May 10, 2018
The label of a cosmetic product can guarantee that the product is natural and cautious, free from hard and unwanted ingredients, or that it has special or soft properties, but the terms used can be downright misleading because they have no no standard meaning. We decode some dubious statements to reveal the truth.
"Natural" or "Bio"
"NATURAL" can mean anything to anyone. Some manufacturers may use the term to imply that the product will not be moldy or harmless.
However, the term is more commonly used to describe ingredients that are extracted directly from plants or products of animal origin, rather than synthetic.
But at what concentration is the "natural" ingredient, whether it's 100%, 80% or just 50%, it's an unknown quantity. Regarding allergies or irritations, "natural" is not better than synthetic.
Some natural ingredients in cosmetics can cause allergic reactions. If you have an allergy to certain plants or animals, you may have an allergic reaction to the cosmetics that contain these ingredients. For example, lanolin, extracted from sheep's wool, is an ingredient in many moisturizers and is a common cause of allergies.
According to a 1996 Danish survey, 35% of "natural" cosmetics have allergenic scents, and "natural" perfumes are often more fragrant.
Impure and insecure
And "natural" plant extracts do not mean pure, clean or perfect either. According to the cosmetics trade magazine, Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Industry, "all plants (including those used in cosmetics) can be heavily contaminated with bacteria, and pesticides and chemical fertilizers are widely used to improve agricultural yields."
Some plants may also contain toxic ingredients. For example, comfrey (an ingredient in some herbal cosmetics) that contains substances called pyrrolizidine alkaloids, is potentially toxic if it is absorbed by cracked or broken skin.
Unnatural
Because natural beauty and hygiene items are becoming increasingly important, some less natural manufacturers are trying to take advantage of the market and put the word "natural" on their labels.
Their products may look natural, for example, with jojoba oil, honey, herbs and wheat germ oil, but they may also contain artificial ingredients such as artificial colors, fragrances and flavors. preservatives.
"Natural" products that use natural preservatives, such as natural vitamins E and C, are not safer. According to Alexander Fischer, MD's author of Contact Dermatitis, "Topical Vitamin E is a potent sensitizer that can produce delayed contact allergic dermatitis and allergic urticaria immediately."
Gerald McKnight, author of The Skin Game, warns that bio-based essences and ingredients increasingly used in today's cosmetics are not only more likely to cause allergic reactions, but also tend to deteriorate more quickly.
"Humane" or "Not tested on animals"
There is NO legal definition for these terms or similar terms used in product labels. According to the US Food and Drug Administration. UU (FDA), some of the company's products may apply such claims only to their finished cosmetics. However, these companies may be dependent on suppliers of raw materials or contracted laboratories to perform all the animal testing necessary to confirm the safety of the product or ingredient.
Many of the raw materials used in cosmetics today were tested on animals years ago when they were introduced for the first time. A cosmetics manufacturer can only use these raw materials and base its "crotchless" claims on the fact that materials or products are not "currently" tested on animals.
Therefore, although claims that a product has not been tested on animals are basically true, heavy products, whether labeled or not, are rarely true. According to experts, the term "humane" is also rarely used. If for some companies this may mean that the product is not tested on animals, for others it means that the product does not contain animal ingredients.
For others, this could mean that the company has declared a moratorium on animal testing, or has not tested this particular product, but is still testing other products on animals, or at least has not excluded tests in the future.
(see also separate sections on the safety of testing on animals and animal by-products in cosmetics)
"Fragrance-free" and "Fragrance-free"
These two terms have the same sound but they are not. "Unscented" means that nothing has been added to a product to "enhance" its odor. However, something could have been added to mask another smell, for example: the oily smell of soap or other unpleasant odors in the "unscented" antiperspirants and vaginal lubricants)
"Fragrance-free" usually means that no fragrance, oil or fragrance has been added to a product. However, even this definition is not foolproof. A small amount may have been added to mask unpleasant basic odors or chemical odors.
According to the US FDA UU., The above terms have no legal definitions and currently the cosmetic industry uses them virtually without restrictions. Beware of the products "without perfume" or "without perfume". These often have aromatic compounds such as sandalwood oil and lavender oil that create a light aroma. Other similar suspicious terms are "slightly scented" and "non-persistent" scent.
"Without oil"
"Oil-free" means that a product does not contain oil? It depends on how you define yourself without oil and, unfortunately, the cosmetics industry defines "oil" differently from a consumer. In the cosmetics industry, an oil is defined as a specific chemical formula. If an ingredient does not have this formula, it should not be called an oil, even if it behaves like an oil.
In other words, a product can get a substance that clogs the pores (like an oil), but if it does not have the chemical formula of the oil, it is not considered an oil. Unless you have oily skin or prone to acne, there is nothing wrong with oils in cosmetics: these are basic ingredients that have been used for centuries to heal the skin.
Some manufacturers claim that their product is "non-fat", although it may contain mineral oil, for example, it is a subjective judgment about how the product feels. "Oil free" can be a desirable factor in a cleanser, for example, if you have oily skin. But do not be fooled. According to Face Facts, a 1994 book published by the Australian Consumers Association, the phrase was discovered describing products such as toners that should not contain oil anyway.
"100% ..."
"100%" of something is another popular labeling trick used to describe a cosmetic product. There is no standard use of this claim. You can promote a product that contains "100%" aloe vera. However, this does not necessarily mean that the whole product is aloe vera.
This could mean that the amount of aloe vera used in the product is 100% (ie pure aloe vera that has not been diluted with anything). But the product itself is not composed exclusively of aloe vera and also contains other ingredients. It is also doubtful whether the ingredient "100%" has been included in sufficient quantity to have any effect. Or is it just there to help sell the product?
"Non-comedogenic" or "non-acnegenic"
"NO COMEDOGENICO" is an unnecessarily large word with a simple meaning: that a product does not clog pores. An obstructed pore causes comedones (white heads that can eventually become pimples and blackheads)
This term (another variant is "non-acnegenic") in a product means that the manufacturer has tried to eliminate chemicals that have been known or tested in a laboratory animal to have comedones. In addition to being an ethical issue in itself, animals do not necessarily react like humans, so the results may not be entirely accurate.
In addition, a product may contain oils that are comedogenic, but if the product passes certain tests, it may be labeled as "non-comedogenic".
"Alcohol-free"
Alcohol-free products are thought to be softer on skin or hair and less dry. Non-alcoholic cosmetics do not usually contain ethyl alcohol (also known as grain alcohol) which has a drying effect.
But according to the US FDA. In the United States, cosmetics, whether labeled "non-alcoholic" or not, may contain other alcohols such as cetyl, stearyl, cetearyl or lanolin, all called fatty alcohols, although they have different effects. on the skin or body. The conclusion is "no alcohol" is also a misleading term.
"Balanced pH"
It's a meaningless sentence. PH is a measure of acidity and alkalinity. If it is "balanced", balanced with what? And at what pH? "Buffered PH" would mean at least more, that the product has chemicals that will keep it at the same pH. Our skin is naturally slightly acidic. Even if you apply substances that change their pH, this is only temporary because the secretions of the skin will soon make it acidic.
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