Question
Are natural beauty products healthier?
Asked by: Anonymous
Answers (4)
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1
August 6, 2008
It’s not only good for the environment to buy natural or organic personal care (since these products utilize renewable sources and natural ingredients, that means fewer chemicals going down the drain), but also good for our health when we avoid ingredients that could have a toxic effect over time.
I would encourage everyone to read Stacy Malkan’s book, Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry, which presents some disturbing discoveries on the potential negative effects of repeated exposure to cosmetic ingredients. One quote that really stuck with me went something like, “the environment is no longer out there – it’s in here. The same pollutants running through our rivers are running through our bodies.”
And just like the Breast Cancer Fund was able to push suppliers to create safer, natural alternatives to paraben preservatives, I feel the quality of natural ingredient alternatives will continue to improve. It’s so exciting because we now have botanical actives that are as potent as the best synthetic peptides, ceramides, etc. And I think the next step will be seeing more organic ingredients with clinically proven efficacy. Natural really is a better choice for your skin!
2
July 30, 2007
- Natural vs. non-natural: Just because a product says “natural” or actually is “natural” doesn’t mean that its ingredients are necessarily better or worse for you.
- To determine the actual qualitative good vs. bad of a products collective ingredients use resources like the EWG’s www.cosmeticdatabase.org which will give you the safety rating for each ingredient and also the collective ingredient safety report for a given product.
- Though this database is an excellent place to start it is a work in progress. Sometimes the EWG can’t get its hands on a full ingredient list for a product and only scores on a partial list it has which skews the overall score. When you see a great score make sure to confirm that the score is based on a full ingredient list and not just the “active ingredients”.
- To determine the actual qualitative good vs. bad of a products collective ingredients use resources like the EWG’s www.cosmeticdatabase.org which will give you the safety rating for each ingredient and also the collective ingredient safety report for a given product.
- Natural sensitivities: Just as you might react to synthetic chemical so might you react to a pure, natural ingredient.
- If you are sensitive, approach ‘natural’ products with as much caution. There is someone allergic to almost every ingredient out there, synthetic or not. So, if you are sensitive, be sure to patch test your new products before you dive in!
3
July 24, 2007
The term "natural" can mean anything these days. There are no regulations or laws governing what the word should mean in regards to a product. So choose carefully.
- Stay away from parabens, propalyn glycol, and aluminum. (Not an easy thing to do! You have to really look.)
- Perfumes will affect you very differently than essential oils will.
- Basically, look for ingredients you recognize and know as being natural.
4
July 20, 2007
Using products with botanicals should be avoided because they are all-natural and many people become allergic to them.
Petroleum products, such as oil and gasoline, are "all-natural" too, but no one would ever put them on their skin!
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10/29/08
These days, "natural" is often just a label to sway the environmentally conscious. However, there are many products that contain natural ingredients that are quite safe and better for you and the environment.
However, it's more important to simply avoid certain ingredients like parabens which are synthetic preservatives and are potentially harmful to us. They have been found completely intact with in breast cancer tumors and have been banned from European markets.