By Michelle Kwon
What Are You Putting on Your Skin?
Organic beauty products
Heavenly scents that transport you to tropical islands like cocoa, papaya and mango; healing and hydrating ingredients like calendula, aloe vera and vitamin E; and luxuriant, soothing textures made from shea butter and coconut oil all capture your senses and your loyalty in skin care and beauty products that some of us would feel naked without. And rightly so.
Your skin needs nourishing, just like the rest of your body. If you are health conscious, you know that what you ingest into your body that is nourishing is revealed outwardly in radiant, glowing skin and hair. You also understand that what you put onto your skin to cleanse, protect and beautify is absorbed into your "largest organ," and so you are conscious of what type of products you use.
Due to this fact, many companies ride on the growing swell of consumer support for natural products. However, this causes much confusion in the cosmetic and natural skin care market. It is difficult to find a brand that doesn’t have the word “natural” or “organic” on the label, but what does it mean?
Well, nothing; any product can call itself natural and organic if it doesn't use the word "certified" before these label claims. You can buy a product that has over 95 percent synthetic components and a very small amount of an organic one and the manufacturer can still promote it as organic.
Since organic personal care products are having record growth, it's no wonder that so many companies are enthusiastically greening their offerings, but that doesn’t mean consumers buy into green-washing. They'’re simply becoming skeptical of all product labels that purport the virtues of nature.
Though food certification has come a long way in recent years, personal hygiene and beauty products have slipped under the radar. This has occurred even though, for decades, clinical studies have shown the relationship between synthetic chemicals and diseases, and that our body absorbs significant amounts of what we put on our skin. Well known researchers and physicians including Dr. Carolyn DeMarco (author of Take Charge of Your Body), Dr. Samuel Epstein (author of Safe Shoppers Bible), and David Steinman (author of Living Healthy in a Toxic World) report that everything from your shower gel to your lipstick has dangerous chemicals which can contribute to allergies, immune deficiencies, respiratory and nerve problems, and even cancer.
Though Canada recently approved legislation for fully disclosing ingredients on skin care labels, there are still no nationally inclusive rules legislating organics. In the US, to use the USDA Organic logo, the products need to have a minimum of 95 percent certified organic content (not including water and salt). Organic Essence, for instance, is one of the few American companies with an entire product line listed as USDA Organic approved; however, most of the other well known and top selling "organic" brand names use petrochemical ingredients.
The many certifiers worldwide all have different standards. For example, in Europe, Ecocert allows a lower level of certified organic content, and water and salt are allowed to be included in the calculation. Brands such as Stella McCartney's Care, which is Ecocert approved, has products between 50 and 60 percent certified organic. Australia’s AQIS (Australian Quarantine Inspection Service) requires over 95 percent organic contents to call products such as the Sanctum Australia line certified organic, with no synthetic ingredients including chemical preservatives or petrochemicals permitted.
How do you differentiate between marketing hype and facts?
Do your research. Certification board websites list their legislated guidelines for organic and biodynamic product ingredients and label claims. These include stipulations that not only raw materials must be certified organic, but that preservatives can only be from natural sources.
Avoid certain chemicals. The best certification prohibits petrochemicals, non-organic animal products, anti-microbial agents not produced from organic sources, fragrances, non-organic and synthetic colours, EDTA, sodium lauryl sulphate, sodium laureth sulphate, sodium coco sulphate, polysorbates, ethanolamides, and even chemically created sunscreens. Exotic raw materials used from other countries may have different standards for their organic growing practices, however, which is an issue in all products.
Read labels. Several well recognized brands have selected certified organic label products, but not all products are certified. What do you look for, in addition to the certifying logo? Pure soothing essential oils and cold pressed oils with names that you recognize such as lavender, rose and jojoba; therapeutic herbal extracts like yucca cactus and chamomile; and cosmeceutical grade vitamins, enzymes and antioxidants like rosemary, vitamin C and vitamin A. Question any chemical-sounding names until you have researched their origin. It’s also important to seek out non-animal based products and products that are not tested on animals. And when considering your body’s health, you must also consider the planet's health: does the company engage in eco-friendly, biodynamic and sustainable practices? Ethics and esthetics go hand in hand.
