Organic Body Care Product Primer

Guide for Shopping Organic Body Care Products

By Julian Huxley

Until the standards for organic body care products are developed and implemented in all countries, as an informed consumer, you have to check the ingredients of organic cosmetic products. For this you need detailed information about different chemicals that are being used in making cosmetics and the organic alternatives for them.
The Organic Consumers Association suggests that whenever you buy organic cosmetics, you should screen the truly organic products in the following manner:
The cleansing and conditioning ingredients should be made from certified organic materials.
They should not contain any chemical, synthetic or petroleum derivatives.
The manufacturing process should be simple and ecological in nature.
Non-agricultural water such as floral water and botanical water extracts should not be used to increase the percentage of organic content in the product.
The Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, educates consumers about controversial ingredients that can be used in organic personal care products in its guide ‘Body Care – A Consumer’s Guide to Shopping and Living Green’. The following reference list can help you in judging organic cosmetics:
Emollients: Emollients are added in numerous body care products, especially those meant for skin care, because these substances help in moisturizing the body surface.
Chemical petroleum based emollients include hydrogenated oils, butyl glycol, mineral oil, monostearate dimethicone, oleth 2, paraffin, stearic acid, petrolatum, potassium stearate and octyl palmitate.
Natural oils and waxes that you should look for as emolliating agents include almond oil, beeswax, coconut oil, cocoa butter, jojoba oil, shea butter and olive oil.
You can also use certain natural oils with caution. These include cottonseed oil (cotton is often grown with pesticides and about 25% of the global pesticides and insecticides are used in cotton farming), peanut oil (it can cause allergic reactions on the skin, hence do not use products containing peanut oil if your are allergic to peanuts) and grapeseed oil (check the means of extracting the oil as solvent extraction is the most preferred way of extracting the oil).
Preservatives: Preservatives are added not only in food products but also in cosmetic products as these are also susceptible to bacterial growth.
Chemical or petroleum based preservatives include butyl paraben, methyl paraben, ethyl paraben, propyl paraben and dazolidinyl urea.
Natural preservatives include essential oils, vinegar, grain alcohol, honey, vitamins A, C and E and grapefruit seed extract (GSE).
Fragrances: There is hardly any cosmetic product in the market that does not have an aroma. Organic essential oils are the most important source of organic fragrance additives.
Synthetic fragrances include amyl acetate (banana scent), benzophenone (rose scent), coconut fragrance, cucumber fragrance, and various fruit fragrances. Consistent research in the field of chemical fragrances has enabled companies to develop synthetics that smell exactly like the natural products and if you don’t read the contents properly, you can easily mistake them for natural fragrances.
Organic plant extracts that have strong fragrances include extracts from cedarwood, lemongrass, citronella, orange, eucalyptus, tea tree and fennel. Organic essential oils are so effective that they form the basis of aromatherapy which has been practiced in ancient civilizations since thousands of years and is now gaining rapid popularity.
Solvents: Solvents form an essential part of all body care products. Solvents dissolve one or more substances and hence you get a uniform solution, cream or gel.
Common synthetic or chemical solvents used in personal care products include acetone, propylene glycol, benzene, butylene glycol and hexane.
Water is the most efficient solvent as it is neutral in nature. Water is added in many cosmetic products in varying proportions.
Other natural solvents include apple cider vinegar and grain alcohol.
Colorants: Since cosmetic products are primarily used for looks, looks of these products are also important. Colorants are hence added in body care creams, lotions, gels, etc., to ensure consumers don’t reject them due to a dull color.
Synthetic colors are obtained from coal tar.
Natural colorants include saffron, turmeric, annatto, paprika, caramel and beets.
Watch-out When You Buy Organic Cosmetics

For the past few years, we have let chemicals encroach freely in our life. As a result of this chemical intrusion, most of our food, cosmetics and medicines, are contaminated with harmful substances as they form the basis of our modern production techniques.
Like organic food, many people are now looking towards organic cosmetics. But lack of appropriate standards for organic cosmetics has enabled many manufacturers to take advantage of the situation and mislead the consumers.
The definition of organic should be modified for organic body care products with a different set of standards. What is the problem with the current organic certification system? If we talk about a 70% organic product while referring to cosmetics, the remaining 30% of that product can consist of strong chemicals. Thus many cosmetics, in which the active ingredients are strong chemicals can be labeled as organic with minor modifications in the less active ingredients, or adding them with mild organic agents.
As a cautious consumer, you always take a look at the contents apart from the organic label. Then how do the manufacturers succeed in fooling you? If you observe closely, most of the 70% organic manufacturers list the organic contents first and the harmful chemicals are listed in the end. Floral waters, and water extracts and infusions from botanical products, are listed as the prime organic contents in most of these claimed organic cosmetics. But, on the contrary, they hardly have anything in them. Floral waters are hydrosols that are basically water by-products obtained during distillation of essential oils. There is hardly an iota of essential oil in the floral waters. Can these, by any chance, be the organic cosmetics that you want to purchase?
Many companies add ingredients such as diethanolamine (DEA), cocamide DEA, and triethanolamine (TEA), which are known for causing cancer. Olefin sulfonate, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium myreth sulfate, and paraben preservatives are also added in these products. Yet the manufacturers manage to label their products as organic because the current rules enable them to do so.
Some labels print wrong information. They add words like ‘derived from …’ to give the impression that the product is made from natural substances. Example is ‘cocamide DEA derived from coconut oil’. It might not be necessary that the cocamide DEA mentioned in the product is obtained from coconut oil only. Again lack of proper standards makes it feasible for the manufacturers to do such fraud labeling.
Some companies go an extent further in misleading the consumers. When you purchase organic cosmetics, you intend to buy the cosmetic products which have ingredients made from organic means without the use of any chemicals. However, there are companies which will label their product organic, referring to the scientific meaning of organic, that is one containing carbon in it.