Skin Care Shopping

I wanted to talk a little today about shopping for safer skin care products and cosmetics.  I personally have allergies to most synthetic fragrances, and have to discern if what I am purchasing is really "free & clear" of these ingredients.  Trying to buy the most natural or organic skin care product can be tricky.

It is important to note that not all skin care items marked "natural" are actually made from natural ingredients. There are a lot of imposters out there an, sadly, the term "natural" is an undefined phrase when it comes to skin care, and, well most products.  Just because it has a pretty flower or some green fields on the cover does not mean that you are purchasing a clean item that will nourish your skin.

The FDA does not regulate skin care.  Well, not really.  The FDA considers skin care to fall under the category of cosmetics and the only premarket items they oversee are color additives.  There is a panel known as the Cosmetic Ingredient Review which funded by the Personal Care Products Council.  The CIR does not regulate or really define the terms "natural", "all natural" or "organic".  The USDA (US Department of Agriculture); however, does regulate "organic" products.  If you want to make sure that the product you are about to use is organic look for the USDA's symbol on the package.

The problem with a lot of the ingredients on labels, and ultimately figuring out if you are looking at a harmful synthetic petrochemical or, say, olive oil,  is that they have INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) names instead of their common names.  For example, olive oil is commonly referred to as Olea Europaea Fruit Oil on labels.  The main ingredients you want to avoid (and I will go a little more in-depth on these in upcoming posts) are phthalates & parabens (endocrine/hormone disruptors), 1,4-Dioxane (chemical carcinogen),  petrochemical based mineral oil (clogs pores), sulfates (eye/skin irritant), synthetic polymers and colors, nanos (esp. in sunscreens),  and MEA/DEA/TEA (amonia compounds.

When in doubt, you can always look up this handy, dandy ingredient search: Skin Deep.   The Environmental Working Group has put together this very comprehensive database to make it easy to know what's in what you put on your skin.