Organic or natural skin care – which is better?
If a skin care product states that it is natural on the label, it may contain natural ingredients. However, the quantity and the quality of the natural ingredients are unknown. It may also have other synthetic ingredients that can be harmful, cause cancer or be tainted with cancer-causing contaminants.
If the skin care product is certified natural by the Natural Products Association (NPA), it is required to be comprised of “at least 95% all natural ingredients.” The NPA defines natural as “Ingredients that come or are made from a renewable resource found in nature (Flora, Fauna, Mineral), with absolutely no petroleum compounds.”
The NPA Standard for natural skin care products allows some synthetic ingredients only when “there is not a readily available natural alternative ingredient” and “there are no suspected human health risks as indicated by peer-reviewed third-party scientific literature.”
The natural skin care ingredients as defined by the NPA may have been grown with synthetic fertilizers and sprayed with chemical pesticides and herbicides. In this case, there may be unknown harmful chemicals and contaminants in the product which are not listed on the label.
Skin care products that claim to be natural and organic, without any certification, are similar to products that claim to be natural without certification. These products will contain some organic ingredients, but the same questions that lurk for the uncertified natural products still remain for uncertified natural and organic products. Although some of these companies may have top quality products with impeccably pure ingredients, many do not.
So, what is the best natural skin care? It is a skin care product that is USDA certified organic to food standards.
The problems with the OASIS and EcoCert Organic certifications have been previously discussed in this blog.
Christine H. Farlow, D.C.
The Ingredients Investigator
Protecting You From Harmful Ingredients…
