On the 11.02. Latvian television screened a documentary “The toxic Beauty”. The film’s description on the LTV website was telling: “The film talks about how many harmful substances can actually be in skincare products. Scientists note that many cosmetics contain more than 1000 harmful substances that can cause hormonal changes, developmental disorders and increase the risk of male infertility. Among the other dangers listed were diabetes, cancer, infertility, obesity, and skin diseases.”

How to understand how safe a product is, and which products should be avoided?

We asked these questions to the representatives of the manufacturer of a professional-grade skincare GMT BEAUTY – certified cosmetologist Teresa Belkova and head of the production Janis Graudins.

We, at GMT BEAUTY, felt immediately appearance of that film on the screen, as it was causing a huge interest about our ingredients and skincare products. Customers did call and asked if our products contain any harmful substances mentioned in the film, whether our products are safe in general. Beauticians who work with our professional products in their beauty salons on daily bases know well that our products are safe. Knowing the effectiveness and safety of our products, many of them decided to sell GMT BEAUTY products for home use to their customers, as demand increased rapidly. We truly felt the resonance.

Is it really so bad? We can give some comments based only on our experience.
From our first day on, GMT BEAUTY was educating customers about skincare, the formulations, effectiveness and proper use of a skincare products.

The current legislation in Europe and the USA does not guarantee that the market is completely protected from the penetration of low-quality and sometimes even dangerous cosmetics.

That is why we always telling our customers- please, read the (back)labels and familiarize the ingredients, and you will be more protected from exposure to various hazardous substances. Of course, the client may not know all the ingredients and their names, but they should know at least the names of the main ingredients with which they should be careful when buying and using skincare products.

There are several ways to ensure that a product is safe:

1. To understand what ingredients are inside in the skincare product and in which percentage, you need to know that the list of ingredients is created in descending order from largest to smallest. Most often, at the top of the list is aqua – water. At the end are listed those ingredients that have the smallest volume percentage in the product. For example, if you see that natural oils or active ingredients are listed after the aroma (Perfume, Aroma), then in general it means that those ingredients are in such a low concentration in the product, that it is very difficult to expect significant effectiveness from them.

2. There are a number of substances that skincare of 21st century should not contain. Using of those substances are not prohibited by legislation, but there are new, natural and more skin-friendly substitutes that manufacturers could use. If you see names such as parabens (various phthalates), BHT, BHA, PEG, liquidum paraffinum (petrolatum), silicone (cyclomethicone), triclosan, DEA, sodium lauryl sulfate (various), aluminum, talc, formaldehyde and others, you should seriously consider whether to use such cosmetics at all.

3. The presence of certificates and quality marks on the product packaging. If the product has a certificate, for example Ecocert, this gives additional confidence that the product is safe to use and does not contain harmful substances. However, some of certificates often serve only as a marketing tool. Today, there are many different certification institutions, and the authenticity of their marks cannot be always confirmed. Therefore, we recommend to check the validity of the mark / certificate and familiarize yourself with the ingredients of the product.

4. If the description of product promises that wrinkles will disappear within a week, then make sure which methods will be used to achieve this result, since a quick or immediate effect can be achieved only by aggressively affecting the surface of the skin. This approach does not provide a long-lasting effect and does not solve the problem but often deepens it. The effect of a skincare product can be evaluated after four to six weeks. This is the one skin-renewing cycle. So therefore, GMT BEAUTY uses only proven natural active ingredients that have been scientifically developed by using biotechnology and certainly clinically tested. For example, plant extracts that work like Botox, deep and natural moisturizers, ingredients which are a natural alternative to fillers, and a substance that can lift-up the breasts. This is not a miracle, it’s just science.

5. The percentage of natural substances in the skincare product. To achieve 100% natural composition in a skincare product is possible, and there is nothing unusual in it, but only by understanding the composition, you can make sure that this product is really 100% natural. In products of GMT BEAUTY, the composition of natural ingredients varies from 98.5% to 100%. As we use electrolytes in our products to achieve better efficacy of the electrical conductivity of products, we have use cosmetic bases that are synthesized. Bases of formula on natural substances do not provide the necessary stability of electrical conductivity yet. Nevertheless, we are constantly experimenting with the latest scientific achievements in this field in order to find a suitable natural base.

6. The price level of the product. If a product for 5 euros promises a cosmetic – miracle to the consumer, it would be foolish to expect that the product contains effective high-quality natural ingredients.

7. Aroma in products. An irresistible aroma affects the desire to purchase a product, but be careful, aroma is a small trap. Read the (back)label and you will realize if there is anything else in this product rather than an irresistible smell. All GMT BEAUTY products have natural aromas. Instead of artificial aroma, we use combination of lemongrass and grapefruit essential oils, which are absolutely safe for the skin and do not affect the product formula. They are volatile and not harmful.

8. Bubble masks and other cosmetic wonders. Various cosmetics with different effects regularly appear on the market, for example, such as bubble or magnetic masks. Be careful with those! Effects are often not achieved by natural ingredients and can be harmful to your skin.

9. Manufacturer. Pay attention to the manufacturers of cosmetics also. How reliable and transparent are they? Would it be possible to contact the manufacturer, visit them or they are hiding behind a mailbox address? This is not rare when comes out that cosmetics are produced at an unknown place, somewhere in the basement of a house or in the best case in the kitchen, and most probably it is neither safe nor hygienic.

10. Professional-grade skincare – this type of skincare products is used by certified beauty specialists and doctors. Therefore, skincare products of that level are usually effective and at the same time safe, harmless, non-allergic, and, also suitable for sensitive skin. Professional-grade skincare products require a high level of quality and safeness. GMT BEAUTY as manufacturer professional-grade skincare products, we cannot afford to produce low-quality products or products, that are hazardous to our health. Our customers and their customers deserve the best skincare products. Otherwise there is a risk to lose their trust. But we cherish their trust.

11. Health Inspection. In case of any doubts with a skincare product, you can contact the Health Inspection for checkup. The Health Inspection controls manufacturers of cosmetic products on regular basis in terms of production and their compliance with the regulations and legislation of cosmetic manufacturing. Our company is not an exception and the Health Inspection regularly pays us a visit.

12. There is a lot of information available in the Internet for evaluation of a cosmetic product and its safety. But again be careful. Do not believe in everything you read and remember the acquired information must be critically evaluated. If you require a trustworthy information, you can look at sites such as http://www.safecosmetics.org/ or http://www.cosmeticanalysis.com/ and remember that an educated client is protected from “pure marketing”!

We do hope that we were able to give you some insight of skincare market. If you have doubts or are not sure about some of the ingredients and seek for answers, we are open to all your questions and will help you as much as possible. You can either call or visit us, and we will definitely help you.

The safety and effectiveness of professional-grade skincare products of GMT BEAUTY has been approved by hundreds of certified beauty care professionals who have been working with us over a decade already.

If you still have doubts which cosmetic products to choose, then you should try professional-grade skincare of GMT BEAUTY, produced in Latvia for you with guaranteed quality, safety and effectiveness.