What does “natural” mean when it comes to cosmetics? Sometimes when I do a “natural” makeup there is actually quite a bit of makeup involved; a little bb cream, a bit of concealer, a dab of blush. Is that the same for natural skin care and beauty products, just a bit of nature and a few additives?
I delved a little deeper into this subject when I took a course on cosmetic formulation. I was surprised to learn that in the US the FDA doesn’t regulate the term “natural” on cosmetic labels! So in fact we have to be informed buyers since the term natural is confusing. (The FDA does regulate the term “organic” on cosmetics and those products claiming to be organic need to provide documentation proving the source of their ingredients is indeed organic…phew!)
Cosmetics being often marketed as “natural” may contain 3 types of ingredients:
Derived from Nature with minimal processing
This means the natural ingredient is processed without synthetic chemicals. Strange sounding ingredients like cetearyl olivate or decyl glucoside are derived from olive oil and coconut oil respectively, and not synthetic as they may sound. These really can claim to be natural.
Derived from nature but processed with synthetic chemicals
This means the natural ingredient is processed using synthetic chemicals, which actually in the end isn’t very natural! Common examples of these ingredients are cocoamidopropyl betaine (often in shower gels or shampoo) and isopropyl myristate (often found in lotions and creams).
Nature identical ingredients
This means the ingredient is made completely of synthetic chemicals but are identical to their natural equivalent. Examples of these ingredients are vitamin A, dl-tocopherol or vitamin E.
This all sounds terribly confusing but you can check labels for “synthetic free” or “chemical free” and of course “organic”. None of this means that the products are necessarily bad for your skin, and sometimes contain less impurities when processed with synthetic chemicals, but it may not be so great for the planet using non-renewable resources like petroleum in our beauty products.
That’s why I am excited to see all these new brands that are trying to make “natural” cosmetics just as great as their counterparts.
How do you feel about natural beauty products? Do you look at labels before buying?