Organic Beauty
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Organic Skin Care Products - A Safer Alternative!

In our modern society there are many different organic skin care ranges and organic beauty products available. Modern face and body creams are made from many different ingredients, including many chemicals. Every day we reach for the deodourant, moisturiser, shampoo, conditioner, and dusting powder. Us girls apply blusher, eye shadow, mascara, and lipstick, then maybe dab on a nail polish and perfume. We have just exposed ourselves to over 200 different synthetic chemicals!

There are very good reasons why we should use organic skin care products, and here are a few:

• There has been a report linking chemicals (parabens) in deodourant with breast tumours.
• Products often list fragrances, which can contain up to 600 different compounds, many carcinogenic or otherwise toxic, but the label only says they contain a "fragrance".
• Hair dyes with suspected cancer-causing ingredients are not required to carry warning labels.
• Cosmetic makers are required to list ingredients, they are not required to conduct pre-market safety tests.

Even if the [Food and Drug Administration] suspects that serious adverse health effects are caused by a cosmetic product, they can't require the manufacturer to provide test data to prove the product safety.

Parabens are the most widely used chemical preservatives around the world, and they are used in many every day items including, children's shampoos, baby lotions, skin creams, deodourants, nail creams, hair styling gels, facial masks and foundations.

Under Soil Association organic standards, natural preservatives and antibacterial ingredients are encouraged. Their are many natural preservatives like alcohol, honey and sugar, that have been used for centuries. Plant extracts can also be used, such as cinnamon, rose, cloves, vanilla and calendula. Natural process can be used to prevent the fast spread of bacteria, processes such as heat treatment, removing oxygen through vacuum packing, and ensuring a low water content. Chemical preservative's are very restricted but a few are allowed, as long as they have no known health risks or concerns.

The Soil Association is the UK largest campaigning and certification organisation for organic food, farming and products. They have specific standards for heath and beauty products. These standards were developed in 2002 after three years of development involving industry experts.

These standards are there to provide consumers with products that are as natural as possible, with minimum processing. There are no GM ingredients or petro-chemicals allowed, and products must contain a minimum of 70% organic ingredients (excluding water). Products that are certified by the Soil Association carry the widely recognised Soil Association symbol.