Do you suffer with random skin flare-ups but can never pinpoint the cause? You’re not alone. Many of us feel trapped in this cycle of second guessing what might be triggering our skin, from stress and hormones to the food we eat or wondering if a new product has caused irritation. We either give up trying to understand it and live with the discomfort, which inevitably affects our confidence – or we start excessively experimenting with new skincare regimes that often lead us back to square one.
Sound familiar? We’ve all been there. The acute lack of evidence in the skincare industry has left us all in the dark, which is why Oodee is so driven to change how we approach the products that we topically apply to our skin. You wouldn’t risk your heart or lungs if you knew that certain ingredients might trigger them, so why risk it with the body’s largest organ: the skin.
The free-from school of thought has worked wonders in educating people around food intolerances and allergies with clear labelling and emphasising major allergens in ingredients list. This is a necessary shift given that reports show 20% of the UK population react to certain foods and class themselves within the hypersensitive category*. As a result, more and more people choose free-from food options, such as gluten-free and dairy-free alternatives, even if they don’t have an allergy because fundamentally, it’s just not worth the risk.
If you’re allergic to an ingredient found in your skincare – for example you have a gluten allergy and are using an oat-based skincare product, which is derived from gluten – you’re potentially triggering the skin every time you apply it. “The reason for this is that when you’re allergic to a food, your immune system is primed to act against it, and so whether you’re exposed to it orally or via the skin, you may well experience unpleasant symptoms,” says Alex Gazzola, Director of the Free From Skincare Awards. “People can react to multiple ingredients in skincare – preservatives and fragrances as well as food components – so unpicking the causes and finding safe cosmetics can be a huge problem for many.”
Our Founder Karen Harwood knew this risky territory all too well, and finding the solution was the catalyst in developing Oodee’s one-of-a-kind Allergen Neutral™ formulations. “I had spent over a decade trying to find the solution for my painful skin flare-ups, from alternative therapies to strict diet regimes, and yet ironically, despite years of skincare experience, this was the last thing that I thought of to connect the dots,” she says. “There were no plant-based skincare products out there that didn’t contain the food allergens we know to be problematic, as well as the other obvious culprits, like fragrance.”
With this in mind, the Oodee team spent four years creating a science-backed product range that eliminates all known food and fragrance allergens, including dairy, eggs, gluten, peanuts, soy, parabens and both synthetic fragrances and those blended from natural essential oils. Instead of these known irritants, every formula is boosted with DermaRDE+™, the ultimate multivitamin for the skin, and combined with nature’s weird and wonderful hero ingredients like radish root ferment and panthenol. What’s more, every product is blended with Allergen Neutral™ fragrances created through flavour technology to deliver the sensorial aspect of scent minus the potential irritants.
Fundamentally, Allergen Neutral™ skincare is peace of mind. It’s empowerment as a consumer to navigate your skincare routine with confidence – knowing that every product has been formulated with acute attention to detail and zero risk to your skin health. If you’re looking to nourish your skin from the outside in and do good for the environment too (think less bottles, less energy consumption), then our CELESTIAL Radiance Duo is the ultimate place to start. It’s simple, effective and inspired by a back-to-basics, ‘skinimalist’ approach.
We believe that your skin deserves the best and if in doubt, just remember, the feeling is neutral.
*The Association of UK Dietitians (BDA), 2015.