LIVING NATURE SKIN, BODY AND COSMETIC PRODUCTS

HOW DOES LIVING NATURE PRESERVE THEIR PRODUCTS?
Living Nature uses a unique preservative system that took five years to develop. It's based on several New Zealand plant extracts and pure vitamin E, extracted from soy and wheat, not genetically modified. The extracts are bactericides and fungicides, and the vitamin E is an antioxidant, which stops the oils from going rancid. Right now, its a combination of Manuka Oil extract, Vitamin E, and Gum Benzoin. This formula will change in the future with various other extracts containing antiseptic qualities.

WHAT IS THE VITAMIN E DERIVED FROM?
From Non GMO Soy.

WHAT IS THE XANTHUM GUM DERIVED FROM?
It is from Non GMO Microbial derived carbohydrate.

CAN LIVING NATURE PRODUCTS GO "OFF"?
It is true that Living Nature's preservative system is not as effective as synthetic chemicals. Living Nature's products have a shelf life between 1 and 4 years, which for most customers is plenty of time. To keep the natural plant extracts alive, Living Nature products should be stored in a cool place, away from direct sunlight. We inspect every Living Nature product that we get in and ship out, to make sure it is fresh. If an item would get by us by accident, you can be confident that we'll replace it without charge.

HOW DO I CONSERVE THE SHELF LIFE?
Living Nature has designed the products to last from 2 to 3 years but to ensure this, keep the product cool and away from light. Keeping the product in the fridge is not necessary unless you live in a hot climate. It is quite important to keep the product under 25 degrees. Window-sills are not a good place for skincare to sit because sunlight will usually come into the window some time during the day. Light will increase the speed of oxidisation and therefore, disable the preservative system. It's important to realize that because our products are natural, they will deteriorate. Normal cosmetics bought these days are designed to cope with these conditions by using synthetic chemically based ingredients.

DOES LIVING NATURE USE ANIMAL TESTING OR ANIMAL PRODUCTS?
It has consistently been demonstrated that animal products do not add benefit to a skin cream. They are basically DEAD MEAT, which when added onto the skin putrefy. Putting ingredients like collagen, taken from a dead animal, can in no logical way create the production of collagen in our skin tissue. The only way collagen can have an effect is by being injected under the epidermal layer. It then gradually breaks down over 6 months to a year and is removed by the blood as toxins and waste product. As for animal testing, NO. Not only is it unnecessary to animal test, it is also unscientific, as many animals do not have similar immune systems or skin tissue to humans. Now cells grown from placental tissue is an excellent way to see any detrimental effects of raw materials. Animal testing is not a requirement for most cosmetics and is used more in the medical field. Each product has a special "Bunny" logo on the cosmetics certifying that they are opposed to animal testing in any form and also that they are a member of the International Society that sets standards and monitors animal testing.

DOES LIVING NATURE USE GENETICALLY MODIFIED INGREDIENTS OR PETROCHEMICALS?
It’s pretty scary what is now happening to many vegetable products. We have made it a policy to use no GM ingredients and have requested proof from our suppliers that the raw materials have not been modified. We do not use petrochemicals either. Both petro-chemically derived mineral oils, or synthetically made mineral oils, asphixiate the skin, blocking pores. They are often used because they are cheap and have a very nice initial skin feel. The immediate feeling of a mineral oil, which allows the skin to move more elastically, soothes many dry skin conditions but they do not provide nutrients and just mask the condition.

DOES LIVING NATURE USE RADIATED INGREDIENTS OR HAVE HERBICIDE & PESTICIDE RESIDUES?
Radiation is a standard practice in many countries now, they are trying to make sure no foreign bacteria, flora or fauna enters the country. Unfortunately this kills off all enzyme activity in a raw material, and leaves a residue of radiation. All LN raw materials are verified to be free of radiation, as this is their standard! As for herbicide and pesticide residues, while not all of our extracts are certified organic, most of them are wild crafted, and ALL are tested for residues. We guarantee that they are free of such contaminants.

HOW NUTRITIOUS ARE LIVING NATURE PRODUCTS?
Living Nature products contain over 80 plants that contain unique blends of active molecules that benefit various skin conditions. They are extracted and potentised using various techniques to ensure constant levels of activity. Particularly manuka oil , which is 20 times stronger than Australian Tea Tree against gram-positive organisms! The benefits of honey was discovered thousands of years ago. Various medical research bodies have documented the added benefits of Manuka Honey as an amazing healer of skin tissue! It is good for cold sores, infections, ulcers, bad breath, acne, and head lice.

I HAVE ALLERGIES TO HONEY AND WHEAT. WOULD I WANT TO USE THIS LINE?
It is up to you. But Living Nature suggests the following for this customer: It does depend on the extreme of an allergy to make this judgement - I know that your client would definitly not be able to take these products internally, although applying to the skin, products containing honey,wheat or pollen the absorbtion rate is less and does not pass through the digestive tract. I would suggest to do a patch test on the inner part of the elbow or on the side of the neck and see if there is any reaction. This is the safest and easiest way of picking up an allergy on the skin. The reaction will show up within 12 hours.

I WANT TO KNOW IF LIVING NATURE USES ORGANIC MATERIALS?
In an email dated 06/10/2003, the Living Nature company wrote this to our office: "all our products are organic and GE Free."

HOW DO I KNOW THE PRODUCT WORKS?
Living Nature has written this regarding the question:

There are lots of different ways to test products at various levels.

- customer testimonials (anecdotal)
- monitored customer trials and case studies
- Laboratory testing of raw materials eg. hydration
- Laboratory testing of finished products.

Testing of Raw Materials
" Example of batch analysis certificate, which confirms which active ingredients are present.

" Example of hydration test on olive oil extract:

" Example of Rose Otto gas chromatograph. The graph is basically the signature of an oil. It identifies which molecules are present so if an oil has been contaminated or adulterated, it will show on here:

Testing On Finished Products

" Flow Cytometry - leading technology for studying plant and human cells

Flow cytometry is a unique, experimental cell measurement technology for analysing and sorting plant and mammalian cells. It is invaluable, for example, in finding out how various products will affect human cells.

Some applications:
We are using flow cytometry:
- To study the effects of plant extracts on human cell lines. With the flow cytometer we can measure DNA damage and repair, oxidative stress, mitochondrial membrane potential, intracellular pH and the immune response.
- To measure the efficacy of human health products.

" Example of bacteria/yeast/fungus analysis on finished product - Rose and herb radiance oil.

WHAT KIND OF STANDARDS DOES LIVING NATURE ADHERE TO?
BDIH - Using natural cosmetics is one of the many ways in which LN can apply a complete understanding of nature to the everyday objects they use - and at the same time behave responsibly in relation to our environment.
To this end, Living Nature is proud to be affiliated to BDIH, having fulfilled all the requirements contained in their 'Standards Guideline' and allegeable to carry their trade-mark. An independent control body from Europe ensures that the quality seal criteria are fully complied with.

BDIH stands for Bundesverband Deutscher Industrie- und Handelsunternehmen (Federation of Germany Industries and Trading Firms) for pharmaceuticals, health care goods, food supplements and personal hygiene products, registered association.

In order for Living Nature to be affiliated with BDIH, they have to meet strict criteria standards in order to term our products "natural cosmetics". Some of theses standards include :

- Take into account users' expectations with regards to safe and ecological products.
- Definite standards how raw cosmetic products should be extracted and/or created and how they should be processed.
- When raw products for cosmetics are extracted, measures are taken to ensure that damage to nature is minimised and that no living things are killed, particular attention is paid to the protection of animals and species.
- Interference in the genetic make-up of plants through genetic engineering is rejected.
- Raw materials should be produced in such a way as to protect the environment and minimise the use of chemical processes.
- Packaging should be both economical and environmentally friendly.
- It is forbidden to disinfect organic raw materials and completed cosmetic products using radioactive radiation.

The reason natural raw materials are preferred is their ecological superiority, particularly when they are obtained through controlled cultivation or other responsible means of using natural resources. Moreover, natural substances have evolved alongside mankind, which means that the potential toxicological risk is low. Products containing raw materials which are insufficiently transparent, are not given the certification trademark.

WHAT IS THE EXTRACTION METHOD USED?
The plant essences used by Living Nature are mostly extracted by either of the following methods. The extraction processes are used because, as closely as possible, they capture the pure essence of nature without excessive heating or other processes that may destroy the natural plant properties.
Supercritical Extraction

Supercritical extraction is used extensively by us due to the fact that it not only produces the purest natural plant essences in a gentle way, but it is also extremely environmentally friendly as there are no harmful solvents or other products used during the extraction process. Another advantage is that the entire process takes place at a very low temperature, therefore essential oil properties are not affected by heat in any way.

When a substance is brought above a critical combination of temperature and pressure condition, it exists in what is called the supercritical fluid (SF) state, neither a liquid nor a gas, but rather both.

Either water or Carbon Dioxide is used in the process. Carbon Dioxide is non-toxic and non-flammable, it has a near ambient critical temperature of only 31.1oC and leaves no residue or by-product in the extraction process.

Steam Distillation

Distillation is the process of converting a volatile liquid into a vapour, condensing the vapour by cooling and collecting the condensed liquid. Most essential oils are extracted by the distillation process.

The oil bearing plant material is placed into a still. Steam is passed through the still which causes the oil to vaporise. The mixture of steam and oil vapour then passes through a condenser, where it turns into a liquid in which the oil separates spontaneously from the water.

Macerated / Infused Flower Oils

Some plants contain essential oils with excellent properties, but the oils are extremely difficult to extract from the plant via conventional methods. In order to benefit from these properties, the plants are chopped up and put into a vat of vegetable oil (i.e. pecan oil) and left for a specific period of time. The vegetable oil acts as a solvent, drawing out the soluble plant molecules. The plant material is then filtered out.

Water Infusion

A very simple way of using herbs, an infusion is made in much the same way as tea. The water is used just off the boil, since vigorously boiling water disperses valuable volatile oils in the steam. Living Nature uses this method for flowers and the leafy parts of plants.

What is the Cetearyl alcohol IN YOUR PRODUCTS?
The Cetearyl wheat straw glycosides and cetearyl alcohol that we are using is not really an alcohol at all, it is an emulsifier (cream base) and is very safe, it has no known toxicity. It is a waxy substance resembling human sebum (oil on the skin) and of vegetable origin (wheat straw). It is extracted after the seed heads have been removed from the wheat stalks. It is extremely nourishing and protecting on the skin, which absorbs very well.

IS THERE PALM OR COCONUT DERIVATIVES IN THE HAIR PRODUCTS?
The Nourishing conditioner and shampoo's do have ingredients derived from palm kernel and coconut extract. We would advise that you not to use them if you are allergic to coconut and cocoa butter. The ingredients concerned are Lauryl glucoside, Cetrimonium and Cocamidopropyl betaine.

DOES THE WHEAT STRAW IN YOUR PRODUCTS CONTAIN GLUTEN?
The wheat straw DOES NOT contain gluten.