{"id":9770,"date":"2013-01-17T04:00:46","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T12:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145696.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=9770"},"modified":"2013-01-17T04:00:46","modified_gmt":"2013-01-17T12:00:46","slug":"shopping-for-natural-cosmetics-learn-how-to-spot-a-fake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/articles\/shopping-for-natural-cosmetics-learn-how-to-spot-a-fake\/","title":{"rendered":"Shopping for Natural Cosmetics :: Learn How to Spot a Fake"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

A Feelgood Style\u00a0reader recently asked:\u00a0 It seems more than a few companies advertise themselves as green but it\u2019s difficult to find information on exactly what chemicals we should avoid and why.\u00a0 What are some of the ingredients that should raise a red flag and why?<\/em><\/p>\n

Great question!\u00a0 With all of the false information out there on cosmetics labels it can be very difficult to determine which products are safe, and which brands are handing you a line of bologna.\u00a0 Everyone seems to be jumping on the green bandwagon.\u00a0 The problem is, it is pretty easy for cosmetics to appear all natural or healthy without actually being those things.<\/p>\n

Why?\u00a0 The way our laws in the US are set up right now, the FDA oversees cosmetics safety.\u00a0 Officially, anyway.\u00a0 In actuality, cosmetics in our country are extremely under regulated.\u00a0 For example, out of the over 10,000 cosmetic ingredients available for use only about 10% have been tested for safety.\u00a0 With the average person using around 10 different cosmetic\/personal care products daily, that is a huge grey area.\u00a0 Lax or nonexistent rules on ingredient usage and labeling rules makes safety in cosmetics a bit of a free for all.\u00a0 Unless you know what to look for.<\/p>\n

Truly Natural Cosmetics Will Show You the Ingredients<\/h3>\n

The good news is that we can protect ourselves by learning to read cosmetic labels and choosing which types of products are right for us.\u00a0 Ingredient listings can be confusing, and even misleading, but that is a red flag in itself.\u00a0 If a brand does not disclose a full ingredient listing for each of their products, you should be skeptical of their safety.<\/strong>\u00a0 A manufacturer creating safe, nontoxic products should be proud to display exactly what is in each product.<\/p>\n

Except maybe for fragrance, and this is where we often run into trouble.\u00a0 Why not list fragrance ingredients?\u00a0 Trade secret.\u00a0 If you are a cosmetics manufacturer, even a safe and nontoxic one, you probably don\u2019t want your competition coming up with a product that smells just like your top seller.\u00a0 This is where companies are protected by a nondisclosure rule on trade secrets.\u00a0 Many manufacturers will simply list \u201cfragrance\u201d or \u201cparfum\u201d on their ingredient listings, and this includes those who use natural essential oils as their only scent ingredients.\u00a0 So, don\u2019t be too quick to judge a product on their fragrance ingredients.\u00a0 Most companies who use natural scent ingredients will say so on the product label or on their website.\u00a0 If that info is not readily available, I give it the sniff test.\u00a0 Smell too strong to be natural?\u00a0 It\u2019s probably synthetic.<\/p>\n

Ingredients to Avoid<\/h3>\n

So, wouldn\u2019t it be nice if we had an easy to read and universally agreed upon list of cosmetic ingredients to avoid?\u00a0 Then we could just memorize them and be on our merry way.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it isn\u2019t that easy.\u00a0 We have a good list here on FGS that will familiarize you with ingredients best avoided <\/a><\/strong>and why.\u00a0 The problem is that these ingredients go by several names and not-so-clean manufacturers are pretty good at hiding them in their ingredient listings, making them hard to read or just plain confusing.<\/p>\n

The first ingredients listed on a product label are what the cosmetic contains the most of \u2013 the base of the product.\u00a0 This is a good place to start, check to see if the product is petroleum or mineral based, or if it is made of synthetic cleansers (usually sodium lauryl sulphate or something with \u201ceth\u201d in the name).\u00a0 Now jump to the end and see if you can catch any synthetic preservatives.\u00a0 I have seen many products who actually have a pretty clean ingredient list only to mess it up at the end with junky preservatives.\u00a0 Preservatives are very important to certain products.\u00a0 Without them water-based products could grow bacteria, which is definitely not healthy.\u00a0 But there are safe preservatives out there.<\/p>\n

To help break this down a little bit, I have included a Cosmetic Ingredient Cheat Sheet below.\u00a0 This lists the main ingredients to avoid while shopping for cosmetics, what they are, and how to identify them on a product label.\u00a0 For a more in-depth look at each ingredient, read my Ingredients to Avoid page at Organic Beauty Source.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Bookmark it, save it to your phone, send it to your friends.<\/p>\n

The Bottom Line<\/h3>\n

My last, and maybe most important, tip on shopping for safe cosmetics:\u00a0 Shop brands you trust.\u00a0 If a company is committed to making nontoxic cosmetics (read their commitment page or story on their website) and you\u2019ve checked their list of ingredients they never use, then follow them and buy their stuff.\u00a0 Sure, brands reformulate and things can change.\u00a0 But I have followed some of the same companies, and bought their stuff, for the past 8 years.<\/p>\n

Any questions while shopping, refer back to the list for help.\u00a0 If you cannot find an answer there, please use the FGS contact form and I will be glad to get back with you and answer your questions.<\/p>\n

Cosmetic Ingredient Cheat Sheet<\/strong><\/p>\n

DEA, TEA — Used in creamy & foaming products, like shampoos & moisturizers; DEA, Diethanolamine, TEA, Triethanolamine<\/p>\n

Phthalates — A carrier for synthetic fragrance; Benzylbutyl phthalate (BzBP), Di-n-butyl phthalate or Dibutyl phthalate (DBP), Diethyl phthalate (DEP), and sometimes Fragrance<\/p>\n

Formaldehyde — An impurity released by some chemical preservatives; Formaldehyde, Formalin, Urea, Diazolidinyl urea, Imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin, Quaternium-15, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol, and Sodium hydroxylmethylglycinate<\/p>\n

Parabens — Synthetic preservatives; alkyl parahydroxybenzoate, butylparaben, methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, isobutylparabens<\/p>\n

Petrolatum — Emollient or lubricant; petrolatum, petroleum jelly, mineral oil<\/p>\n

Propylene Glycol Helps a product to retain moisture Propylene Glycol, Proptylene Glycol, 1,2-Propanediol. Related synthetics: PEG (polyethylene glycol) and PPG (polypropylene glycol)<\/p>\n

Sodium Lauryl\/Laureth Sulfate — Foaming agent; Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, Anhydrous Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Irium<\/p>\n

1,4 Dioxane — A by-product of ingredient processing; EWG.org recommends looking for common ingredients which may contain the impurity, identifiable by the prefix or designations of ‘PEG,’ ‘\u2013eth\u2013,’ ‘Polyethylene,’ ‘Polyethylene glycol’ ‘Polyoxyethylene,’ or ‘\u2013oxynol\u2013’ (FDA 2007).<\/p>\n

Synthetic Colorants — (FD&C colors) FD&C or D&C followed by a name and number (FD&C RED NO. 40)<\/p>\n

Synthetic Fragrances — May be listed as \u201cfragrance\u201d or \u201cparfum\u201d, see information above<\/p>\n

Synthetic Sunscreens — 4-Methyl-Benzylidencamphor (4-MBC), Oxybenzone Benzophenone-3, Octyl-methoyl-cinnamates (OMC), Octyl-Dimethyl-Para-Amino-Benzoic Acid (OD-PABA), Homosalate(HMS)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[Image by Andrew Stawarz at Flickr.com, Creative Commons license]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a sea of so-called natural cosmetics on the market, one reader wants to know where to begin. Read on for the break down on choosing truly safe beauty and personal care products… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":9775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[11,133,1],"tags":[22,130,5938,3461,3208,16,3245,26,4497,3629,170,635],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/WomanShoppingbyAndrew_Stawarz.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}