Beauty And The Blog

If it is ‘natural’ skin care it is good for your skin, right? Did you say yes? Well, it isn’t always the case. Sometimes a ‘natural’ ingredient can be irritating or even damaging to the skin.

We all want to think that natural and/or organic are the best choices when addressing our skin care needs. But in some cases we can actually be doing more harm than good.

There is no factual or scientific proof that natural ingredients are better for our skin other than the claims being made by the manufacturers themselves or the media.

Claims are made by the manufacturers of skin care that contain synthetic ingredients as well. No matter what side of the fence the manufacturer sits on, they are going to make claims of wondrous results in an effort to get you and me to use their product. It’s just advertising and marketing that they hope we will all buy into.

But I want to talk about natural ingredients here. Because even though they are natural ingredients, some can cause skin sensitivities, irritation or allergies. Did you know that irritation and inflammation of the skin can cause the breakdown of collagen, impair the skins ability to heal and defend itself from environmental pollutants and damage? Yeah, not so good, huh?

There are, of course, many natural ingredients that are just fine and quite effective. But how do you know which may be good and which may be harmful? Well, like I have said about any skin care, you need to know what to look for, or what to steer away from.

The simplest way to navigate a natural ingredient product list is to be aware of which are known to be irritating and not beneficial to skin in general.

I’m going to give you a list (yes!) of common natural ingredients that are known to cause irritation to most (not all/everyone) skin. So if you are using a natural product and having a little issue or two, your answer could be just an ingredient on the list. Or, if you aren’t seeing the results you would like, perhaps you are experiencing irritation at a deeper level the eye can’t see. Remember: irritation = damage, even if you can’t see the irritation.

I want you to check out these two quotes below. These quotes also appear on the Paula’s Choice Skin Care site. Your list of ingredients you may want to avoid is next up.

Dr. Linda M. Katz, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors, stated in 2007 that Consumers should not necessarily assume that an ‘organic’ or ‘natural’  ingredient or product would possess greater inherent safety than another chemically identical version of the same ingredient. In fact, ‘natural’  ingredients may be harder to preserve against microbial contamination and growth than synthetic raw materials (Source: New York Times, November 1, 2007).

Joan Shaffer, USDA spokeswoman stated that people should not interpret even the USDA Organic seal or any organic seal of approval on cosmetics as proof of health benefits or of efficacy.” The National Organic Program is a marketing program, not a safety program. [Chocolate cake] may be [natural or organic] but that has no bearing on whether it is safe or nutritious to eat (Source: www.ams.usda.gov/nop/FactSheets/Backgrounder.html).

And here, is your list:

Almond Extract  

Allspice

Angelica

Arnica

Balm mint oil

Balsam

Basil

Bergamot

Cinnamon

Citrus

Clove

Clover blossom

Coriander oil

Cypress

Cottonseed oil      

Fennel

Fir needle

Geranium oil

Grapefruit

Horsetail

Lavender oil

Lemon

Lemon balm

lemon grass

Lime

Marjoram

Oak bark

Papaya

Peppermint

Rose

Rosemary

Sage

Thyme

Witch hazel

Wintergreen

Ylang ylang

Do remember that this list contains the most common natural ingredients that could be irritating. If your skin is having trouble but your ingredients don’t appear on the list, ask me about it or do a search.

Photos by tonooki2 themainman2810 Acwraith gloombunny