Dr. Mercola May 28 2007 46,663 views
Many beauty products found in health food stores contain harmful ingredients and are not 100 percent natural, no matter what they may claim.
There are no federal certifications or official guidelines for beauty products, so anyone can claim that such a product is natural or organic. Some "organic" beauty products contain only a single-digit percentage of organic ingredients.
Alba Body Lotion, a "natural" body product, contains ingredients such as octyl methoxycinnamate, benzophenone-3, and methyl/propylparaben, for instance. The EPA has linked methyl parabens to metabolic, developmental, hormonal, and neurological disorders, as well as various cancers.
Another common ingredient used in "natural" beauty products is sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate, or SLES/SLS, which is an eye and skin irritant.
The Environmental Working Group
GreenOptions.com May 24, 2007
Dr. Bronner’s Real Soap Test Video
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
The Environmental Working Group's database of cosmetic products exposes many trusted natural brands as less than honorable. Some brands use ingredients that were simply derived from natural sources, but are no longer natural or organic.
Sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate is derived from coconut oil, and some brands simply refer to it as such on their ingredients list. But SLES/SLS is no longer natural by any means, and is a common ingredient in anti-freeze and engine degreasers.
It's a shamefully misleading statement, as pure coconut oil is a fantastic moisturizer and a potent source of the beneficial fat lauric acid, from which lauryl sulfate is derived.
The parabens referred to in the articles are commonly used as preservatives, even though they have been linked to various cancers. On the label they may be listed as methyl paraben, ethyl paraben, propyl paraben, butyl paraben, isobutyl paraben or E216.
Truly organic personal-care products do not contain preservatives, although they may contain natural antimicrobial and antifungal ingredients like grapefruit seed extract, or antioxidant vitamins (A, C and E), which come with all the benefits of a preservative, but none of the dangerous side effects.
There is no question that people are being damaged by beauty products. The adverse effects of toxins is compounded over decades. Chemicals are transmitted into the bloodstream in a number of ways: powders have the least absorption, while oily solutions or those designed to increase moisture allow more of the chemical to be absorbed.
It is important to remember that nearly everything you slather onto your skin and scalp goes into your bloodstream, so make sure you read the labels!
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The whole argument about natural vs unnatural when it comes to certain additives in food and cosmetics is a bit specious. For instance, flavours, whether produced by natural or artificial means, sometimes contain exactly the same chemicals. When amyl acetate is distilled from bananas, they use a solvent, but it is called ‘natural’, but when the same compound is made by mixing vinegar and amyl alcohol, using sulphuric acid as a catalyst it has to be labelled ‘artificial’. Neither are what was intended by nature.
1. Schlosser, E., Fast food nation : what the all-American meal is doing to the world. 2001, London: Allen Lane. 356 p.