What To Look For In Eco-Friendly Skin Care

Posted by Bamboo Village on 20th Apr 2016

This is a guest post by Jodi at Joli Natural Skincare. Make sure to check out their exciting and natural range of products on their site!

Many companies make claims about offering green / clean products and will use words like natural and organic to give consumers the idea they’re buying a healthier option. However, even products that use the words natural and organic may still use nasty synthetic or chemical additives. The product needs only to contain one or more natural or organic ingredients to be able use those words in their product name.

Establish if a product is really natural – Read the labels and if some ingredients sound scary type those ingredients into the Skindeep Database and it will give you safety ratings and potential hazards. If you find a website that claims to be natural yet does not offer a full list of ingredients, avoid those products until the company can offer you full disclosure of their ingredients list (it doesn’t have to be per product). Also look for product reviews on the internet. Often previous customers will advise consumers as to the type of ingredients used and the truth about how natural a product is.

Essential oils vs synthetic additives – Essential oils have been used in skin care for thousands of years. Those who used them in their creams and lotions did so because they knew of the pure benefits essential oils had on the skin, mind, body and senses. These days products will contain synthetic alternatives that claim to have amazing effects on the skin, and whist these claims may be true, it’s important to weigh up the cost to the earth and your health when considering a non-natural alternative.

BPA free plastic – Chemicals in plastics can leach into products such as BPA (bisphenol A). BPA is a dyphenylmethane derivative used to line packaging to protect food from contamination and extend shelf life. Why is it bad for us? Product Safety Australia say that some studies (from animal feeding) show long term exposure disrupts the endocrine system and chemicals mimic hormones. The endocrine system is a collection of glands that produce hormones. According to Food Standards (website) BPA poses no threat to people because of its low doses, and the Australian government began phasing out of BPA packing in 2010. The good news is more and more companies’ offer BPA packing so opt for those.

Recyclable packaging – Glass is one of the better types of packing because it is recyclable for its life time. The downside to glass is it is more costly to ship, more breakable and heavier than plastic, thus having an effect on transport emissions. Plastic is also recyclable, especially if you look PET packaging. As with glass jars, plastic containers can also be reused, and this is another form of recycling.

Bio degradable ingredients – As odd as this may sound a really good question to ask yourself is, “Can this product be tipped out onto my garden?” If the answer is no that is a good sign the product is not bio degradable. There are many things we are doing to this planet that are non biodegradable i.e. plastic bags and drinks bottles. Not to mention synthetic fabrics and harmful dyes. A lot of this packing ends up in waterways and parks: the earth basically. What other type of packing does the company use? Can it be used on the garden, reused or recycled (such as cardboard, paper, ribbons, cloth)?