ingredients

The Bliss Body skin care range offers you peace of mind along with the benefits of a natural and nutrient-rich beauty regime. Ultimately, our products are designed to make you feel and look radiantly healthy.  Or, simply put, to induce a feeling of pure bliss.

Shea Nut Butter (Organic)

Shea Nut Butter comes from the Shea Nut Tree which grow naturally in the grasslands of Central and West Africa.  It does not need irrigation, fertiliser, or pesticides and is one of Africa’s most sustainable natural resources.  African women have been using Shea Nut Butter for centuries for its moisturising and healing properties.  It has been used primarily to protect and condition skin which has been damaged by the harsh conditions

Lavender Essential Oil (Organic)

 Lavender oil is extracted mostly from the flowers of the plant, primarily through steam distillation.

The various benefits of Lavender essential oil include the calming scent of lavender. It makes an excellent tonic for the nerves and helps in treating migraines, headaches, anxiety, depression, nervous tension and emotional stress. It has a refreshing aroma that relieves nervous exhaustion and restlessness and increases mental activity.

Lavender essential oil is also an excellent remedy for various types of pains including those caused by sore and tense muscles, rheumatism, sprains and backache.  Massage with lavender oil also provides relief from pain in the joints.

The health benefits of lavender oil for the skin can be attributed to its antiseptic and antifungal properties. It is used to treat various skin disorders such as acne, wrinkles, psoriasis, and other inflammations. It heals wounds, cuts, burns, and sunburns rapidly as it aids in the formation of scar tissues.

Lavender essential oil is also good for improving blood circulation. It lowers blood pressure and is used for hypertension.

Regular use of lavender essential oil provides resistance to diseases.

It is also effective against insect bites. The oil is also used to repel mosquitoes and moths. You will find many mosquito repellents containing lavender oil as one of the ingredients.

Geranium Essential Oil (Organic)

Geranium Essential Oil is an astringent.  Put simply, that means it has a quality that makes muscles and skin contract, immediately improving its appearance.  It also helps scars and spots on skin to heal and fade.

It facilitates blood circulation just below the surface of skin and also helps uniformly distribute melanin and thereby improve skin tone.

Geranium Oil also has anti Bacterial and anti Microbial properties, which means it decreases the chance of bacteria or microbes developing on small cuts and abrasions and causing infections.

Geranium Oil promotes cell health and also encourages recycling of dead cells and regeneration of new skin cells.

Preservatives

Preservatives are a necessary component of every personal care product in order to prevent unhealthy contamination from bacteria, yeasts and molds. Because these products are usually kept in the bathroom -- exposed to warm, moist air everyday -- and we make bodily contact with them on a regular basis (putting our fingers into creams etc), personal care products must be able to withstand repeated exposure to contaminants over long periods of time. Additionally, natural personal care products contain relatively high concentrations of water, oil and herbs, creating a rich environment for microbes to settle and grow.

We reject the use of parabens and other harsh preservatives, but recognise the need for some type of preservative system. To this end, we use a preservative system based on natural ingredients. The system is a blend of commonly used, vegetable-derived materials that have a synergistic effect against microbial contamination. All of the components of this system are listed on the ingredient panels of our products.

We also use a minimal amounts of safe, food-grade preservatives such as phenoxyethanol, benzyl alcohol (both plant derived) and potassium sorbate.

You will never find any of these:

Parabens

Parabens are a family of artificial preservatives found in most cosmetic products. They have been raising red flags to many health researchers as they have been proven to penetrate the skin and can be traced in the blood minutes after application.  Some researchers fear that they may have adverse effects on the body.

One study found parabens present in the breast tissue of 18 out of the 20 breast cancer patients studied (read more here). Because presence does not prove causality, more studies have been called for.

Because the cosmetic use of parabens involves penetration into body tissues without going through the digestive process, the chemicals remain intact in the tissue. It is not known how this affects the surrounding tissue, so it is an area for further study.

It has also been found that parabens are able to mimic the body's own hormones and can disrupt hormone functions in virtually every system in the body.
Parabens are also being studied to determine if they might be the cause of some people’s allergic reactions to cosmetics.

So given the unknown effects parabens have on the human body, you may want to review the ingredients on your skin care and think twice before putting it on your skin.  In any case, at Bliss Body, we think the use of parabens is unnecessary as there are many wonderful natural alternatives available.

DEAs (Diethanolamine)

DEA is diethanolamine, a chemical that is used as a wetting agent in shampoos, lotions, creams and other cosmetics. DEA is used widely because it provides a rich lather in shampoos and keeps a nice looking consistency in lotions and creams. DEA by itself is not harmful but while sitting on the shop shelves or in your cabinet at home, DEA can react with other ingredients in the cosmetic formula to form an extremely potent carcinogen called nitrosodiethanolamine (NDEA). NDEA is readily absorbed through the skin and has been linked with stomach, esophagus, liver and bladder cancers.