If you find yourself in the business of skincare, you can’t win! One can never, in my opinion, as much as we would love to - satisfy all customers. Customer demand for natural, organic and chemical free skincare is booming. As a founder of a great skincare range, the list of what keeps me awake at night increases by the day, here is where I tell you why... The honest truth is that with the best will in the world, having completely all-natural, organic and chemical free products comes with its own challenges. It means no preservatives, no stabilisers and no modification to product texture. It means the shelf-life of a product could be significantly low. But I want Naturally Tribal customers to purchase products that last for a good amount of time, have an appealing texture and are stable on/for the skin. I did the research and here’s the route that my Naturally Tribal partner, Francis, and I took: We have kept our YARA body food pure, unadulterated and natural with no added preservatives and stabilisers because the formulation has withstood the test of time. To give our customers variety, our AGU and IYA Body foods include Cetyl Alcohol, GMS, Phenoxyethanol and Beeswax. Cetyl Alcohol in small amounts helps provide a lovely spreadable texture, stabilises the products and can benefit the skin. Don’t worry, long gone are the days when Cetyl Alcohol was derived from whale oil! It is now derived from plants. Don’t let the word ‘Alcohol’ confuse you, unlike our typical understanding of alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol won't dry out the skin. On the contrary, it works with our other ingredients to soften the skin. The FDA and EU Cosmetics directive allow its use as long as it is derived from plants – which ours is! GMS, also known as Glyceryl Stearate, is a natural fatty acid that is used in our products as an emulsifier. It is derived from vegetable oil, soy or palm kernel. Some of our products include water, which means we needed to ensure inclusion of Phenoxyethanol (which is found in green tea by the way) to fight bacteria. Including less than 1% of a preservative (hence the 99% chemical-free claim) was a good decision in our opinion for our customers' skin protection. Beeswax makes a perfect moisture ‘lock in’ for some of our products. It complements the ability of our ingredients to battle the elements (environment, dry weather etc.) and is a natural barrier which means ‘skin protection’. Our customers have the freedom of choice and to us, honesty will always be the best policy! Know your products, know your ingredients, know your skin!