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uncovering the beauty industry's secret ingredient: water

Researching Ingredients lists can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to the extensive lists of ingredients found in skincare products today. Packaging label requirements state that the list of ingredients printed must be clearly listed from highest to lowest content in the recipe.

Have you ever glanced at the labels of your skincare products and noticed terms like "water," "aqua," or "eau" proudly sitting at the top of the ingredients list? Perhaps you've encountered "purified water," "distilled water," or even "filtered rainwater."

A common ingredients list for a natural product.

Water—regardless of its linguistic presentation—tends to dominate the ingredient lists of most personal care items.

Water holds a significant presence in skincare products, typically constituting between 60% to 80% of many skin creams. Rinse-off products, including hair care, shower gels, or cleansers, might contain as much as 95% water**

Water also serves as a breeding ground for microorganisms, necessitating careful preservation in water-based cosmetics to prevent contamination and microbial growth.

Our approach at Handmaid diverges from this norm. Our tallow-based skin and personal care range prides itself on a distinctive quality—it contains zero water.

This approach provides a product with heightened performance, greater sustainability, and best of all, by being waterless means you require less product usage during application.

Our waterless range of skin and personal care, also means that we can skip the requirement for preservatives in our products and be confident in the natural shelf stable benefit of our ingredients.

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