Do me a favor and read the label of your shampoo and lotion NOW

Naturally Different

Before getting into specific product reviews, I want to get this out of the way first.

Natural is NOT the same as the term organic.

This is something that many people — surprisingly, even highly educated people — just don’t care to learn about, which to me is irresponsible considering the impact of this difference in definition to one’s health. And because there are so many resources available on-line, libraries and even government institutions (DOST, TESDA, DTI) for anyone who cared to look into this.

To be technical about it, here are some analogies and definitions about the word natural:

An example of a natural product made from natural ingredients is wine. The fruit, sugar and yeast used to make wine occur naturally and do not require human intervention to begin the fermentation process to make alcohol. The only reason humans do intervene in the fermentation process is that it is more efficient to make alcohol under controlled conditions, and a better quality product is produced.

Another example of a natural product made from natural ingredients is soap. Soap is made from fats and alkali. The process of putting the fat and alkali together and forming soap can and does occur in nature, although the process is uncommon. The first soaps were made from wood ashes — a natural alkali — and oils, and they had a tendency toward harshness. Today soaps made under controlled circumstances can result in products that are extremely mild yet effective.

In short, even a lab-produced bar of soap may be called natural. Natural doesn’t always mean fresh herbs and flowers from a garden or plantation.

It’s also important to keep in mind that a natural product doesn’t necessarily mean that it is better than artificial (meaning man-made, something not found in nature) or synthetic (created or synthesized by humans in controlled environments like a lab) products. In fact, many natural ingredients are irritating and inferior in quality to their synthetic counterparts (witchhazel, for example, when used in its bare, unsynthesized form may be abrasive and drying to skin). And many of the natural ingredients used beauty products in the past have turned out to be toxic to humans (digitalis and lead were the most popular).

Because of the popularity of alternative medicine and the return-to-nature aesthetic, the term natural is being bandied about in the cosmetics and beauty industry precisely because the definition is too broad and because most people react positively to the word.

Don’t Say They Didn’t Warn You

The danger with taking this issue lightly is most people so easily place their trust on marketing and product packaging without knowing fully what the ingredients are and how they affect their health. Even products, such as shampoo, soap, lotions and scrubs which are made with truly fresh herbs and plant extracts may contain harsh industrial-grade preservatives like:

• phenoxyethanol – heavy-duty synthetic preservatives in shampoo, body wash and many water-based products

Conditioners, surfactants (detergent) and thickeners like:

• sodium lauryl sulfate or SLS/SLES/ALS – mostly synthesized from labs instead of derived from coconut’s lauric acid. More info:

Used in car washes, garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers – and in 90% of products that foam.

Animals exposed to SLS and ALS experience eye damage, central nervous system depression, laboured breathing, diarrhea, severe skin irritation, and even death.

Young eyes may not develop properly if exposed to SLS and ALS because proteins are dissolved. SLS and ALS may also damage the skin’s immune system by causing layers to separate and inflame. It is frequently disguised in semi-natural cosmetics with the explanation “comes from coconut”.

• cocobeataine or betaine – another ingredient with a misleading name — the one used in the cosmetics industry no longer comes from real coconut because of the high cost. This ingredient may cause eye and skin irritation.

• CDEA or cocoyl acid diethanolamine compound, DEA and TEA – detergent, for short, found in the shampoo and body wash in a bathroom near you (yes, even the ones from this company and this company). More info on these surfactants:

Often used in cosmetics to adjust the pH, and used with many fatty acids to convert acid to salt (stearate), which then becomes the base for a cleanser. TEA causes allergic reactions including eye problems, dryness of hair and skin, and could be toxic if absorbed into the body over a long period of time. These chemicals are already restricted in Europe due to known carcinogenic effects. Dr. Samuel Epstein (Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Illinois) says that repeated skin applications . . . of DEA-based detergents resulted in a major increase in the incidence of liver and kidney cancer.

• dimethicone/dimethicone copolyol/cyclomethicone – silicone emollients used in lotions, body butters, etc. Being non-biodegradable, these chemical compounds seep into soil and groundwater, and plants, animals, and humans end up ingesting it. So what’s the harm? These silicone emollients tend to build up in the liver and lymph nodes where some studies reveal they can contribute to tumor growth. As if that weren’t enough:

Recent studies have indicated that prolonged exposure of the skin to sweat, by occlusion, causes skin irritation. Some synthetic emollients are known tumor promoters and accumulate in the liver and lymph nodes. They are also non-biodegradable, causing negative environmental impact.

• lanolin – for all of lanolin’s so-called virtues, the bottom line is it’s contaminated with chemicals from sheep pumped with heavy-duty antibiotics and organo-phosphates from insecticides in the plants and grass that they eat.

• FD&C color pigments – these come from coal tar with heavy metal salts that absorb and deposit toxins into skin. Animal tests have shown these pigments to be carcinogenic.

It’s all in their labels. And down the road, when you’re wondering just why your skin and health seems to be getting worse in spite of a faithful regimen, you can’t say the cosmetics companies never warned you. They did — just in a “language” most people can’t be bothered to learn.

Note that most of the chemicals mentioned above are tested on animals. And if they were found to be harmful on them, why are they still being used in everyday bath and body products?

It’s easier to understand the reason if we let the figures do the talking: the global beauty industry is worth US$197 billion.

I say organic you say derived from organic

Strictly defined, organic, as used in cosmetics and personal care products means “a plant product grown without pesticides or synthetic chemical fertilizers and meeting other standards as put forth by the state in which the product is grown.”

The key phrase here is “meeting other standards as put forth by the state in which product is grown” (or for our purposes, made).

L’Oreal and Body Shop (which was acquired by L’Oreal), can freely jump onto the organic bandwagon without fear of prosecution because there are no clear-cut standards about organic product in the international market right now. They can claim to be organic in spite of the fact that most of their products are only 75% organic AT MOST.

These standards (or lack thereof) in terms of organic products don’t regulate the use of potentially hazardous chemicals and preservatives mixed with the organic ingredients.

And so consumers confidently stock up on popular commercial brands such as Body Shop, Lush, Crabtree and Evelyn, Origins and many others. In their minds they assume these products are healthier and safer. (To Body Shop’s credit, their marketing is more focused on the “natural” slant, not organic — although they are often lumped into the latter category, so I mention it here).

This assumption often leads to frustration and disappointment when these products don’t seem to clear acne, erase wrinkles or firm up flab.

Surprisingly, the tendency is for consumers to either put it down to their own perceived body predisposition or simply erase these frustrations and negative results from their memory, and buy the same products when the newest packaging or promo comes along.

Truly organic products are 95% to 99.5% pure (food-grade preservatives are necessary to keep make the ingredients last for more than a few days). They are also mostly hand-made and not mass-produced because of the reactive nature of the fresh ingredients. Most organic ingredients are also biodegradable environment-friendly, even when deposited in water or soil.

If you really want to make a commitment to lead an ecologically-conscious lifestyle free from harmful chemicals, it’s better to look for small neighborhood stores or on-line sites that sell organic products. A good place to start would be the entrepreneurs at Etsy.com or Multiply.com.

Otherwise, you can’t go wrong checking out sites and resources to make your own products, although this may take more time and effort than you can afford.

But for all the things we know now about the harmful ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products, there are also many skin care innovations synthesized in laboratories that organic products cannot address (or cannot address as swiftly), such as antibiotics. The undeniable appeal of the branding and easy availability of popular commercial brands are also a big factor in their continued success.

The current “pure and organic” trend is a double-edged sword. While it’s encouraging that the bigwigs of the beauty industry are introducing consumers to the concept of organic, hand-made products and environmental consciousness, marketing strategies only selectively educate customers about facts that complement their brand’s products.

In the end, the deciding factor is less about consumer awareness and more of consumer interest. What people, including us average Juanas, decide to know about the products they buy and use regularly. What we decide to change or maintain about our attitude and lifestyle. At the end of the day, we can decide where the billion-dollar cosmetics and beauty industry goes next. If only we remember that we can choose and we can decide for ourselves.