WHAT’S IN YOUR COSMETICS?
Today
every large cosmetic company is making the claim
that their products are “Fragrance Free,”
“Preservative Free” and “certified Organic,” etc.
Since those are the current hot phases, and
companies want you to continue to buy their
products, it is only natural that they add these
phases to their advertisement. The sad part is that
most people only see the “catch phases” and do not
bother to read the list of ingredients.
If they did, they would definitely not but the
products. Half of the ingredients can’t be
pronounced.
It is these chemicals which are the real culprits.
They can irritate your
skin and also cause a multitude of other health
related problems.
As for being organic, how can manufactured chemicals
be “organic?” Again, consumers zone in on that
word, and assume that since it is a well known
company, it is true. Think again! Again, this is
part of successful marketing by the cosmetic
industry. The label might say paraben free and that
might be true, but they have added so many other
man-made chemicals that it hardly matters that it is
free from the catch phase of the day.
Now those of us who really do make chemical free and
organic products are beginning to bring the cosmetic
industry to task. David Bonner of “Dr. Bonner’s
Magic Soap,” has filed a lawsuit.
http://organicconsu mers.org/ articles/
article_11855. cfm. Someone has to since our
government will not unless forced to. Dr. Bonner
has sued previously and won the right to have USDA
certification for their body products.
The majority of extracts have preservatives in them
but, since this may have done by another company and
not the company actually making the cream, lotion,
body butter, etc. Due to a technicality they don’t
have to disclose that fact. Under this loophole,
they can claim that the final product is
preservative free, even though the extracts have
preservatives in them.
If your product contains any of the following
ingredients, it is not organic:
Octinoxate 7.5%
Octisalate 5.0%
Oxybenzone 4.0%
Avobenzone 2.0%
BUTYLENE GLYCOL
PEG-8
DIMETHICONE
TRISILOXANE
CAPRYLYL GLYCOL
ETHYLHEXYL ISONONANOATE
TROMETHAMINE
GLYCERYL STEARATE
TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILI CATE
HYDROXYETHYL ACRYLATE/SODIUM ACRYLOYLDIMETHYL
TAURATE COPOLYMER
CARBOMER
ACRYLATES/C10- 30 ALKYL ACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER
DISODIUM EDTA
POLYGLYCERYL- 3 DIISOSTEARATE
CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE
POLYSORBATE 60
If your product says that it has any extract, i.e.
Lavender or Chamomile extract, than it has
preservatives in it.
Another thing we should question is the percentage
used of a “certified organic” product included?
Usually these are listed down at the bottom of
ingredients, which means their percentage is low.
Yes, they are in the final products, but there may
be just enough of these ingredients so that they can
be added to the label.
So by using a technical loop-hole, large cosmetic
companies can claim their products are free of the
current “catch” phase in order to sell their
products to you the unsuspecting customer.
The Romans had a saying ….
Caveat emptor
(Let the Buyer Beware) which still applies today.
