Have you looked at the mirror today? What your face tells you? Can you see the sparks in your eyes or tiredness? When you are happy, well – nourished, your face glows with health and energy but any imbalance in your body will immediately appear on your skin. To cover it up we use all sorts of makeup to look fresh again. In the long run, this temporary solution may cause a serious damage to our body. We often don’t realize that every single day we apply on our skin harsh chemicals that enter our bloodstream and inner organs.

Luckily, our clever body has a natural system to protect us from poisoning ourselves and to do so it works very hard to find a way to release toxins. How and why it is important to pay attention to what we apply on our skin? These questions I asked Alev Igcioglu, natural cosmetic producer, who I met on my recent trip to Cambridge market. Alev shares the same principle as Nature Without Limits ‘what cannot be eaten it should not be applied

How and why it is important to pay attention to what we apply on our bodies? I asked Alev Igcioglu natural cosmetic producer market to share her opinion with us. Alev applies the same principle as Nature Without Limits ‘what cannot be eaten it should not be applied to the skin’.

Why do you think natural cosmetics are better?

I believe that natural and organic products are better for our skins because what we put on our skins eventually ends up in our bodies. We should not put anything on our skins that we couldn’t eat. I know my body appreciates anything comes from the earth naturally. When we use something made or created in the laboratories like synthetics, chemicals, preservatives, any type of additives on our bodies, that is when the sensitivities and irritations begin.

What makes you start making your own cosmetic?

When my daughter was 3 months old, she started having eczema. The result of that, my husband and I sought some help from modern medicines. Unfortunately, they mostly prescribed steroid creams for a 3 months old baby. I strongly refused to use them and had my own researches through my background, my father, and my mother. Because of the knowledge of using herbs, plants, and oils my father and my mother thought me, I believed this knowledge is more valuable rather than using medicines mostly based on chemicals.We met a great homeopath in Cambridge and he shared his knowledge with us how to help my daughter too. Since then it has been more than 11 years, we have been making organic soaps for our own use at home as the family.

Why do you think people don’t really pay close attention to chemicals? Why they don’t use natural cosmetics?

Well…. This is really large subject to talk about. The question is when the world started losing the idea of planting, growing, producing, eating and using everything what naturally comes from the earth and when we started mass production. Why this mass and prompt production has brought new plant growing technologies. I believe this is related to many subjects. We should look at the history and there are two events which we shouldn’t ignore: the industrial revolution and the second world war. Especially, after the Second World War in the Western countries, consumers were offered new things, luxury cars, white goods, readymade meals at the supermarkets, entertainments, amusement parks, new working hours regulations, holiday payments etc. So people started spending their savings on the things to make them happier because they needed to feel better after the impact of the war in the world. So who created this circle? This is another big question too. This brings much more mass production. So we are in a circle with a mass production and uncontrollable speedy consuming today.  And again this offers us unnatural growing plantations again which used for eating them or using them on our bodies. My mum is 82 years old and she still makes (even she lives alone now) homemade cooking every day from scratch. She has never purchased readymade meals from supermarkets in her entire life. Even she lives in a big city, she buys everything from local markets which sold everything comes from villages. I have the same routines at my home as my mum does.  I hope my daughter will appreciate what she learns from me in the future. .. I know many people have a consciousness to live like me and my family. My conclusion, I believe people still pay attention to live naturally. Problem is that they do not know how to access and find healthy and affordable goods sometimes. Because of what they are offered at the market mostly comes from big retail companies, advertisement companies. Some people still are naive to believe what they buy at the markets are good and affordable products for their bodies.

What is the alternative?

Plants have been the basis for medical treatments through the history, and we still use this knowledge today.  And herbal medicine is supposed to be the fundamental stone for modern medicine. Unfortunately, I believe that modern medicines have lost this somewhere in the history of itself.

Which are the most powerful methods to stay healthy and positive?

Everybody says eat healthily and do exercise….I say I have a simple lavish expenditure in my life: EATING ORGANIC AND NATURAL FOOD AND USING ORGANIC AND NATURAL PRODUCTS FOR MY SKIN. Even I had financially difficult times; I have kept my promise for my body and naturally for my family. My father was a great earth-lover and arboriculturist. He thought us (we are three siblings) how to respect and protect the surroundings we live in and the earthlings living in that environment. These values are his gift to me to be positive in my life and I try to pass them to my daughter too.

How people take care of their health in your country/ Turkey?

There are lots of choices to stay healthy in my country. There are many local markets selling organically produced vegetables and fruits coming from villages. People are aware of why they should use a natural product for their body. Herbalism is always in our daily life. For example, most people know how to take care of themselves when they have flu. Basically, everybody quickly says in my country “Have lots of herbal teas with lemon, ginger, and honey or apple, mint, and lemon.”

Thank you, Alev for sharing with us your golden tips how to stay healthy.

How about you? How conscious you are on what you apply on your skin? Spread the word with your friends by clicking share buttons, let them know that you care about their health.

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