How to Recognize Truly Natural Skin Care Products

February 7th, 2012 by Saiful

There are plenty of skin care products in the market that use the word ‘natural’ in their descriptions. The problem is this claim use to have no factual basis or scientific legitimacy. The term ‘natural’ isn’t even regulated, not to mention its somewhat hazy, so each cosmetics company can use it to mean whatever they want it to mean. In the world of skin care and makeup, the claims about all-natural products are either exaggerated because the natural ingredients they do contain are problematic for the skin, or the products are laden with lots of unnatural ingredients.

Just because the ingredient is found in nature or grows out of the ground doesn’t make it automatically good for skin, and the reverse is also true, synthetic ingredients are not always bad. Yet many natural ingredients are actually beneficial for skin, which makes the whole issue more frustrating because consumers usually are at a loss, or simply don’t have the time, to choose which natural ingredients are harmful and which are helpful (and a lot of products include a frustrating combination of both).

Vegetables, fruits, or any natural alimentary components are not necessarily the best for skin. When it comes to skin care, more often than not, the benefit for the skin is conferred by just a small part of the plant. Usually, a process that is synthetically derived is required for the extraction of this component from the plant. Further, compared with the whole food, these extracts are far more stable. Think about it this way: a plant in its pure form isn’t stable in the least, especially in skin care products. Just remember how long a head of lettuce lasts in your refrigerator. Regrettably, natural or plant-based preservatives have extremely poor antifungal or antimicrobial properties.

Many manufacturers claiming to be all-natural achieve this appearance by listing a denomination in parentheses next to the more technical-sounding ingredient on their label. Although this appears to be helpful information, it still leads consumers in the wrong direction. For example, a standard detergent cleansing agent, ammonium lauryl sulfate, is listed on an Aveda ingredient information as being a coconut oil derivative. While that makes the ingredient sound natural, what is not explained in the label is what the coconut oil has to go through to become ammonium lauryl sulphate. Ammonium lauryl sulfate is the salt of a sulfuric acid compound, neutralized with an ingredient like triethanolamine. None of that makes this component bad for skin, and we wouldn’t tell anyone to avoid ammonium lauryl sulfate, but it just not a natural ingredient and that is the more accurate description of it. Along with this deception, a vast array of synthetic ingredients is usually, if not always, included in the formulation of products from companies that want you to believe they are made with all natural ingredients.

A new line of skin care products offers the opportunity to get rid of acne scars, blemishes and other dermal imperfections, while at the same time protects you skin and maintains it with the proper level of hydration because of its natural moisturizer properties.