Why orangutans love natural skin care

28 February, 2009. Tags: Why Natural

Palm oil sounds alright doesn't it? But depending on how it is produced, it can be bad. Really, really bad. Vast areas of habitat are cleared for palm oil plantations every day. This land is critical to the survival of orangutans and they are closer to extinction than most of us realise.

Australia's palm oil consumption

A million kilos of palm oil is imported into Australian each year, where it is used to fry KFC and can be found in other food products such as Sara Lee, Oreo, Tim Tam and Ritz crackers as well as skin care products.

What is palm oil used for?

Palm oil in its natural state contains natural nutrients including carotenes (precursors to Vitamin A) and antioxidant tocotrienols (Vitamin E). It is also often an orange colour due to the high carotene content.

It's a very stable oil which means it has a shelf life and is less likely to go rancid. The antioxidants are wonderfully good for your skin, helping to fight off damaging free-radicals, and it's stability makes it a great moisturising ingredient in natural skin care products.

Traditional palm oil has been used for more than 5000 years in African countries. So, sustainably-produced palm oil is great. However, much of it is not produced sustainably but instead by clearing great swathes of orangutans habitat in Sumatra and Borneo.

How to avoid unsustainable palm oil

Choose natural skin care products that either contain no palm oil at all, or palm oil from sustainable sources. If in doubt, call the skin care company and ask questions about where they get their palm oil from.

Choosing unprocessed food would be a big step in the right direction too. Chuck out all your processed and frozen products and give KFC a wide birth.

With Ikigai products you can relax. Not only do we refuse to stock anything that includes palm oil from unsustainable sources, but 1% of all our profits go to the Australian Orangutan Project.

Find out how to help the orangutans

Go to our Green and Social Initiatives page to admire Ikigai's very own adopted baby orangutan, Mindow, and find out how to adopt your own baby orang!

To find out more about what the palm oil trade is doing to orangutans, check out the following websites:

Why orangutans love natural skin care

Australia's palm oil consumption

What is palm oil used for?

How to avoid unsustainable palm oil

Find out how to help the orangutans

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