I found about “Careless Beauty” by Elena Oancea, while I had in mind a change in my beauty routine, in the sense that the products I bought from the pharmacy are not that pure and natural and since we pay so much attention to nutrition let’s start with our skin too.

So I met Adina Oancea, a pharmacist- esthetician who together with her mother Elena Oancea, chemist -esthetician, runs this beautiful business. Actually it all started with her mother’s childhood lived in the Dobrogea countryside where she learnt a lot about plants from her family. For the past 20 years she has been developing her own derma- cosmetics recipes and cultivating people’ need for a healthy routine.

Adina makes it clear for us: “pure and natural” ingredients are derived from natural sources with no synthetic compounds. Taking it a step further, “organic” ingredients are supposed to contain only plant-sourced ingredients that are cultivated without the use of synthetic chemicals, irradiation, or pesticides. And this is what they do: their plantation is harvested in the clean climate of Dobrogea’s country side; they plant, they harvest in precise moments of the year and they gather in their own recipes the “quintessence“ of the plants like: sea buckthorn –Hippophae rhamnoides (catina), Gingko Biloba, brotherwort –Thymus serpillum (cimbrisor), Madonna lily- Lilium candidum (crin alb), eglantine –Rosa Canina (maceșul), English lavender-Lavandula angustifolia (lavanda), Marshmallow–Althaea officinalis (nalba), Scots pine– Pinus sylvestris (muguri de pin), Sweet violet-Viola odorata (violete), Snowdrops–Galanthus officinalis (flori de ghiocel), French marigold-Tagetes patula (craite), Jasmine–Jasminum (iasomie).

Their products, used daily, can help acne or dry skin, wrinkles, pores, sun damage or rosacea, or other skin-care concerns. Of course I personally believe that all these have a part-treatment in nutrition too, cosmetics being a real helper. In plants, there are several unique and powerful organic compounds that can heal a large number of skin issues by regenerating the epidermal cells:  polyphenols (micronutrients with antioxidant activity), terpens (organic compounds- the primary constituents of the essential oils), esters (organic compounds derived from an acid) and many others.

With this need of more natural I had to try few of their products and besides the fact that they only contain natural ingredients with no synthetic compounds which feels very comforting and safe, I felt my skin smoother from the first moment.

Adina will tell us some general guidelines that we should know about pure and natural cosmetics:

”Plants are a particularly good source of compounds with antioxidant properties. What makes them very interesting is that their structure is quickly recognized by our organism, yet, so complex and very hard to reproduce it in the lab. Since the skin surface is 1700 cm³, weights 4-6 kg and it`s a precious key in health evaluation, it is very important to pay attention when choosing your skincare products. Everything absorbed by the epidermis may influence the regeneration process and finally, your skin condition. Most plant extracts have a major therapeutic potential. Just one plant species may contain more than 100 organic compounds with antioxidant properties and this is a huge benefit for the skin. I often say to my customers that every skin disorder can be cured only if we work on regenerating the epidermal cells and improving this process day by day. Even if the benefits of an organic cosmetic product is felt from the first application, it must be used at least 1-3 months to discover it`s true potential. By applying this kind of product daily, the skin absorbs the bioactive compounds found in the plant extracts and processes them gradually. I encourage my customers to read the cosmetics labels, feel free to ask questions and the most important, to pay attention on their skin condition because each year brings something different.”

A less well known herbal ingredient for improving the skin’s texture is the ursolic acid. It is found in apples, basil, bilberries, cranberries, elder flower, peppermint, rosemary, lavender, oregano, thyme, hawthorn, and prunes. The treatment with ursolic acid (which they use in their treatment sessions) can be translated for human skin as providing intense anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties.

“Organic” is a slippery slope, as there are no FDA-approved standards for labeling cosmetic products as organic. Apparently, one of the new pols in the Cosmetics industry has become the “organic products” and if you do not read the product labels and check the ingredients, you are only aligned to a useless fancy trend.

From what Adina Oancea said, it’s important to look for “pure and natural cosmetics”, a term people in the industry use to describe the cosmetics with 100% natural and vegetal ingredients.