highly concentrated formula completely made of oils and active ingredients.
Range. Our skin is made of both oils and water. That suggests that our skincare range of products should have both. Using only anhydrous products can keep you from using amazing ingredients that are only water soluble like some plant extracts or high performance ingredients. This could lead you to have a less effective product in delivering benefits to your skin.
Varying textures. When using water in products you can find a wide range of textures and presentations. Removing water from these, can result in limiting the presentation options and therefore, limiting the ability of creating pleasant experiences from your skincare routine.
Benefits of water-based skincare
Market availability. Water-based skincare products have been around for a long time and are very popular because they are easy to find and an economical way to have your skin healthy.
Versatility. Being such a great solvent, water is able to mix with a wide range of ingredients. This give us as those in the skincare space the ability to create endless formulas rich in amazing water soluble ingredients which would be more limited than using only oil soluble ingredients.
Moisture. Water is the best way to keep your skin hydrated. Even though a film created in a waterless formulation is necessary, nothing replaces ingredients rich in humectant moisturizing properties. In this blog, you can find more information about how to treat dryness in skin.
How to implement waterless products in my skincare routine?
As you saw before, in order to get the best results out of your skincare routine, you should aim for a balance between water-based and waterless products in a way their strengths complement their weaknesses. To do this we recommend you follow the following tips:
Start of your routine
At the start of your routine, you should use an oil based cleanser. This emulsifies with sebum so you can remove that excess oil from your face. we recommend using products that contain ingredients such as castor oil, jojoba oil, apricot kernel oil or olive oil as they are all great for dissolving oil-based impurities and grime from your face and body.
What I love of oil-based cleansers is that are not just highly concentrated rich ingredients but a very gentle way to clean all skin types. Even oily skin can benefit adding this water free step followed by a water based cleanser (In this blog you can read everything you need to take care of oily skin).
Follow up
After you have removed the excess oils from your face, follow with a water-based moisturizer. This can come in a serum presentation or a light cream according to what your skin type loves.
End of your routine
At the end of your routine, specially at nights, it would be awesome to incorporate an anhydrous product like an oil serum for example, that will keep moisture within your skin and protect it from external agents.
¿Cuáles son los mejores productos sin agua?
Now if this is your first time hearing about waterless products in skin care, you may be wondering, which ingredients are the best for your skin, so here i will give you a list of our favorite ingredients in natural anhydrous beauty products:
- Clay: These powders are a potent ingredient for oily skin as they have a natural ability to cleanse away oil and toxins from the skin, as well as tighten pores.
- Oils: These natural ingredients are very popular not just because are great at moisturizing your skin through sealing water in it, but because they are fully concentrated in fatty acids which are the main food for our skin.
- Butters: another popular ingredient in waterless skincare. They bring same benefits as oils, but also tend to be a bit thicker, which makes them greater sealers and can create medium viscosity products like creams. Ingredients such as shea butter and cocoa butter are good butters to look for.
- Waxes: These have a great performance in those parts of our skin that usually dehydrate faster like lips for example. That is why are the main ingredient in lip protector products. Waxes are also very hard, so are the main character in solid waterless products. Ingredients such as beeswax and Carnauba wax are perfect for this.
And here we are at the end of this article. We hope you’ve found this post helpful and informative. If so, please share it on your social media channels! Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below what waterless cosmetics products you love or if there is a question that still needs to be answered. You can also find more posts like this one by visiting our blog!
The waterless skincare industry is growing. It’s a trend that has been going on for a while now, and it only seems to be picking up steam as more people are learning about the benefits water-free cosmetics can have. But what exactly does waterless mean? Why should you care if your skin care routine doesn’t include water? And how do water-free products work with anhydrous skincare ingredients? We’ll answer all of these questions and more in this blog post!
What is water-based skin care?
If you take a look at the label of any skincare product you will most certainly find water as the first ingredient of the ingredient list, which means that this is the ingredient in the highest proportion within the product. And, why not? water is a great solvent and it’s a natural ingredient that usually doesn’t pose any threat to the skin.
However skincare which use water as its main ingredient have raised some concerns:
- Some skincare companies have added water in excess which means that active ingredients that could really feed your skin are less concentrated.
- Water is definitely the greatest environmental preservation concern nowadays and more sustainable options are being demanded by the consumers
- Products with water means the risk of bacteria contamination and therefore the need of using preservatives which are not necessary well tolerated by all the skin types.
- Traditional products considered in the water beauty segment, like creams or shower gels, need packaging options which most often are made of glass or plastic. Less packaging has become a strong trend due to the carbon footprint that skin care products containers generate. If you want to read more about how cosmetic products can affect environment you can read our previous post on this regards.
- Water is not the best medium for delivering actives. Actives are the ingredients that are responsible for the skin care product’s effectiveness. In other words, they are the most important ingredients that need to be delivered to your body. Since water molecules are attracted to each other and form strong bonds, they can prevent actives from penetrating the skin efficiently, thus hindering the delivery of water-soluble actives.
What is waterless beauty?
With these limitations, countless companies in the beauty space have been implementing waterless beauty products. This is just how it sounds like – skincare products that do not contain water. These products are able to surpass the different limitations that come with products that include that precious resource called water as its main ingredient.
Why waterless beauty is becoming a huge trend in the beauty industry?
Now that we’ve talked about water-based skincare, it is time we present the key benefits that beauty products of anhydrous nature can bring to your skin.
Concentration and unnecessary fillers
First of all, waterless beauty can offer highly concentrated products that could offer better benefits. This happens because by not depending on water as the main solvent, these beauty products do not have to worry about their ingredients diluting offering a higher percentage of active ingredients that feed your skin in a more potent way.
Sustainable Choice
Including free of water products in your beauty routine, can reduce water consumption which is a major sustainability concern nowadays. On the other hand, because these products usually come in solid presentation, a wider range of sustainable packaging may be used, which is very appreciated by consumers and by our planet.
Moisturizing properties
A proper moisturizer is a MUST in your beauty range and it refers to bringing the correct level of water to your skin. This can be done in two ways: feeding your skin with water or preventing water evaporates from you.
Anhydrous beauty can offer same results and moisturizing benefits, by creating a protective film within your skin that prevents either water or good stuff included in the formula from evaporating as quickly.
Harsh ingredients
Waterless beauty products tend to be more gentle since they do not have the same harsh ingredients that most beauty products contain and that are used to prevent bacteria appearance and extend shelf life.
In contrast, anhydrous products can have a longer shelf life just by adding antioxidant ingredients like vitamin e, so they do not have to depend on chemical preservatives or other synthetics to last for a long time.
Waterless beauty vs Water based beauty
Ok, so far we have seen which are the reasons why anhydrous skincare is opening itself a big space in the beauty industry and the weakness that water based products have shown that have allowed this trend. But it would be unfair if we don’t cover the pros and cons of both water-based and waterless products. Then, you can have all the elements to take a proper decision about how to keep your skin healthy while you help to the planet.
Disadvantages of waterless skin care
Cost. Anhydrous products are more expensive precisely because the absence of water. Traditional products using water as its main ingredient, result in a very economical formula compared to using a highly concentrated formula completely made of oils and active ingredients.
Range. Our skin is made of both oils and water. That suggests that our skincare range of products should have both. Using only anhydrous products can keep you from using amazing ingredients that are only water soluble like some plant extracts or high performance ingredients. This could lead you to have a less effective product in delivering benefits to your skin.
Varying textures. When using water in products you can find a wide range of textures and presentations. Removing water from these, can result in limiting the presentation options and therefore, limiting the ability of creating pleasant experiences from your skincare routine.
Benefits of water-based skincare
Market availability. Water-based skincare products have been around for a long time and are very popular because they are easy to find and an economical way to have your skin healthy.
Versatility. Being such a great solvent, water is able to mix with a wide range of ingredients. This give us as those in the skincare space the ability to create endless formulas rich in amazing water soluble ingredients which would be more limited than using only oil soluble ingredients.
Moisture. Water is the best way to keep your skin hydrated. Even though a film created in a waterless formulation is necessary, nothing replaces ingredients rich in humectant moisturizing properties. In this blog, you can find more information about how to treat dryness in skin.
How to implement waterless products in my skincare routine?
As you saw before, in order to get the best results out of your skincare routine, you should aim for a balance between water-based and waterless products in a way their strengths complement their weaknesses. To do this we recommend you follow the following tips:
Start of your routine
At the start of your routine, you should use an oil based cleanser. This emulsifies with sebum so you can remove that excess oil from your face. we recommend using products that contain ingredients such as castor oil, jojoba oil, apricot kernel oil or olive oil as they are all great for dissolving oil-based impurities and grime from your face and body.
What I love of oil-based cleansers is that are not just highly concentrated rich ingredients but a very gentle way to clean all skin types. Even oily skin can benefit adding this water free step followed by a water based cleanser (In this blog you can read everything you need to take care of oily skin).
Follow up
After you have removed the excess oils from your face, follow with a water-based moisturizer. This can come in a serum presentation or a light cream according to what your skin type loves.
End of your routine
At the end of your routine, specially at nights, it would be awesome to incorporate an anhydrous product like an oil serum for example, that will keep moisture within your skin and protect it from external agents.
¿Cuáles son los mejores productos sin agua?
Now if this is your first time hearing about waterless products in skin care, you may be wondering, which ingredients are the best for your skin, so here i will give you a list of our favorite ingredients in natural anhydrous beauty products:
- Clay: These powders are a potent ingredient for oily skin as they have a natural ability to cleanse away oil and toxins from the skin, as well as tighten pores.
- Oils: These natural ingredients are very popular not just because are great at moisturizing your skin through sealing water in it, but because they are fully concentrated in fatty acids which are the main food for our skin.
- Butters: another popular ingredient in waterless skincare. They bring same benefits as oils, but also tend to be a bit thicker, which makes them greater sealers and can create medium viscosity products like creams. Ingredients such as shea butter and cocoa butter are good butters to look for.
- Waxes: These have a great performance in those parts of our skin that usually dehydrate faster like lips for example. That is why are the main ingredient in lip protector products. Waxes are also very hard, so are the main character in solid waterless products. Ingredients such as beeswax and Carnauba wax are perfect for this.
And here we are at the end of this article. We hope you’ve found this post helpful and informative. If so, please share it on your social media channels! Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below what waterless cosmetics products you love or if there is a question that still needs to be answered. You can also find more posts like this one by visiting our blog!
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