Their packaging is beautiful, their scents are soothing and their reputation is sterling&#; Or is it? When you opt for &#;natural&#; skin care products, you feel confident that you&#;re using ingredients that&#;ve been deemed safe for your skin. But as it turns out, that&#;s not always the case.
Advertisement
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy
Labels like &#;natural&#; and &#;clean&#; are unregulated, so you may not actually know what you&#;re getting &#; and even natural ingredients can (and do) cause severe allergic reactions. This can be problematic for people who have sensitive skin or who develop an allergy to these products while using them.
Think that doesn&#;t apply to you? It&#;s more common than you might expect.
Allergist Sandra Hong, MD, explains what to look for to be sure that the products you apply to your skin aren&#;t going to cause issues.
&#;Natural&#; refers to ingredients that aren&#;t made in a lab and instead come from sources like plants, but it&#;s actually a pretty vague term. After all, there are plenty of naturally occurring elements that you wouldn&#;t want to put on your face. (Poison ivy, for example, is natural, but it&#;s not exactly a dream skin care ingredient!)
And there&#;s another issue: &#;The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not actually say what&#;s in natural or clean skin care products,&#; Dr. Hong notes. &#;There&#;s no set standard for these products, and no regulatory body requires the companies that make them to prove that they&#;re as clean or natural as they say they are.&#;
Many products that call themselves &#;natural&#; also use other terminology that may help you get to the bottom of things:
Advertisement
If you&#;re feeling panicky about the vagueness of the word &#;natural,&#; here&#;s some good news: It&#;s harder for companies to get away with using the word &#;organic&#; if they&#;re not, in fact, using organic ingredients.
Just as the FDA doesn&#;t regulate the word &#;natural,&#; neither does it regulate the word &#;organic.&#; But someone else does: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). And it&#;s very specific about what terminology is allowed. Here&#;s a quick rundown:
That means that companies can&#;t use the word &#;organic&#; willy-nilly. But just because a product is organic doesn&#;t mean it&#;s great for your skin. Remember that poison ivy example? Organic ingredients can and do cause problems for many people.
&#;Natural&#; is basically just a marketing gimmick, not an actual standard that skin care products have to meet. So, when it comes to skin care products, ingredients that are natural aren&#;t necessarily better or safer for you.
Advertisement
&#;Even though a product is natural, you can still have difficulties with it,&#; Dr. Hong states. &#;Ingredients like oils and minerals are natural, which sounds great. But many people are surprised to find that they develop allergies to those types of products.&#;
In fact, a study showed that nearly all skin care products that are marketed as being &#;all-natural&#; actually contain ingredients that can trigger contact dermatitis. This allergic reaction causes itchiness, rash and the general unpleasantness you&#;d hoped to avoid by switching to natural products in the first place.
&#;This study looked at nearly 1,700 products that were considered natural, clean, healthy for the skin, or good for people with sensitive skin,&#; Dr. Hong explains. &#;It found that more than 94% of the time, these products contained agents known to cause contact dermatitis.&#;
Contact dermatitis brings an itchy, red rash that may also be:
&#;Sometimes, just one application of a product can result in weeks of misery,&#; she continues. &#;Even after you remove the product from your skin care routine, it can take up to three weeks for your contact dermatitis to clear up.&#;
If you have sensitive skin, Dr. Hong recommends sticking to hypoallergenic products and staying away from products made with fragrances, in particular. This includes ingredients like amyl cinnamal (jasmine), eugenol (clove oil) and others on the European Union Cosmetics Directive&#;s list of frequently reported allergens.
Advertisement
&#;Fragrances can make a product smell really great, but they&#;re very high on the list of ingredients that can cause huge problems for your skin,&#; D. Hong warns. &#;Some oils and dyes can cause issues, too.&#;
And although a &#;hypoallergenic&#; label can&#;t guarantee that you won&#;t have an allergic reaction, products that bear this claim are typically the safest bet for people with sensitive skin.
Contact dermatitis may go away on its own, but talk to a healthcare professional if your rash:
&#;It&#;s really important to see a physician or a licensed practitioner to determine what&#;s causing the issue and to treat your symptoms,&#; Dr. Hong says. &#;Sometimes, people need to go through patch testing to determine what&#;s causing their allergic reaction.&#;
This isn&#;t to say that there&#;s no value in going natural. But before you immerse yourself in the world of natural skin care products, learn to read labels carefully and focus more on actual ingredients than on vague marketing terms.
And for the sake of your skin, skip the sweet-smelling stuff.
&#;Simple is best,&#; Dr. Hong advises. &#;You really want to focus on products that have very simple ingredients and very few ingredients.&#;
Advertisement
Cosmetics are defined as articles used for cleaning and beautifying and altering a person&#;s appearance to make it more appealing.
These items can be applied to the human body in various ways, including rubbing, spraying, or pouring onto the skin. &#;
In this sense, the term &#;cosmetics&#; can be broadened to include everyday items such as moisturisers, shampoos, toothpaste, deodorants, hair colour, nail polishes, and perfumes.
Link to dr plant
Hi ! I&#;m Sampada Pandhare, a cosmetic science doctorate, and in this blog, we&#;ll talk about the advantages of using organic Natural Products over chemical cosmetics products.
Consumers widely use cosmetics and personal care products. Although most cosmetic chemicals are safe, some have been linked to serious health issues such as cancer, reproductive and neurological harm, and developmental delays.
Cosmetic chemicals, like food chemicals, enter the body through the skin, inhalation, ingestion, and internal use.
Cosmetics can be contaminated with heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and nickel, in addition to the risks posed by intentionally added ingredients.
Many cosmetics have also been linked to serious health risks, such as burns and infections. Hair straightening products containing formaldehyde, known as &#;keratin treatments,&#; have been linked to hair loss, rashes, blisters, nosebleeds, bleeding gums, and loss of taste and smell.
Hair dyes and hair colourants containing para phenylene di amines or ammonia can cause allergic reactions, hair loss, and eye injuries.
Many of your daily makeup products contain harsh chemicals that can disrupt the functions of your skin&#;s protective barrier, making pathogens more likely to enter your skin.
Using makeup on a regular basis can have a negative impact on your skin&#;s health and natural glow.
Before marketing, cosmetic companies are expected to ensure that their products and ingredients are safe.
They must also properly label their products, avoid using prohibited ingredients and adhere to the agreed-upon limits on restricted ingredients.
You can feel safe about the products you put on your body when monitoring for its labels and keeping in mind the natural ingredients used in your personal care routine.
You can feel even more secure when you use natural organic products on your body as part of your personal care routine.
Man has used botanical materials for skin beautification and care since the dawn of time.
It is impossible to cover every commercially available botanical extract used in cosmetics and skincare today.
However, it is possible to provide some important benefits of natural organic skin care ingredients and assist the formulator in exploring the potential of nature&#;s abundance.
Though the term &#;natural&#; is not legally defined, an undeniable definition would be &#;any material that is harvested, mined, or collected, and which may subsequently be washed, decolorized, distilled, fractionated, ground, milled, separated, or concentrated in order to leave a chemical or chemicals that existed in the original source material.&#;
As an alternative, &#;the modification of natural plant-derived substances by the action of microorganisms, enzymes, or yeasts in order to modify or increase the yield of the desired material by this process&#; could be considered.
The action of yeast on carbohydrates is a classic example of ethanol production.
Organic skincare products are made from natural ingredients and do not contain any chemicals. The ingredients are organically grown and contain no harmful genetically modified materials, synthetic residues, or chemicals. This is the reason why organic skincare products are healthier in every way.
They keep your skin flawless, safe to use, and eco-friendly. Furthermore, finding brands that can provide you with organic eco-friendly skincare products is no longer a difficult task; you simply need to shift your focus.
Of course, switching from chemical to organic skincare products is always best only when you understand why it is a better way of life.
As a result, here are some reasons why you should switch to organic skincare products.
And we&#;re sure you&#;ll notice a difference once you incorporate organic into your beauty routine.
They are less likely to cause skin irritation because they do not contain any harmful chemicals, artificial colours, or other by products.
Natural skincare is made from nutritionally dense natural ingredients. These ingredients are primarily beneficial to your health, so they are also beneficial to your skin. Herbal skincare, which is made with ingredients such as coconut oil, peppermint, and shea butter, is high in vitamins and antioxidants, making it highly nutritional and effective in treating skin problems.
Organic skincare ingredients adhere to the same standards as organic food. These include the absence of harsh chemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers. Cheap fillers frequently do more harm than good.
Synthetic ingredients may make your skin appear brighter in the short term, but they can cause irritation, sensitivity, and clogged pores in the long run. Using organic skincare, we choose ingredients that work harmoniously with our bodies, allowing the skin to balance and recover.
Natural fragrance:
Organic products are perfumed with oils and have a natural, pleasant odour.
For centuries, natural and organic skin care provided by the earth has been effective as they penetrate deep into the skin and show visible results without any side effects. They are all that the skin requires for staying healthy.
Because organic skin care products are made from natural ingredients, they do not have a negative impact on the environment. They do not leave chemical residue in the environment or pollute the soil or water when washed down drains.
Of course, the cost is the last factor in the case of cosmetics are concerned, still, when you compare synthetic cosmetics to natural cosmetics, you&#;ll see that natural ingredients don&#;t have to be expensive.
Prevents premature aging of the skin:
Skin degeneration is a natural process that occurs as we age. Premature skin aging, on the other hand, is a warning sign of serious underlying disorders. As a result, preventing premature skin aging is an important step that should be taken as soon as possible.
Though there are several products on the market to combat skin anti-aging, and some of them do work, they also contain a number of harmful and toxic chemicals. On the other hand, natural skincare products work more in sync with our bodies and help prevent premature aging without exposing our skin to potentially harmful substances.
As we can see, natural cosmetics are beneficial to both humans and the environment. As a result, there should be no hesitation in purchasing natural cosmetics.
Human skin has the ability to absorb materials that are applied to it. We use beauty products every day.
We unknowingly expose ourselves to a wide range of unnecessary chemicals, that make their way into our bodies.
Choosing organic and natural skincare should be a top priority if you are looking for a healthy lifestyle.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit dr plant skin care.