The Emotional Benefit of Nature in Organic Skin Care and Essential Oils

Emotions are a driving force for the use of skin care products. The emotional impact may be amplified with the use of natural skin care, more accurately, ingredients from nature in their truest form.

Biophilia

The feeling of connecting to nature and living things

Biophilia is a term referring to the innate biological connection and desire humans have to nature and living things. Large amounts of research can be found showing the health benefits of nature-connection when the concept is used in office design, hospital settings, schools and at home. For instance, recovery after surgery was quicker with less complications when the patients were in a room with trees visible as opposed to cement and no nature views. Several aspects of nature, including shape, texture and sound, are elements that provide a nature relationship. This would include the use of moss walls and water fountains.

Emotions and Nature

It only takes visualizing a trip into nature, the forest, a field of flowers and waterfalls, to better relate to the effect of nature on emotions. Bringing flowers and greenery into your home creates a warmer more relaxed atmosphere. In real estate, fragrancing with the scent of food, citrus or spices is used to create a more positive feeling to the environment, resulting in easier selling. The biological connection to nature and its influence on a healthy emotional state leads to a favorable use of natural ingredients in skin care .

Are natural ingredients better?

This is a question often asked by skin care consumers and the industry. The answer is yes, no, maybe, and better than what? Though this is a topic for a separate article, it can be discussed here for its relevance to contributing to healthy emotions in skin care. The question of “is it better?” if answered yes, would provide a clue to the potential feelings produced by the idea of using natural ingredients. The action of choosing natural as better would naturally provide emotional support, a lift, to the use of the skin care.

Marketing of products is most effective when creating an emotional connection. Marketing an imprint that natural is better and safer has been a strong support to positive, uplifting, and nature connected feelings. These positive healthy emotions are necessary, and better, for healthy skin.

Nature in skin care

Biophilia may take the discussion beyond the marketing and the debate as to whether natural ingredients are better, mostly in comparison to an ill-defined synthetic. The human need to be connected to nature may be partly fulfilled by the use of “from-nature” ingredients. To get beyond just a marketing perception, the ingredients would likely need to be obviously natural in scent, texture and color. Though connecting biophilia to natural skin care is a logical theory that’s not yet supported through any studies, it could be assumed that the feelings and connection to nature would be in place.

The use of natural ingredients has well-known therapeutic properties. Reducing inflammation, powerful antioxidant action and the cell regenerative and wound healing potential are just some of the benefits provided by ingredients extracted from botanical sources. Nature works and is ideal in personal care application.

Nature’s scent and emotions

Ingredients extracted from nature, when left in their purest form (minimally refined) have a fragrance reminiscent of food. Berry seed oils are slightly fruity, olive oil has expected olive notes, cocoa butter is chocolaty and shea butter nutty.

Often used as natural fragrance, essential oils have all the therapeutic properties already mentioned and contribute to emotional balance. Effects that include calming, uplifting, anti-anxiety, and anti-depressant, offer added skin protection by regulating emotions known to generate imbalance and disrupted skin conditions.

Alone, essential oils holistically treat an emotion related cause and the symptoms. Add to this the natural scent of essential oils with a direct connection to nature, amplifying the emotional benefits and the healing potential.

A complete formula of natural extracts combines connected-to-nature texture and scent, where the emotional impact should not be underestimated for complete healing and nurturing of healthy skin.