Are natural beauty products really safe?

 

Lately, voices have been calling for a return to nature and the use of products made from natural ingredients.

 

Many companies have tended to promote their products as "natural, organic, free of industrial ingredients, green" and other words that give the consumer a sense of safety towards the products he uses. Is this feeling real?

 

 The word "chemical" 

 

On the Internet, a common phrase spread that "the skin absorbs approximately 60% of the substances that are placed on it," which made many people afraid of using products containing chemical components, due to their concerns about their health effects, but according to dermatologists, this phrase is inaccurate, There are many factors that affect the skin's absorption of the substances placed on it, including the structure and size of the particles of the substance, the nature of the skin itself and its temperature, some elements are so large that the skin is unable to absorb them at all. 

 

Despite the bad reputation of the chemical components, many of them are considered safe and there is no harm in using them, especially since most of them have undergone multiple clinical tests to ensure their safety and effectiveness. But consumers rush to buy any product bearing the term "natural", hoping that it will be the best and safest, and are fooled by the written words without reading the ingredient list.

 

Deceptive terms

 

Beauty companies go overboard with a lot of glamorous terms that make us feel comfortable and comfortable with their products. It makes us see it every day in front of us in advertisements and beautiful pictures full of plants, flowers, and fruits, on cosmetic packages in stores, and the tongues of models and celebrities on social networking sites and in television programs, but it seems that what we already know about these terms is not accurate at all!

 

Natural product

 

The term "natural" does not mean anything that can be controlled. There are no real controls according to the US Food and Drug Organization, and any company can write this word on its products, so you will have to read the ingredients completely and make sure of them, and do not forget that the ingredients are arranged in descending order according to their percentage.

 

From high to low. For example, a phrase like "contains natural argan oil" may mislead us, while argan oil comes at the bottom of the ingredients list, which means that its percentage is very low in this product. 

 

Organic

 

The term "organic" is a term that is subject to disciplined standards from the US Food and Drug Administration, and according to those standards, organic preparations are made from organically grown ingredients, that is, pesticides and inorganic fertilizers were not used on them during agriculture, but the percentage of organic components in the product varies: either 100% organic, or "organic", meaning it contains 95% of organic ingredients, or "contains organic ingredients," which means it contains 75% of organic ingredients. 

 

Not tested on animals (CRUELTY-FREE)

 

Do you know the drawing of a little rabbit on cosmetic boxes? It is the "leaping bunny" certification which means that none of the ingredients in this product have been tested on animals. 

   

Vegan

 

This means that the product does not contain animal extracts like animal fats and gelatin, but that does not mean that it does not contain artificial ingredients.

 

Paraben-free

 

You might have seen this phrase on some products and this encouraged you to buy them, so what parabens?

 

Paraben is one of the preservatives used in many hair and skincare products, and it began to be used in the year 1950, but a study appeared in 2004 indicating the presence of parabens in samples of cancerous breast tumors, which created an unresolved debate about the harmfulness of paraben use until today. , Despite the presence of the effects of this substance on cancerous tumors, there is no scientific evidence that its use causes cancer, especially with the large size of the paraben molecule, which is difficult to absorb on the skin. Also, ketchup, for example, contains parabens. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, these compounds are safe as long as their percentage does not exceed 1% of the ingredients. 

 

Are natural preparations safe?

 

If you suffer from a history of allergies, you must be careful when using natural products. While chemical components receive careful clinical studies to ensure that they do not cause allergies, natural ingredients do not receive such tests, so it is preferable to do a test on a small spot on the inside of the arm.

 

Before using them, especially essential oils that some people suffer from allergies too, while many companies suffice to write the word scented materials within the ingredients without detailing them, and it may be among these substances that cause you an allergy.

 

Are natural products the best?

 

Perhaps we should ask: Are all-natural ingredients effective? The answer is no, as many natural ingredients need several processes of chemical treatment to increase their effectiveness, for example, there is no dispute over the benefits of vitamin C for your skin, but it must have a certain threshold concentration and a certain pH to be able to penetrate To benefit the skin, otherwise applying a little orange juice on your skin would be sufficient.

 

Also, some natural ingredients need additives to have a real effect on the skin and for it to easily penetrate the outer layer of the skin. 

 

Does this mean that you should ditch and stop using all-natural beauty products? The answer is also no. Like all other beauty products on the market, you can try it, but do not be led by the illusions of marketing phrases without making sure that they are suitable for you.