Beauty And The Blog

Are you set on using only those skin care and anti-aging products that are labeled organic or natural? If you are, do you know what separates the two? Because they are very different.

A product  that claims itself to be organic must have a symbol, stamp or badge on it’s label to prove it. If there is no such visual certification on the label, and organic is what you are looking for, avoid the product.

How does a skin care company go about being able to honestly make this claim and earn that certification? All ingredients in that product must be naturally produced by farmers and growers that are certified organic producers. They must adhere to strict guidelines that do not allow for the use of any pesticides and any fertilizers must be fully organic as well (OK, so I had to wonder here… does that mean that if the fertilizer is manure related that the manure producing creature must eat a strictly organic diet? Technically, yes. Wow, complicated. There are of course other fertilizers not manure related, that just came to mind. OK, so I’m weird).

So, for example, if you want a skin care product that contains papaya (a popular natural and organic skin care ingredient) and you must have organic then your product label should have the visual proof that the papaya in the product was grown by a certified organic producer/farmer. Every aspect of the production of that papaya has to meet the organic specifications from pest control to fertilization from the roots of the plant all the way to the fruit. As well as every single other ingredient in that product. Whew!

Now I have to tell you that through the National Organic Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates only farm raised food derived ingredients. It does not regulate plant derived (such as Aloe) ingredients or essential oils. Confused? Me, too.

I found a site that explains this quite thoroughly and you can check it out at The Daily Green. They can explain it better than I!

Now, natural is a whole different thing. Any papaya is natural. All plants are. And many different parts of plants ranging from seeds to extracted oils are used. Honey and beeswax are also natural. But the ingredients in skin care labeled as natural do not equal organic. They are not required to meet the guidelines for organic to be labeled natural. What should not be in a natural product though is any animal derived fats or oils. And no animal testing.

There should not be any perfume, artificial coloring or man-made preservative (notice I didn’t say “chemical” preservative? That’s because everything is a chemical. Yes, it is. And that’s another topic I’ll post on).

Lastly, what is your reason for wanting natural or organic? These types of products can be quite wonderful but…

Just because something is natural or organic does not mean it is the perfect or even correct choice for you. What are you allergic to? Nuts? Look out for any product containing nut oils. Sweet Almond oil is common and wonderful but not for you if you have a nut allergy. How about bees? No products containing honey or beeswax for you. See what I mean?

Make your choices, but be sure to take your own body and known health issues into consideration. That goes for all skin care and anti-aging products, not just those in the natural or organic categories.

Note Added- Jan. 4, 2010.

I was doing some research for a future post and I came across this interesting little nugget. This information was found at Skin Care Physicians.

Myth: Natural or organic ingredients are safer and more effective.

Fact: While the words ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ certainly makes a product seem safer, most ingredients cannot be added to skin care products in their natural state. Ingredients such as plant extracts undergo extensive processing in which they are modified and chemically synthesized before being added to the product. This makes the terms ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ misleading.

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