From the tooth brushing in the morning to skin care routine in the evening, we are now considering many products to be everyday life’s bare necessities. From personal care, hygiene and cleaning to beauty enhancements, we all heavily depend on the products of the cosmetic industry.
The cosmetic industry has overwhelmed the market with competitive products that are trying to maintain high efficiency and affordable price for everyone. The result is poor quality, toxic materials, heavy chemicals – all synthetic, produced artificially in the lab.
People are no longer ignorant of the harmful effects chemicals have on their health and the environment, therefore, they are demanding natural products more than ever. Luckily, many companies and brands follow the idea and are committed to the production of safe cosmetics under the labels “organic”, “natural”, “pure”.
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What is Natural Organic Cosmetic?
Natural cosmetics refers to all the products produced from natural sources without the addition of chemicals. The compounds found in these personal care products are organically cultivated, less processed, completely healthy and safe to use.
As mentioned before, many different names and labels are used to refer to natural cosmetic products. They are used to mark the products according to the ingredients included, the process of production and certification.
What do Different Product Labels Mean?
The most used qualifications when it comes to natural cosmetics are organic, certified organic and natural cosmetic products. Let’s see what they refer to exactly.
1. Natural cosmetic products – a product that contains natural ingredients and that means anything that is:
- plants based or animal by-product
- mineral and microbial ingredients
- produced with minimal processing
- extracted by using simple methods or simple chemical reaction
- free of petrochemicals and GMOs
2. Organic cosmetic products – the label refers to the process of cultivating the natural ingredients included. This means that all the natural ingredients are purely organic. Therefore, they are grown without any pesticide, chemicals, and additives. The use of the term organic is highly regulated which means that an organic product must meet all the rules of cultivation.
Despite the organic status, these products may contain additional synthetic ingredients and chemicals. The percentage of organic ingredients is less than 70%.
3. Certified Organic cosmetic products – these products must meet a number of rules and certifications that are beyond the single “organic” status. The cultivation processes must be performed under the same strict rules as for the organic products. What is additionally required here is the percentage of the organic ingredients that the specific product is consisted of.
Certified organic cosmetics have labels that tell the percentage of organic ingredients included. Products must not be less than 90% organic. Those that are 100% organic are marked with “100 percent certified organic product”.
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Safety Standards for Cosmetic Care Products
It is a little bit problematic that many countries in the world do not have regulated safety standards for cosmetic products. Certified definitions for what qualifies as a natural and pure product are not reliable. As there are no applying rules, many companies decide to go under the name natural product despite the addition of synthetic ingredients in their products.
They can seek certification from a third party. If this is the case you need to get informed about the particular norms and standards. However, the best thing to do is to know the ingredients. Products that are labeled as natural start by listing the natural ingredients and if there are some synthetic additions they should be listed last.
Products that are labeled as “organic” on the other hand, must comply with certain rules. Organic ingredients used in the production must be cultivated without synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, growth hormones or antibiotics and they must be GMO-free.
In conclusion, if a product is labeled as organic, all of the natural ingredients included are organically grown and clean. However, this does not necessarily mean that the product doesn’t contain any additional synthetic ingredients
True All Natural Organic Cosmetics
Taking into consideration all that is previously discussed we can make a conclusion on what all-natural organic cosmetics should truly represent.
All products that are made from 100% natural ingredients that are cultivated by the “organic” standards and do not have any added synthetic chemical compounds fall under the label safe, all-natural, organic products.
Additionally, companies that are making these products may be using green processes for production, meaning they do not produce any harmful by-products that add to the pollution. Also, they pack their products in reusable and recycled packages.
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