Organic Cosmetics

chillibreeze writer — Zahra B

Organic and natural are the latest buzzwords in cosmetic industry. A plant extract here and oil additives there and the product is sold as 'natural' and if that plant had been sourced from a plant which was grown without fertilizer/pesticide the product becomes 'organic'. A lay person falsely thinks that when a 'natural’ and ‘organic’ product is sold on the shelf, its ingredients are mixed and bottled as nature made them. When the truth is that natural ingredients like plant extract or oil are chemically modified to increase shelf life and acceptability, thus rendering the product 'unnatural' in the true sense of the word. There are so many cosmetic companies which claim to manufacture such 'natural' products and they sell these products at a premium on the basis of having 'natural' and ‘organic’ ingredients.

To understand whether organic and natural are synonyms for ‘safe’ lets examine the appeal of skin and hair products. Most of the skincare and hair care products are marketed based on their feel and perfume. Scientifically, both these qualities are only for marketability and have no positive outcome either on skin or hair. In fact perfume/fragrance can cause allergies and skin rashes because they are extremely irritating to the cells of the skin. Mineral oil/petrolatum which is widely used as emollient in pharmaceutical grade skin products does not contain fragrance and in its purest state is almost inert. When applied to the skin it forms a barrier to prevent moisture loss. Some 50 odd years ago when cosmetics were mass produced mineral oil/petrolatum was widely used. Somewhere down the line it got a bad-boy image because it is a crude oil by-product. The alternatives to mineral oil used in natural cosmetics are plant oils which are fragrant, greasy and comedogenic. There are other chemicals which are classified as 'bad' by organic cosmetic manufacturers notably sodium lauryl sulphate, parabens when repeated studies have shown that in quantities used they are incapable of causing cancer or any other permanent cellular modification.

Guidelines for certifying natural and organic products are far from being clear. A number of certifying agencies prescribing different standards for natural and organic cosmetic products exist in Europe. These included Soil Association (UK), Ecocert/Cosmebio (France), BDiH (Germany), ICEA (Italy), and Bioforum (Belgium). They have now agreed (in November 2008) to develop common standards for natural and organic cosmetics. Certifying of products (as natural or organic) will start from April 2009. Nowadays, most organic cosmetics manufacturers get their products certified from USDA and most of them are around 70% natural. In India, though a number of manufacturers produce natural cosmetics no governing body exists to certify the cosmetics.

India has long way to go in cosmetic industry. Most of the basic requirements like ingredient listing are non-existent in indigenously produced products. In such a scenario, a consumer has no way to find out what has gone into the particular lotion or skin cream or whether it’s organic/natural. The Indian consumer buys a product solely on the basis of fragrance, packaging and price. For a benefit on the skin, a product has to be well formulated using an emollient, antioxidants and vitamins which can act topically. Therefore, just by being 'natural' a product cannot claim to be effective. What can be eaten and can produce positive effect in the body does not necessarily work the same way when applied topically on the skin. Let's hope the scenario changes and stringent guidelines come in place in India so that consumers are not duped in name of 'natural' and 'organic'.

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in February, 2010. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Zahra has studied microbiology and is working as writer in medical services.She loves writing short stories, poems and articles where she can express her point of view.

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