Natural Skin Care Products - Are They What They Seem? by Jane Thurnell-Read

The market for 'natural' products for skin and hair has grown dramatically over the years. It gives people confidence to buy a product labelled 'natural', because most people believe this means that it won't contain any nasty chemicals, but in most countries this is far from the truth. Many personal care products do not stand up to close scrutiny.

I asked Carla Payne of Seven Wives to explain what the word 'natural' means legally in Britain, and I suspect the situation is similar elsewhere. This is what she told me:

"When you buy what you think is a natural product, and it is even labelled a natural product, unless it states 100% natural, you could be getting a potion containing harmful chemicals.

"Manufacturers are allowed to label their products 'natural' if a mere 1% of the ingredients are natural. Of that 1%, nine-tenths can be water. Consumers are left paying over the odds for a product which isn't what they think it is."

I don't want you to take away from this that it's not worth buying 'natural' cosmetics and personal care product, because I do believe it is really important to avoid many of the chemicals routinely used by the majority of manufacturers. It is important to recognise that just because a product is labelled 'natural', you still need to look at the list of ingredients, or buy from a manufacturer you trust.

Have a look at the lip balm article, the colouring in cosmetics one, and the one on fragrances.

There are now lots of good skin care products available produced by reputable manufacturers. I personally like:

Yin Yang Skincare

PureNuffStuff

Beyond Organic Skincare

Green People