• All Natural and Organic Skin Care Products #28

    26Nov
    Categories: Natural Skin Care Comments: 0

    Bogus organic natural skin care products

    The lawsuit filed back in April 2008 by Dr. Bronner’s and the Organic Consumer’s Association against “organic cheaters” has been given the green light to proceed by the San Francisco Superior Court.

    If you use all natural skin care products with organic on the label, make sure you read the ingredients list if the product is not USDA certified organic skin care. A number of natural skin care companies were caught red-handed labeling their products as organic when they contained the cancer-causing contaminant 1,4-dioxane.

    The companies named in this lawsuit are

    • Avalon Organics
    • Jason Pure, Natural & Organic
    • Nature’s Gate Organics
    • Kiss My Face Obsessively Organic
    • Giovanni Organic Cosmetics
    • Head Organics
    • Desert Essence Organics
    • Stella McCartney’s CARE 100% Organic

    Two other natural skin care companies, whose products were found to contain the carcinogen 1,4-dioxane, have agreed to reformulate the problematic products. They are Ikove and Juice Beauty.

    There may be other skin care products on the market labeled as all natural and organic that are not listed above but do also contain the 1,4-dioxane or other harmful ingredients. Not every skin care product on the market labeled as organic and natural was tested for the contaminant.

    For your health and your family’s health, be a wise consumer and read every label of every skin care product before you purchase.

    Christine H. Farlow, D.C.
    The Ingredients Investigator
    Protecting You From Harmful Ingredients…
    www.dyingtolookgood.com
    www.dyingtolookgoodbook.com


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  • All Natural and Organic Skin Care Products #25

    17Nov
    Categories: Natural Skin Care Ingredients Comments: 0

    New Natural Skin Care Standards – Prohibited Ingredients

    The following ingredients are not allowed in the new natural skin care standards by the Natural Products Association:

    • Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
    • Amodimethicone
    • Behentrimonium Methosulfate
    • Butylene glycol
    • Carbomer
    • Ceteareth-20
    • Cetrimonium Chloride
    • Coco DEA
    • Cocoamidopropyl Betaine
    • Cyclopentasiloxane
    • Diazolidinyl Urea
    • Dimethicone
    • Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
    • EDTA
    • EthylHexylGlycerin
    • Glycereth-7 Cocoate
    • Isoceteth 20
    • Isopropyl Palmitate
    • Lauramide MEA
    • Lauryl DEA
    • Methoxycinnamate
    • Olefin Sulfonate
    • Oleyl Betaine
    • Parabens (methyl, propyl, butyl, etc.)
    • PEG-150 Distearate
    • PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
    • Polyquaternium 10
    • Propylene Glycol
    • Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate
    • Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate
    • Sodium Laureth Sulfate
    • Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
    • Sodium Lauryl Carboxylate
    • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
    • Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate
    • Sodium Myreth Sulfate
    • Sodium PCA or Na PCA (pyrrolidone carbonic acid)
    • Soyamidopropalkonium Chloride
    • Stearamidopropyl Dimethyl Amine

    Also, natural skin care products are not permitted to contain ingredients that contain the following in their name:

    • “ethoxylate”
    • “PEG”
    • the suffix “-eth”
    • “sarcosinate”
    • “MEA”, “DEA” or “TEA”
    • “taurate”
    • “sultaine”
    • “Sulfosuccinate”
    • “PPG”

    In addition, companies are not allowed to use these types of ingredients in their natural skin care products:

    • synthetic silicone compounds
    • petroleum derived ingredients including petrolatum, mineral oil or paraffin
    • chemical sunscreens like avobenzone and oxybenzone
    • synthetic polymers, i.e. ingredients that contain PVP or acrylates in the ingredient name
    • preservatives that release formaldehyde, including DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, methylisothiazolinone

    This is not an exhaustive list. There may be other ingredients, not on this list, that are not allowed in natural skin care products.

    There are a number of synthetic ingredients that are temporarily allowed in certified all natural skin care products. These are scheduled to be eliminated in 2010. They are:

    • preservatives that do not release formaldehyde and do not contain parabens
    • fragrances that do not contain phthalates and are not irritants
    • coco-betaine
    • quaternary ammonium compounds used in hair conditioners

    It’s important to remember that the best natural skin care products may not be the ones certified by the Natural Products Association. Because of the high fees required to become certified, many small natural skin care companies may not be able to afford the certification, but may provide a superior natural skin care product.

    Some of the best all natural skin care lines are found here.

    Again, it all boils down to reading the labels and knowing which ingredients are safe and which are not.

    Christine H. Farlow, D.C.
    The Ingredients Investigator
    Protecting You From Harmful Ingredients…
    www.dyingtolookgood.com
    www.dyingtolookgoodbook.com


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  • All Natural and Organic Skin Care Products #24

    14Nov
    Categories: Uncategorized Comments: 0

    New Natural Skin Care Standards

     

    The Natural Products Association (NPA) has a standard and a seal for certifying natural products. You will start to see products certified by the NPA on store shelves by Thanksgiving.

     

    Under this program, skin care products are certified natural, not organic. This will give some definition to what it means to be natural for skin care products. Up until now, the term natural has not been legally defined for cosmetics, skin care or personal care products.

     

    These new standards are definitely a step in the right direction and certain currently allowed synthetic ingredients will be eliminated in 2010 to improve the standards.

     

    However, the current standards do allow hydrolyzed proteins, a source of hidden MSG and hydrogenated oils. Both of these types of ingredients I consider unacceptable in natural skin care products. Since a great deal of what you put on your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream, why would you use products on your skin with ingredients you would not eat?

     

    One major drawback to the NPA standards is that in order to be certified, there is a hefty fee. Many small natural skin care companies that use the best natural skin care ingredients may find the cost prohibitive and may not be able to afford certification.

     

    Many of these small companies’ products are actually superior to some of the certified products from the larger, mainstream companies that can afford to pay the price. This will mislead the consumer into thinking that the products certified by the NPA are superior to those of the small all natural skin care companies that actually do have superior products with higher quality ingredients.

     

    Certified so far are seven Natural Lips products by Aubrey Organics, nine products by Burt’s Bees and two body cremes by JR Watkins Natural Apothecary.

     

    The Steering Committee & Partners for this new standard are

     

    Aubrey Organics

    Badger Balm

    Burt’s Bees

    Trilogy Fragrances

    Weleda

     

    My advice, as always, is to read the ingredients list, even on products certified organic by any standard or certified natural by the new natural standards.

     

    These new standards aren’t perfect as you can see with some of the undesirable ingredients allowed. Also, with Burt’s Bees at the helm and with many of their products containing fragrance, and the downgrading of some of their ingredients to include canola oil since their takeover by Clorox, it is just wise to make sure you know what’s in the products you use and make sure it meets with the level of safety/risk you’re comfortable with.

     

    Click here to shop for truly healthy natural skin care products.

     

    Christine H. Farlow, D.C.

    The Ingredients Investigator

    Protecting You From Harmful Ingredients…

    www.dyingtolookgood.com

    www.dyingtolookgoodbook.com

     


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