Left Brain laments: 
I just read an excellent article on the Daily Mail about whether natural cosmetics are really better for you or not.
The author raises some excellent points that seem completely ignored by cosmetic & personal care marketers who want to convince you that “natural is better.”
Naturally Nefarious
Of course natural things like lead, radiation, and snake venom are bad for you, but did you know the following have all been demonstrated through scientific studies…
1. Soya bean emollient (derived from soybeans) mimics the effect of estrogen in the body. This is the same thing that Parabens are said to do and which makes them “dangerous”.
2. Olive Oil on skin slows the recovery time of damaged skin.
3. Lavender Oil & Tea Tree oil can cause breast tissue growth in teen aged boys.
Organic Cosmetics Con
So why, you might ask, would companies and consumer groups try to convince you that Organic is better or healthier?
In my opinion there are only a couple reasons.
1. Can’t compete. Companies that sell organic or natural products are typically small and can’t compete with big companies like P&G or L’Oreal when it comes to advertising. Note they can compete on product quality but that is usually not sufficient to get people to buy. So, they spend time trying to convince people that buying “regular” products are dangerous. They don’t base their conclusions on any scientific evidence. They just help propogate people’s natural fear of anything chemical or man-made.
2. Fear control. Consumer groups publish incomplete or misleading studies to scare people and control what you think and do. This allows them to raise more money, affect more people, and potentially bring more business to their friends in the organic/natural business.
Beauty Brains bottom line
There is no evidence that your “regular” cosmetics or personal care products are harmful. There is also no proof that natural cosmetics are better. Actually, there is some evidence suggesting they are less-safe. Use your Beauty Brains the next time you see a story about toxic chemicals in your cosmetics. There’s always more to the story and it’s almost never simple.
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
There’s also the fact that a lot of those “all-natural” things are no more natural than anything else. You turn the bottle around and read the label, and it’s still a bunch of complicated synthetic chemical names. So even if natural were better, you ain’t getting it when you buy the supposed “all-natural” products.
So basically, if you buy “all-natural,” you’re either paying more for stuff that works less well, or you’re paying for a lie.
I’ve noticed an increase in “All Natural” brands at places like Rite-Aid and Duane Reade, places that just carried standard Oil of Olay, Neutragena etc. a couple of years ago. I think that part of it is the Greening trend, which I hate. I agree with Thomas Friedman and think that a lot of these green products are an easy way to convince people that they’re making a difference without making any essential changes in their lifestyles or comfort level.
I think more than natural or Synthetic, its the blend that matters the most. I don’t care how they barnad themselves but if the moisturizer has good emollients, safe preservatives and good standardized extracts like Aloe/Green Tea; I’m going with it.
where are the studies that you based your opinions on and more importantly, who pays for the studies? Your corporate clients?
I’m sorry, but I can’t take anything seriously from someone who begins a piece with “I just read an excellent article on the Daily Mail.”
@Tristan – we don’t do any studies. We report on studies from scientific journals.
Links to studies please?
I beg to differ. L’Oreal (amongst other companies) was found to have the highest level of lead in the lipsticks, 6 times FDA approved level in candy (don’t ask why there is lead in candy at all).
There are various studies that confirm that a lot of the compounds found in cosmetics and personal care products are indeed toxic. But hey, don’t take my word for it.
At the end of the day, it’s you who gets to decide what to put on your skin. I would take olive oil over laureth sulfate any day.
The issue of some companies mascarading as natural – well that’s another issue. Just read the label. But pleaee don’t try and tell me that regular cosmetics are safe to use because FDA says so.
FDA approves a lot of things that are not safe – such as limit of lead in candy.
thanks for another well-reasoned article. I choose to go for products without parabens, with more naturally-derived ingredients, and I read all labels, go online for reputable, unbiased information on ingredients, and visit the company webisites, email, and call to get full information on what I’m using. For me, an effective topical skincare product should have safe, active incredients, be properly forumlated, and be in a pump or airless dispenser to reduce the risk of conamination. I avoidy soy, comfrey, lavendar, geranium, sage and essential oils that can have adverse effects in high doses. Beauty Brains and I may sometimes disagree, but you provide some of the most well-thought, intelligent comment on the web, along with a good sense of humor.
Soyabeams and its products are largely genetically modified these days which is of more concern to me that the phytoestrogens it contains, aside from that ALOT of vegetables contain estrogen. A balanced diet is what it is all about.
Olive Oil may slow skin repair but I have never read, seen or heard that before. Olive oil has a lot of other benefits on hair (I’m sure we agree! For health etc). When they use the word slow, what exactly does that mean anyway, slow in comparison to what?
The lavender and tea tree refers to a preliminary not yet conclusive study that Lavender and Tea tree are endocrine disruptors – increasing estrogen. Lavender is great for burns, skin conditions and high blood pressure. Conversely its terrible for low blood pressure. That is an already established fact.
But
I think by now everyone is aware that natural does not necessarily equal safe and as LHC demonstrates something that works for one won’t necessarily work for all. Chemical, synthetic and man made do not equal safe either! Notice the concern of the article in regard to estrogen, Soyabean, Lavender, tea tree and also note their open admittance that parabens raise concern on this matter also. It seems to me this article is extremely bias in trying to turn one thing against another by saying. Parabens may be bad but natural products are bad too!
Personally I prefer to put natural ingredients on my skin because they are generally the sought you can eat! I have two other reasons for going natural – I believe natural ingredients are more easily broken down in the body than chemicals that may have been forced together through unnatural means such as extreme heat, various catalysts etc. The second reason is similar except it refers to them breaking down in the environment rather than the body not to mention the environmental impact of industrialised cosmetic manufacture in creating toxic byproducts that are not used in the jar/bottle but nonetheless are produced and require disposal of.
I just had to laugh at the mention of small companies trying to outcompete large companies. Large companies with so much more advertising funds, funds that could pay for something like this article perhaps.
Its especially ironic as the more natural you go the less likely you need any company large or small, you just make your own – or grow it.
@Ruth – the irony is that this website is funded by the same small companies that are called out in the article. Look at the Google ads on the side of this website. Those are put out by mostly small companies. Big companies spend the bulk of their advertising money on TV & in magazines.
My understanding of the report of the study (I didn’t read the direct study) is that olive oil slows the healing of sun burned skin compared to not applying anything.
Making your own things is good in theory but in practice it makes you more vulnerable to attack from disease causing microbes.
I have to agree with others on this one. Seems the beauty brains are not siting their sources and making sweeping claims lately.
One of the reasons that I’m tempted by “natural” and “organic” products is because I’m concerned about pollution from the manufacturing process and from the agriculture of any plants used in the products. Also I’m more likely to find natural products sold in bulk or in recycled packaging. Anyone know of any studies or sites that track that kind of info comparing products.
I don’t know exactly which ones the reporter was citing but here are a few relevant ones (thanks Sophie)
Effects of soy exposure – http://tinyurl.com/qxyafs
Effect of lavender exposure – http://tinyurl.com/or55b8
The thing is, you can reject these findings or not. They are real results produced by real scientists. We’re looking for people to be consistent. If you avoid parabens because of a preliminary study why wouldn’t you also avoid lavender and tea tree oil?
“if you avoid parabens because of a preliminary study, why wouldn’t you also avoid lavender and tea tree oil?”
LOVE that! It’s a great question, too.
Its true. I’m someone now that if I see controversy in an ingredient then I rather not use it until I get hard facts! So If there are scientists that are saying that lavender or tea tree oil might effect your health in some way as well as parabens, then I won’t be using it in case its true!
Given all the horrors of soy beans and phytoestrogens (we have only to look at the billions of Asian men to see the results of phytoestrogens), why on earth has Aveeno come out with a line of soy-based moisturizers? Because surely Aveeno knows this. Or have they no chemists? Or researchers? Or are they simply cashing in on the “natural” [sic] craze, knowing that the public is easily hoodwinked and will happily slap down dough any time they hear a word they like, hoping for the next miracle?
No matter what these studies may say, it is ultimately a personal choice if a person wants to use organic products or not. I personally would rather use products with little ingredients and words I can pronounce, rather than synthetic chemicals. Like anything in life, there are good sides and bad to organic or “natural products.” Its just up to you to educate yourself about them before you use them.
I don’t particularly know if natural is better than synthetic, I’ve had amazing results with either side of the coin. I agree with people who say its a personal choice, but sometimes I do think the BBs are a little against Green. Maybe because the consumer has been overloaded with all manner of Green Guilt and no one’s saying that one can be just as good as the other? Or many companies feel like they need to be able to justify their $100+ price tag by saying they’ve added some magic natural ingredient? (Or even just to boost sales in older companies?)
“Organic” and “natural” aren’t synonyms. You can grow strawberries with pesticides and fertilizers or without. One of those can earn the label “organic” and the other can’t. Likewise, “words you can’t pronounce” are often natural. Juglans mandshurica is a walnut tree (you find the ground shells of the walnut in exfoliating scrubs); magnesium aluminum silicate is a mineral (it’s a garnet).
Hell; triethanolamine is an organic chemical compound.
Google…the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. There is scientific evidence to back up that certain ingredients are bad for you and there are natural alternatives. Pretty disappointed with the information on this site. (added by Mobile using Mippin)
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics doesn’t base it’s conclusions on science. The information they provide is not validated and poorly skewed to push their agenda of chemical fear-mongering. They are a political action committee run by lawyers, not scientists.
I love coming to this site, it always reminds me to stop and think before I shell out 100’s of dollars on some magic all-natural ingredient that isn’t necessarily magical.
You certainly has your take on this.. but I don’t believe it. Yes, some so-called natural products contain harmful stuff with a little more natural add to it. That’s up to us to research adn look on the label all the time. I think your article is even a poorer example in trying to feed consumers that natural products are worse than chemical products. (unless you’re certain allergic to some plants)
To say what’s been said: I think your site is run by politically big Corporation lawyers and advertisers. You did a good job of trying to scare people off of real natural goodies! How many times do we have to be falsely informed about products from those BIG companies? La Mer, same thing as nivea with couple different ingredients etc..
Anyway, to shift the fault from some dishonest companies (big or small) to naturals being bad is false advertising… if you want to use your money power to buy all traditional cosmetics, it’s your choice. Man made or synthetic aren’t exactly bad, but chemicals? Chemicals are worse. Why don’t you do a “The Good Benefits About Paraben”
Lots of good comments here, but lots of misunderstanding and misrepresentations. The more chemicals you expose your body to, the more your immune system is kept busy trying to figure out what this alien is – thus your immune system is hampered – period. The closer you can get to nature, the better you will be; however, lotions are water-based and have to be preserved and there aren’t many natural ways to do that and keep the integrity of the product. The article about lavender & tea tree oil is old and has been refuted over and over again – a very poorly done study and as usual a headlines grabber and away it went. Please email me and I will give you one of the best rebuttals on that one – annrn@neb.rr.com.