Unmasking The Benefits of Natural Skincare

Before launching ila, I spent many months pondering the importance of natural skincare for women. Aside from the obvious health benefits, I wanted to create a brand that honoured, respected and strengthened the innate nature of womankind through the pure energy of Mother Earth. A brand of products and treatments that drew on nature’s grace, wisdom and serenity to help women blossom boundlessly, so they could share their energy with their loved ones and great community. Simple, right?

I began with women’s vast capacity to love. A woman’s vital strength is in her heart energy. Her natural path (dharma) is love, feeling and devotion. Inextricably intertwined with Mother Earth’s energy, each woman is herself an embodiment of that force (Shakti) of Mother Nature. Shamans describe this force as being a clockwise rhythm that brings harmony and peace, and cares for all of creation. Each and every woman on this planet has this positive energy to manifest in her life, for society, and for the planet. Each and every woman can bring her drop of change just by awakening to her true feminine spirit.

I looked to the ancient Vedas and ways to bring this wisdom to women: through the skin’s connection to the emotions and spiritual heart and the incorporation of ancient yogic techniques and energy work. I also spent time considering women’s ritualistic tendencies (mostly in terms of self-care and play) and how these once beautiful celebrations of feminine energy were being corrupted into a mask of lies and illusion – the exact opposite of a woman’s true nature of love and joy.

I challenged myself to question my own ‘rituals’. I learnt to develop a new awareness of myself and to watch for positive changes, not only outwardly but in terms of how I felt inside: my own inner glow. I realised how connected the two are – how radiant skin comes from a happy, balanced heart and how an inner glow is fuelled by ‘letting go’ of the barriers that tie us to our outward selves. And I became increasingly alarmed at the ways in which unnatural products were being used by women worldwide, every day, to mask not only their natural beauty, but their connection with the world around them and, ultimately, with themselves.

Let me explain a little further…

Our skin is our body’s largest organ. It is similar to the liver in its multi-functionality, and a vital part of our immune system. Whatever is put onto our skin is absorbed into our bodies and, soon enough, makes its way into our lymphatic channels.

Our natural internal workings are such that the body will generally recognise the imprint of anything that comes from nature, and utilise its vitality without issue. But the introduction of unnatural substances into our bodies can cause distress, triggering damaging reactions and a devastating masking process…

Increasingly scientists are researching the emotional intelligence of cells – and the impacts of various influences, from emotions to toxins, on cellular chemistry. As women, we have become used to so many unnatural toxins in our body, through our food and through our skincare, that we have essentially forgotten who we are. We have lost that connection to the natural world and to ourselves that defines us as women. We have forgotten the existence of our own beauty and vibrancy.

Natural products help our body remember those truths. They boosts our cells’ emotional intelligence and remind us how brightly we shine and how strongly we flourish – from the inside out – when we cast our masks (and masking agents) aside and reconnect with beauty in its purest, natural sense.

In choosing natural skincare, we begin to ask ourselves honest questions: What am I doing to myself? How in touch with myself am I? How do I respect and reconnect with my inherent femininity and energy? This was, and is, the vision and intent behind ila: empowerment and love through beauty, ritual and lifestyle. 

To me, natural wellbeing products are one very real way of awakening to our true feminine spirit: to help remember how beautiful and vital we each are; to reconnect to our true essence; and to reunite with self and surroundings in glorious unmasked oneness.

This is a guest blog post written by Denise Leicester, founder of Ila Spa.