Most of the world’s interested in natural skincare and makeup these days, it’s a mega-industry.
For good reason.
As you may know, I’m a former magazine health and beauty editor. When I started I was excited because I felt the two subjects complemented each other. But the more I learned about wellbeing, the more questions came up about some beauty ingredients. A couple of decades later I’ve become a holistic health coach and done some functional medicine studies. And I’ve discovered – as my guru likes to say – our skin is like a ‘large mouth’. In other words, what goes on, goes in.
Here’s a story from several years ago when I went down a non-toxic route for fertility purposes. It contains some important info for us all.
Some Years Ago…
…under the guidance of a naturopath, I committed to turning my world chemical-free for the duration of four months. At first, I presumed I’d embarked on a walk down easy street. After all, store shelves are laden with labels screaming ‘natural’ and ‘organic’. In addition, as a long-time beauty and health writer, I considered myself well educated in the medium.
Fast-forward one week and I was bewildered.
My knowledge had turned out to be more ‘textbook for dummies’ than encyclopedic.
I was discovering the blurred lines of ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ definitions. Even though a label said organic, the product might contain as little as one per cent organic ingredients. The industry is largely unregulated. Therefore, the manufacturers aren’t breaking any laws with this labelling but they are leaving plenty of us flummoxed. The practice is becoming more and more widespread. Dubbed ‘greenwashing’ it’s become prevalent as more companies cash in on the ‘naturals’ trend.
Luckily there are some wonderful brands out there that are as passionate about getting it right and ‘being natural’ as they are about their businesses. Jane Iredale for example was one of the pioneers, Dr Hauschka and Weleda have a long history too. There are plenty of new brands that are just as authentic like Antipodes,Trilogy and new kid on the block Aleph Beauty. I’m not calling out every single ‘naturally’ positioned brand on the planet. Just the ones that aren’t truly pure.
Regulations
The issue is there haven’t been mandatory regulations governing how a beauty brand markets their products. This doesn’t mean a product isn’t good but it does mean that claims like ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ may mean nothing. One stipulation dictated by The International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) is helpful. It states that ingredient labels must list contents using their scientific and, for plants, Latin names in order of concentration. For example, if a formulation contains 90 per cent water then it must come first followed by the next highest volume ingredient. Those at the end of the list will be included in quantities one per cent and under. Check out the INCIbeauty list of ingredients.
Why go natural?
The skin is our largest organ and up to 70 per cent of what we apply to it is absorbed into our bodies. As we said earlier, it acts like a ‘giant mouth’. In Not Just A Pretty Face (Amazon Kindle, $11.61 USD), Stacy Malkan says:
“The average woman uses a dozen personal care products containing approximately 168 chemical ingredients every day.”
That’s a lot of foreign substances entering our systems daily. (Men use about six containing 85 chemicals.)
“Millions of people use cosmetics daily and we’re not all dropping like flies as a result.” So says Dawn Mellowship in Toxic Beauty (Hachette e-Book, $12.99 AUD). “However, some experts are concerned our exposure to chemicals plays a role in increasing incidences of allergies, asthma and other problems.” That said it’s important to note natural ingredients are not a panacea. The term ‘natural’ does not guarantee safety.
Get to know your labels
It’s a good idea to become a label reader. Sage advice, but without a cosmetic science degree it’s easy to become baffled. Google is home to a myriad of conflicting info. Some experts suggest asking the brand direct if you have questions. An excellent resource is The Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Skin Deep – it analyzes about 25,000 beauty products and 10,000 ingredients.
Defining Natural and Organic
Natural
Extracted directly from plants, animals or the earth with minimal or zero processing. A product must contain at least 90 per cent natural ingredients to be able to bear the label ‘natural’.
Organic
This refers to non-genetically modified ingredients that have been grown with respect for the environment. Without herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers and other toxic synthetic ingredients.
Certified Organic
Certified organic means the products have undergone stringent assessments and are regularly audited by an independent body. This ensures they contain natural ingredients, 75 to 95 per cent of which must be certified organic.
Look For The Certificate
Obtaining certification requires a lot of hoop-jumping and accountability and traceability of all ingredients. It’s valuable information. (Click the organisation’s name below to visit their website.)
Biogro was developed especially for the New Zealand market. It’s one of 30 international organic certification agencies accredited by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).
Founded in France in 1991, ECOCERT conducts inspections in over 80 countries. As the world’s largest organic certifier their criteria are stringent and guarantees ‘safety to the environment and mankind’.
Founded by a group of farmers, scientists and nutritionists the Association certifies around 1,500 products. They must contain 70 to 100 per cent organic ingredients (depending on the symbol used).
A German-based organisation that established guidelines for certified natural cosmetics in 1996. Compliance with guidelines is evaluated by the independent testing institute, Eccontrol.
An umbrella organisation for several certification bodies (Bioforum, Ecocert, Cosmebio, BDIH, ICEA and Soil Association). They’re working to harmonise global standards.
NaTrue calls themselves True Friends of Natural and Organic Cosmetics. They aim to set high standards of quality, integrity and transparency worldwide.
Are naturals effective?
Ingredients from Mother Nature have been revered for centuries and, in modern times, score well in a clinical environment. Let’s take a look at a handful:
Green tea: reduces the effects of UV damage, fights acne and reduces high red colour.
Honey: a powerful antibacterial agent with hydrating and anti-aging properties.
Olive oil: may reduce DNA damage in skin and is effective at neutralising ageing free radicals.
Rosehip Oil: can improve hydration by 44 per cent and the appearance of wrinkles by up to 23 per cent.
Tamanu Oil: produced from the nut kernels of the Tamanu tree commonly found in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. It smooths, softens, heals damage, fights acne, scarring, psoriasis, eczema, blemishes and stretch marks. Plus it has the ability to encourage the production of new skin cells.
Totarol: derived from the Totara tree, totarol has powerful antioxidant properties and protects the skin from oxidative stress.
Vinanza Grape: from Marlborough grape seeds has been shown to stimulate collagen production by 92 per cent.
The Power of Preservatives (and the lowdown on parabens)
Natural skincare products are fresh – kind of like produce – so they’re vulnerable to bugs that can manifest long before we can see or smell them. That’s why preservatives are essential.
Typically, parabens were the common preservative for over 90 per cent of skincare and cosmetic formulations because they were effective, affordable and have a long history. However bad press marred their popularity. One study, published in 2004 found parabens in breast tumours but scientists say the research was flawed. And in 2005, the USA FDA declared the concentration of parabens in skincare and cosmetics low risk. There are several types of parabens including butly, ethyl, methyl and propyl. Methyl is the most commonly used and according to all reports its use poses little concern however, according to the experts, butyl is not so good.
Many companies are now removing all parabens from their formulations.
The studies tend to use far higher doses than humans will ever be exposed to; the amounts of preservatives used in personal care are rarely higher than one per cent. That’s the gen. I feel, personally, that if there are questions raised about an ingredient avoid it to remove all doubt.
Water-based formulas such as creams and lotions require preservatives however oil-based products such as lip balms do not.
Everybody’s talking about…
Sustainability
Research shows that even though this term has become increasingly prominent in recent years many people don’t know what it actually means. In simple terms, sustainability is about the co-existence of people and the planet and our ability to lead a healthy, happy lifestyle without draining the natural resources of the earth. Currently, we need to improve on this as The Global Footprint Network – an organisation which measures human impact on the Earth – – has found that human beings use the equivalent of 1.6 planets.
This means it takes the planet one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year. Keep it up and they estimate that by the middle of the century we will be using the resources of two earths. A sustainable society is one where the planet can support our lifestyles with ease so we need to cut back on packaging and consumerism and increase things like recycling, eating homegrown, buying local and turning out lights.
They also have a great little tool where you can measure your ecological footprint here. I’m a low user and I still overshot the mark.
As they say:
Measure What You Treasure
Hope that helped, gave you some food for thought and increased your knowledge!
