Gentle Cleansing Milk (Witch Hazel) - 100ml

Weleda Gentle Cleansing Milk

Deep yet gentle cleansing is the basis for effective facial care at every age. This creamy natural face wash with organic ingredients gently removes dirt and impurities and maintains a healthy balance in your skin without compromising its natural protective functions.

Cleanse your skin gently with this natural face wash. Your beauty begins with Biodynamic iris root extract in our Gentle Cleansing Milk, known for its extraordinary moisture-retaining and regulating properties. Organic jojoba seed oil preserves your natural moisture and acts as an emollient in this natural face wash. Witch hazel is a naturally light astringent and is renowned for its skin-strengthening effects.

Fresh and clean, your skin is perfectly prepared after using our Gentle Cleansing Milk for the next step of your skin care regimen, with our Weleda Refining Toner. To remove your eye make-up you can use our Almond Soothing Facial Oil. Just add a few drops to a damp cotton pad and wipe gently over the eye area.

Skin Health

The skin is the largest organ in the body. It has several important functions. It acts as a barrier to the external environment including harmful microbes, chemicals and radiation. It allows the exchange of water and some nutrients. It can eliminate toxins, minerals and other substances that have built up inside the body.

It modifies vitamins, like vitamin D, into more active forms. It helps to regulate body temperature. It is a monitor as to the health of our internal environment because the skin is one of the last organs to be nourished. Signs of deficiency often show in the skin before other areas of the body have been affected.

Healthy skin also impacts on our mental and emotional well-being because skin is one of the first things we notice when we see someone. Skin can be used to judge a person's age, social status and health. Billions of dollars are spent each year in the cosmetics and personal hygiene industry. A great majority of this is to make our skin look healthier and more youthful. What can we do naturally to help our skin so that it will be healthy and maintain its youthful appearance?

Skin is made up of several layers. The epidermal outer layer contains keratinized skin cells. It is the fibrous, protective shield for the body. The epidermis is firmly attached to inner layers of irregular connective tissue, the dermis. The dermis contains collagen, the structural support, and elastin, the stretchy support. Only the dermis has blood supply, nutrients reach the outer skin layers only by diffusion.
Free radicals are unstable molecules that in their bid to become more stable must bump into healthy cells and cause damage. This can cause cell death, alterations in genetic material and autoimmune reactions to damaged cells. Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is the major contributor of free radicals that build up in the skin.

Skin oil is produced in the sebaceous glands. Its job is to coat the skin and prevent too much water from evaporating off the skin's surface. Water keeps the skin hydrated. The connective tissue in the dermis is composed of elastin and collagen. These substances need a supply of protein and nutrients to repair damage and form new tissue when needed.

A diet high in antioxidants including whole grains, raw fruits and raw vegetables decreases free radical damage. Eat foods high in zinc such as whole grains, sunflower seeds and raw nuts. Eat lots of fruit, especially mango and apricot, for its water content and alpha-hydroxy acids. Sulphur rich foods like garlic, onions, eggs and asparagus, provide raw material for building skin proteins. Essential fatty acids are a source of the good fats for the skin. Use cold pressed oils like flax, olive, sunflower and safflower. Avoid hydrogenated fats, fried foods, soft drinks, sugar, chocolate, junk foods, cigarettes and alcohol.

Drink lots of filtered water to hydrate the skin. Depending on your body size 1.5 to 2L of water daily is usually sufficient. Increase this amount if you exercise, are in a hot climate, drink alcohol or coffee or are taking medications that cause you to lose water.

Detoxification promotes skin health by reducing the build-up of toxins and waste products throughout the body. To help detoxify the body avoid packaged or fast foods, coffee, black tea, chocolate, alcohol, white sugar, salt, condiments, tobacco, dairy products, fried food, preservatives or artificial sweeteners. Consume 2L of filtered water daily, herbal teas and 100% pure fruit juices. Eat fresh or steamed fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, fish, soy products, nuts, seeds, cold pressed vegetable oils and spices. Drink a glass of warm water with the juice of half a lemon each morning to regulate bowel and liver function. Use supplementation to focus the detoxification on one or more organs.

Lifestyle factors, like emotional stress and inactivity, negatively affect skin health. Stress increases the production of free radicals. When an individual is under stress their diet tends to suffer, which can also compromise skin health. Inactivity decreases circulation to the whole body including the skin.

To prevent free radical damage to the skin avoid direct sunlight. Use sunscreens with full UV protection of at least SPF 15. Smoking generates large amounts of free radicals and contributes to skin wrinkling.

Avoid chlorinated tap water for bathing. Use gloves while handling any substance that irritates the skin. Avoid perfumes and colourings in laundry and personal hygiene products. Use glycerin and natural soaps to wash your body, face and hair. Bath or steam the skin with herbs for healing and rejuvenation. Invest in high quality natural cosmetics. Dry skin brushing is a wonderful way to exfoliate the skin, increase circulation to the skin and invigorate the body. Use a natural bristle brush.