Dr. Hauschka vs. Beautiful On Raw
Dr. Hauschka’s is one company whose products and methods are very popular with health-seeking, beauty conscious people. A number of years ago, I used and recommended their cosmetics myself.
One of my readers pointed out some differences in our approaches to skin care. Her email prompted me to review carefully Dr. Hauschka’s famous “7 facts that will change your skin.”
Hauschka’s philosophy differs slightly from mine. (Or shall we say mine differs from his? After all, he’s the doctor!) I don’t disagree in every respect, but there are a few tenets that I feel compelled to challenge.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: Hauschka doesn’t address diet. By contrast, I insist that diet is an integral part of skin care. Without a sound diet, your skin will never be healthy. You’ll always have to ‘treat’ skin problems that a poor diet and lifestyle create. Dr. H, despite the fact that his products and methods are based on very high quality plant ingredients, comes from a pharmaceutical perspective. Why not, say I, get to the root of the problem instead of merely dealing with the symptoms?
Is Night Cream Important?
Dr. Hauschka advised to skip the night cream: “Covering the skin with moisturizer 24 hours a day sends a signal to sebaceous glands to cut down on moisture production, resulting in even drier skin that becomes dependent on moisturizing products just to appear “normal.” Hence, do remember to let your skin breathe!”
Nourishing Night Cream
For baby-smooth skin.
Beautiful On Raw:
If you use a day cream that absorbs within five minutes and a night cream that absorbs in an hour or two, you still have 21 hours and 55 minutes to let your skin breathe! Ask anyone who has passed the 40 year mark—over time skin becomes less able to care for itself. Our sebaceous glands cut down on moisture production as we age, so our skin needs help. A truly natural cream can supply the needed moisture. You can stimulate your sebaceous glands through massage, dry brushing and vigorous exfoliation from the outside and good nutrition from the inside, so skin cells will renew themselves faster.
Like treats like.
Dr. H says: “Though it might seem counterintuitive to apply oil to an oily complexion, it’s actually the most logical solution. The skin knows whether it’s sufficiently protected, producing more of its own oil when skin is dry and less when it's balanced.” If we treat dry skin with rich, heavy creams or oils, he says, we effectively trick our skin into believing it’s been producing too much of its own oil. In response, it decreases production, perpetuating a dry skin cycle.
Beautiful On Raw:
We want to get away from treating “oily” or “dry” skin. We want our skin to be neither especially oily nor dry. The solution is diet, not a special cream.
Facial Strigil
Stimulate cell renewal.
Should You Scrub Your Skin?
Dr. Hauschka says: Stop scrubbing—your skin is not the bathroom floor. Soaps, scrubs, and exfoliants can strip your face of its natural protection, leading to dry, irritated skin and an appearance of premature aging. Hauschka’s adherents use the “press and roll” method, aimed at encouraging the lymph system’s function and cleansing the skin without stripping the acid mantle.
Beautiful On Raw:
Harsh ingredients can irritate and dry the skin. However, scrubbing and exfoliation, by themselves, do not amount to harshness. “Damaging” the skin ever so slightly, roughing it up a bit, stimulating it, is a well-known technique among skin care experts. Skin will rejuvenate itself when exposed to damage. (Don’t be afraid of the word damage. It’s the same with muscle: The weightlifter “damages” his muscles slightly every time he hits the gym, but this damage stimulates repair and new growth.) That’s part of the reason you look better after a cosmetic procedure, but only temporarily. What if you rough up your skin just a little every day and it’s constantly rejuvenating itself and looking better? This is what daily exfoliation does, increasing circulation and oxygenation.
Facial Brush
For a glowing complexion.
All debate aside, I do believe Dr. Hauschka’s company and products to be among the most impressive available today. I am only pointing out how our philosophies variously differ. Dr. H does not address diet, so, in his world, skin must be babied, constantly treated for problems. I encourage a skin-building, skin-fortifying diet, building up the skin’s tolerance gradually in order to cause it to repair, rejuvenate and shine.