Most of us want our beauty products to be good for us, as well as for the planet, but not everything that’s natural is good (bacteria, deadly nightshade, wasps) and not everything that’s man-made is bad (alcohol, soap, the internet…). So what should we be buying – natural or organic beauty products?
‘Natural’ ingredients are defined as anything that qualifies as a plant, animal or mineral, while ‘organic’ refers to the way it was grown or treated, i.e. without chemical pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, growth hormones, etc.. That’s simple enough. But then things get confusing.
As far as beauty products are concerned, there’s no real regulation about using the word, ‘natural’. In fact, products can call themselves natural even if only one or two ingredients were naturally-derived. As a result, some finished ‘natural’ products have barely been in the same post code as a real plant.
To be certified as organic, however, a product must contain a high percentage of natural ingredients produced by a recognised organic manufacturer and, to prove it, display an appropriate symbol. There’s no single international system of assessment yet, so the criteria varies, but the main certificates include the USDA Organic seal of approval, Australian Certified Organic (ACO), French Ecocert, BDIH, Soil Association and Natrue.
Few brands are entirely organic because, in order to create the best, most effective products, formulations can be complicated, so individual products can miss out on qualifying. About three-quarters of products by Green People, for example, are certified organic, whereas all Weleda products (which are very respected) are 100% certified natural, ethically sourced and nastiness free – but not organic.
But here’s another issue. Natural and organic claims sound appealing, but they aren’t necessarily better for your skin. There’s no published, scientific research that proves organic ingredients are superior to non-organic or synthetic ones. There are good and bad ingredients in both groups. While there have been well-publicised concerns about some synthetics such as SLS, SLES, parabens, plastic microbeads, etc., some natural and organic ingredients can also cause problems, including innocuous-sounding cinnamon, citrus, eucalyptus, menthol, peppermint and ylang-ylang, largely because they can trigger allergies, reactions, sensitivity or irritation, which in turn damage collagen.
In the end, the best advice is to simply use whatever suits your skin (or hair), your purse and your values.
For more information visit: www.soilassociation.org, www.ecocert.com/en/natural-and-organic-cosmetics
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