By Chrissy Birdsall
There are many wonderful, holistic reasons for choosing organic skincare products. The reasons range from wanting to reduce the number of chemicals on your skin, for your health, skin sensitivity or just based on personal principals.
The problem facing most consumers wanting to purchase genuine organic skincare products, rather than those making "organic" claims, is that a standard for the certification and labelling of organic skincare products is not available.
Currently in Australia, the only organic certification available for skin care products is a general food standard. This requires 95% of all ingredients, other than the water component, to be organically certified. Water generally makes up to 70% of total ingredients in many skincare creams. Therefore 95% of the remaining 30% of ingredients need to be organically certified.
Only a few Australian products have been certified to these very strict and sometimes impractical rules for food standards. It has been argued by some manufacturers, that to achieve the 95% certified rating is counter productive to producing an effective skin product.
Currently unrecognised are many skincare products with over 50% organic ingredients which cannot be certified, even though they have been manufactured by passionate organic supporters to the highest organic and natural principles.
Essentially, to make a cream for skin, there are two main components (oil and water) which need to be blended. A synthetic emulsifier is used to blend the oil and water components. Emulsifiers can make up to 20% of an ingredient mix other than water. Hence the catch 22, to make a cream which really penetrates and moisturises the deep layers of the skin with beautiful organic vegetable and essential oils, you need a synthetic emulsifier. Purestuf uses an emulsifier created from olive oil which is synthesised to form the emulsifier.
The cream also requires a preservative, so that it will not go mouldy in your bathroom cabinet. This is one area which really distinguishes skincare products. The organically passionate manufacturers use natural preservatives like grapefruit seed extract whereas other manufacturers add chemical preservatives containing parabens and other nasties to their products.
Organic skincare products produced and sold with integrity by the passionate manufacturers aim to be free from chemicals such as parabens, formaldehyde, petrochemicals etc. and made from as many natural and certified organic ingredients as possible.
Australian (and most overseas) manufacturers are not compelled to disclose the percentage of organic ingredients in their products. The word organic is not protected by any law about its use in terms of marketing claims. Often these other so called organic products, contain a very low percentage of organic ingredients and have many chemical additives, which are not good for you or your skin.
So what is being done to eliminate the confusion?
A group of leading Australian skincare product manufacturers (including Purestuf Natural Skincare) are currently working together to formulate a standard which can be certified by any one of the 7 Australian organic certifiers.
Until then – read labels and look for products which don't include parabens, petrochemicals, sulphates, fragrances and clearly list the organic ingredients such as essential oils, vegetable oils.
For the time being, for consumers it is a matter of instinct, trust and reading the labels.
About the Author: Chrissy Birdsall is a renowned beauty & skincare authority, with over 40 year's industry experience. Her boutique skincare business, Purestuf Natural Skincare, uses the finest natural & organic ingredients. The products are available for purchase online at http://www.purestuf.com.au or +612 99093222
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