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Adapted from Organic Natural Living by Narelle Chenery
Toxic chemicals are everywhere
as this article by Narelle Chenery points out. Every day we are exposed to risk without
even thinking about it. Narelle is the founding director of the project producing
the Certified Organic, totally natural and non-
"Education is the key to empowering consumers to see through the “green-
What are the Natural alternatives to chemicals?
All skin care products, both synthetic
and natural, contain items from the following categories in some combination or other:
Emollients
Natural Skin Care ... What does "natural" mean?
As the number of people who are concerned
about toxins in our environment grows, more and more skin care companies are jumping
on the "natural" and "organic" anti-
But what does "natural" and "organic" mean when we see them on a mainstream manufacturers
skin care product label?
Natural skin care -
Our
skin is the largest eliminatory organ in the body. It is a two-
What skin care products are truly natural and proactive?
Skin care manufacturers
are not supposed to claim that their products penetrate the skin. If they did, the
products would then be labelled as “drugs” and would be governed by much stricter
regulations. However, it is now recognised that the skin does absorb many ingredients
in skin care preparations. This is both good and bad. Good, because it means our
skin can be nourished from the outside with some wonderful ingredients. Bad, because
some skin care manufacturers can use harmful chemical ingredients that would never
be allowed to be taken orally, but are still absorbed into our system, through our
skin.
SO -
Nowhere does the idea of “natural” or “organic” take
a more gratuitous bruising than in the skin care industry. If we first take the word
"natural" and look it up in the Concise Oxford Dictionary we would find this description
of natural thus; “existing in, or caused by nature; not artificial; uncultivated;
wild existing in natural state; not disguised or altered”.
It seems pretty clear what "natural" actually means to me! Does it to you? However
when vested interests in the skin care industry get hold of the word natural -
Many labels have long lists of chemical names, some followed by the phrase “derived
from …” (some natural substance). This is grossly misleading for consumers who are
looking for genuine safe skin care products. Synthetic Chemicals are anything but
natural!
When chemicals such as Cocamide DEA or Sodium Hydroxysultaine are followed
by the words “derived from coconut oil” the consumer is led to believe that these
synthetic chemicals must somehow be "natural". While this may be true in some cases
where a natural oil or extract is actually used, it is ultimately irrelevant because
what you end up with after the chemical solvent extraction and processing is usually
anything but natural or pure. It is just another chemical concoction with some rather
awful sounding long names to describe the process the original "natural" substance
went through.
Now what about "organic"?
Again if we look in the dictionary for the word organic
it is pretty obvious to us what we expect to find as far as safe natural products
in general are concerned. Would you say in the context you are expecting to use or
find the term organic that this would be a fair description;
"produced and involving production without the use of pesticides, artificial fertilizers
or synthetic chemicals."
To me it seems rather elementary that when describing a product as organic that the
above is exactly what the customer would expect. However to the marketing men this
is not what they mean by organic. Lets delve a little deeper into this play on words.
To create Cocamide DEA, a foaming agent found in some shampoos, requires the addition
of a synthetic chemical and known carcinogen, Diethanolamine – DEA, to the coconut
oil. It is therefore no longer natural, or safe! If we look at the term “organic”
on a label, we usually think it means “grown and cultivated without the use of chemicals”
as stated above. That is the conclusion most skin care companies would like us to
come to when they use the rather loose term organic.
Unscrupulous skin care companies are cynically using the chemistry definition of
“organic” – which is also defined in the dictionary as "a compound that contains
a carbon atom" to confuse consumers. This is known in the trade as confusion advertising
so the real picture becomes blurred.
Carbon is found in everything that has ever lived. Vested interests -
How absurd is this when consumers are looking for
natural skin care products?
The play on the word organic gets even worse. An increasing number of companies are
now claiming to use “organic” herbs in their products.
But, what about the rest of the ingredients? Are they safe? Are they "natural" or from an "organic" source? Surely there must be an authority that governs the use of the term “organic” on labels?
The simple answer is NO.
What skin care products are truly natural?
The term “Certified Organic” IS governed
by a number of internationally recognised bodies. In Australia the Biological Farmers
of Australia (BFA) is the largest. Searching for products with the logo of a certifying
body on the label is the only way you can guarantee the organic authenticity and
integrity of every ingredient in the product. This can then truly be called a natural
skin care product. Without the "Certified Organic" label, the organic claim means
nothing, as it cannot be verified and most likely it is a complete hoax perpetrated
by the marketing men and their hype.
HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE BUYING IS REALLY A... “NATURAL” SKIN CARE PRODUCT?
Fortunately,
there is a very simple way to differentiate between the hype and truth in skin care
and that is to read the ingredient list on the label. It is a legal requirement that
all skin care products must be labelled with the ingredients in descending order
of their quantity in the product. A good rule of thumb is to divide the ingredient
list into thirds: the top third usually contains 90-
Here is the ingredient list of a so-
APRICOT
CREAM
Natural or Organic ingredients include:
1 Water (deionised)
2 Isopropyl Palmitate
(Palm Oil Derivative)
3 Apricot Kernel Oil
4 Bis-
5 Glyceryl Stearate SE (vegetable
derived)
6 Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (glycerin-
7 Ceteareth
-
8 Tocopherol Oil (vitamin E)
9 Chamomile Extract
10 Sage
Extract
11 Linden Extract (Lime Blossom Extract)
12 Balm Mint Extract
13 Shea Butter
(From Karite)
14 Wheat Germ Oil
15 Carrot Oil
16 Cetyl Alcohol (organic Co-
17 Sodium Hydroxide (pH Adjuster)
18 Sorbic Acid (Organic Compound)
19 Tocopherol
Acetate (vitamin E Derivative)
20 Methyl Paraben
21 Propyl Paraben
22 Imidazolidinyl
Urea (Organic Compound)
23 Fragrance
24 FD & C Yellow No 5, D7C Red No. 33. Content:
Apricot oil (2.5%)
Take note of the last point that says "Content: Apricot Oil (2.5%). Notice Apricot
Oil is No 3 on the list.
Because skin care manufacturers are required to list the ingredients in descending order this means everything AFTER Apricot Oil makes up less than 2.5% of the volume. This effectively means that about 90% of the product is water and Isopropyl Palmitate. Isopropyl Palmitate is derived from Isopropyl Alcohol, synthetic alcohol and Palmatic Acid, a fatty acid from palm oil. It is known to cause skin irritations and dermatitis and has been shown to have comedogenic (acne promoting) properties!
Nos 5 and 6 are all produced by chemical reactions between various fatty acids and
glycerol (synthetic glycerine). They are largely synthetic and have been shown to
cause allergies and dermatitis! Far from natural!
No 7 is a synthetic emulsifier that may contain dangerous levels of ethylene oxide
and dioxane -
Nos. 8 to 15 are natural ingredients used in tiny amounts merely to make the product
look good. They may have been grown using toxic organo-
No. 16 May be natural or synthetic and has been shown to cause contact dermatitis
and eczema.
No. 17 Is otherwise known as caustic soda or lye -
No. 18 Sorbic acid was once isolated from the Mountain Ash berry, but is now chemically
synthesised and is a toxic preservative. No longer natural!
No. 19 is synthetic Vitamin E.
Nos. 20-
No. 23. Probably synthetic, may contain phthalates that have been linked to birth
defects. Phthalates are toxic gender bending chemicals found in virtually everyone
tested for them. It is certainly not natural to have phthalates in your body or on
your skin I can assure you.
No. 24. Synthetic colours that could be potentially carcinogenic.
Now let’s look at an ingredient list of a Certified Organic natural body moisturiser.
This ingredient list says
CERTIFIED ORGANIC NATURAL BODY INTENSIVE
1 Proprietary blend of organic native Australian distilled herbal NATURAL extracts,
2 Organic Safflower oil
3 Purified Water
4 Organic Avocado oil
5 Organic Cocoa butter
6 Non-
7 Organic Sugar-
8 Organic Unrefined Beeswax
9 Lime
10 D-
11 Olive extract
12 Grapefruit extract
13 Sclerotium
gum
14 Organic orange
15 Vanilla extract
1. Is a proprietary blend of organic natural
native Australian distilled herbal extracts.
2. Is cold-
3. Purified Water.
4. Is cold-
5. Is from organic cocoa beans. Natural!
6. Is from non-
7. Is from organic sugar. Natural
8. Is from organic beehives! Natural
9. Is cold pressed from the skin of organic natural limes.
10. Is a precursor to
vitamin B5.Natural!
11. Is from natural olive leaves.
12. Is from grapefruit seeds.
Natural!
13. Is a natural gum.
14. Is cold-
15. Is from natural vanilla beans.
IS "NATURAL" REALLY BETTER?
Well you make your own mind up! There are some people
who really do think that there are "safe" synthetic chemicals which can be applied
to the skin and eaten in food without doing any harm.
However didn't the cigarette manufacturers maintain for over thirty years that the
chemicals in smoke never caused cancer too? Is it natural to breath deadly toxic
fumes into your lungs everyday? Is it natural to care for your skin by plastering
it in totally un-
It is easy to bury your head in the sand and ignore these dangers as we listen to the hollow platitudes of vested interests who are making billions from a gullible public.
If we look at chemicals from a historic point of view we see a pattern of wonderful
chemical and drug breakthroughs which are going to change life for the better. They
are sold to us on a platform of hype and false promises as the answer to all sorts
of problems. Subsequent disastrous side effects and countless deaths have been caused
by some of these new wonder chemicals and drugs before they were pulled off the market
and banned long after the damage had already been done.
Remember the miracle of DDT?
How this was going to revolutionise farming in the world and destroy all the natural insect pests. Now every single living creature on earth today, humans included, carry a burden of DDT stored in their fat cells with who knows what consequences for generations to come.
What about thalidomide?
Remember the miracle drug to ease women through the "sickness" of bearing a child.
How many tens of thousands of children were born with defects from this incredible chemical folly? How would you feel if by your uninformed use of toxic chemicals it caused ongoing severe medical problems for your loved ones in the future?
The search for newer, better and safer synthetic chemicals goes on and on -
Mother Nature has always had the answers for us yet man seems hell-
We should all avoid toxic synthetic chemicals from all sources. We can do this largely
by sourcing organic produce as much as we possibly can and using only certified organic
completely natural personal care products and cosmetics.
You may be amazed at the huge difference these simple measures will make to your
health.
Anti Aging Skin Care
skincaremanual.com provides useful information about skin care, anti aging skin care,
facial skin care, acne skin care and other useful information about various skin
disease.
