Today every large cosmetic company is making the claim that their
products are “Fragrance Free,” “Preservative Free” and “certified
Organic,” etc.

Since those are the current hot phases, and companies want you to
continue to buy their products, it is only natural that they add these
phases to their advertisement. The sad part is that most
people only see the “catch phases” and do not bother to read the list
of ingredients.

If they did, they would definitely not but the products. Half of the
ingredients can’t be pronounced. It is these chemicals which are the
real culprits. They can irritate your skin and also cause a multitude
of other health related problems.

As for being organic, how can manufactured chemicals be “organic?”
Again, consumers zone in on that word, and assume that since it is a
well known company, it is true. Think again! Again, this is part of
successful marketing by the cosmetic industry. The label might say
paraben free and that might be true, but they have added so many
other man-made chemicals that it hardly matters that it is free from
the catch phase of the day.

Now those of us who really do make chemical free and organic products
are beginning to bring the cosmetic industry to task. David Bonner
of “Dr. Bonner’s Magic Soap,” has filed a lawsuit.
http://organicconsu mers.org/ articles/ article_11855. cfm. Someone has
to since our government will not unless forced to. Dr. Bonner has
sued previously and won the right to have USDA certification for
their body products.

The majority of extracts have preservatives in them but, since this may
have done by another company and not the company actually
making the cream, lotion, body butter, etc. Due to a technicality they
don’t have to disclose that fact. Under this loophole, they can
claim that the final product is preservative free, even though the
extracts have preservatives in them.

If your product contains any of the following ingredients, it is not organic:
Octinoxate 7.5%
Octisalate 5.0%
Oxybenzone 4.0%
Avobenzone 2.0%
BUTYLENE GLYCOL
PEG-8
DIMETHICONE
TRISILOXANE
CAPRYLYL GLYCOL
ETHYLHEXYL ISONONANOATE
TROMETHAMINE
GLYCERYL STEARATE
TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILI CATE
HYDROXYETHYL ACRYLATE/SODIUM ACRYLOYLDIMETHYL TAURATE
COPOLYMER
CARBOMER
ACRYLATES/C10- 30 ALKYL ACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER
DISODIUM EDTA
POLYGLYCERYL- 3 DIISOSTEARATE
CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE
POLYSORBATE 60

If your product says that it has any extract, i.e. Lavender or Chamomile
extract, than it has preservatives in it.

Another thing we should question is the percentage used of a “certified
organic” product included? Usually these are listed down at the
bottom of ingredients, which means their percentage is low. Yes,
they are in the final products, but there may be just enough of these
ingredients so that they can be added to the label.

So by using a technical loop-hole, large cosmetic companies can claim
their products are free of the current “catch” phase in order to sell
their products to you the unsuspecting customer.

The Romans had a saying …. Caveat emptor (Let the Buyer Beware)
which still applies today. Copyright 2008 Michele Winslow