'Natural ingredient' means little on a cosmetics label | Cosmetics & Makeup | Says, Ingredients, Products, Plantbased, S

You are here: Home

'Natural ingredient' means little on a cosmetics label

[CanWest News] Shiitake mushrooms, soy, rosemary, chamomile, mint, and green tea - take a guess as to what these ingredients are used to make.

If you said a sauce or an appetizer, you probably spend more time looking through cookbooks than shopping for beauty products. All these ingredients are heavily promoted by cosmetics manufacturers as ideal nourishment for your skin.

But is it true? Or is the hype surrounding plant-based or natural cosmetic products based more on marketing than science?

Self-described "cosmetics cop" Paula Begoun, author of Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me and several other books about the cosmetics industry, says consumers have to be part detective themselves to know what's behind the label on most so-called "natural" beauty products.

"The term 'natural' is meaningless. There is no standard or cosmetic regulation for this term," she says. "Anyone can put this on their label regardless of content."

And even if a product does contain plant-based ingredients, Begoun says that's not necessarily a good thing.

"There are lots of natural ingredients that can be problematic or irritating for skin, increase the risk of sun damage and cause cell death (grain alcohol is the best example of the latter)." She also identifies plant-based ingredients like lemon, grapefruit, mint, peppermint, menthol, camphor, eucalyptus, and ivy as potentially irritating.

As well, she says, many products are so highly processed that any of the beneficial qualities of the plant touted on the label may well be negligible.

Diane Bernard of SeaFlora, a seaweed-based line of skin-care products made on Vancouver Island, says that some plant-based products "go through a fairly brutal extraction process, including bleaching, that strips them of most of their vitamins and minerals." And some use preservatives like paraben and formaldehyde, which have been linked to cancer and other health problems.

Aveda, owned by cosmetics giant Estée Lauder, is well known for using plant-based ingredients in its products, including its Botanical Kinetics line. Ramona Caporicci, Aveda's executive marketing director for Canada, says the company believes plant-based ingredients are absorbed into the skin better than synthetic ones. She adds that Aveda tries to limit its use of synthetic preservatives, but that's not always viable.

"Whenever possible, we try to use a plant-based preservative system," she says.

But she says some products - such as sunscreens containing SPF, for example - have to contain synthetic-based preservatives to meet government standards.

Should you look for plant-based products that have the least amount of preservatives? Once again, Begoun says, it's buyer beware.

"Natural ingredients have a much higher risk of mould, fungus and bacteria growth, for obvious reasons. Think of how long a head of lettuce lasts in your refrigerator before it starts decomposing," she says.

So what should a cautious cosmetics customer do to make sure she is getting a product that will actually be good for her?

If you do decide to buy "natural" or plant-based products, Bernard suggests reading the list of ingredients.

If the natural ingredient touted in the name of the product is at or near the top of the list, you may be on to something. But "if the first two or three ingredients are water or sodium lauryl sulphate or propylene glycol, you know you've got a problem," Bernard says.

Tags: Add more tags...,
or Close

Bookmarker