Even though healthy organic food and house and garden without poison have always been important me, I must admit, that it took me a while to develop the same consciousness when using soap, shower gels, shampoos and skin care products.
While it should be so obvious. Whatever we apply to our skin, reaches more or less deeper levels of our bodies, and has therefor also its effects. And it is that effect that we want – smooth skin, shining hair, a refreshing shower, a relaxing bath. Unterstützt durch die Substanzen in der Kosmetik, die wir benutzen. When we use medical ointment we do read the package insert with all the side effects first. When we use cosmetics, we don’t. Moreover, it does not really exist, of course.
I noticed during conversations with health conscious friends and acquaintances had the same experience.
This is why I would like to share with you what I found and learned on this topic. I am not a chemist, I did not conduct any lab research and I cannot deliver you any evidence. I was simply interested in the questions mentioned beneath and read different articles and studies. Maybe it inspires you to do further research to then decide for yourself what is important to you when using cosmetics.
Cosmetics, Natural Cosmetics and Bio Cosmetics What is the difference?
Cosmetics
The composition of cosmetic products is governed in a EU regulation which a.o. defines a long list of harmful vorbidden ingredients.
Natural Cosmetics:
There are no regulations by law how to define natural cosmetics. However, certified natural cosmetics do exist and exclude for example also certain ingredients which cannot be found on the EU list of forbidden sustances. Examples are substances from petroleum such as paraffins, silicones, synthetic raw materials and fragrances, emulsifiers such as PEG, aluminum. Furthermore, there are minimum percentages for plantbased ingredients.
Bio Cosmetics
95% or more of the ingredients need to be plantbased out of controlled biological cultivation or wild herbs.
Which side effects do have ‘harmful’ ingredients ?
Aluminium:
Today it is widely known, that you should avoid deodorants which contain aluminium. They say it might cause cancer. Many producers advertise 0% aluminium on the packaging of the deodorant. Aluminium, however, can also be found in creams, lipstick or tooth paste. Simply have a look.
The amount which our body absorbs with daily use of deodorant, they say exceeds the EU recommendation on which maximum use is harmless. To my dismay I discovered, that the traditional Nivea cream in the blue tin, of which my grandmother used to say: ‘This cream is soo good, you could even eat it.’ ,contains aluminium. I wrote to Beiersdor to ask them why they advertise 0%aluminium on their deodorants but don’t remove it from the cream. Unfortunately they never replied.
Mineral oils and other synthetic substances:
It is argued that our body simply cannot process synthetic substances. Which means, that the effect of a product may be there superficially (for example the feeling of smooth skin), but is not sustainable. Mineral oil (being produced from Pretroleum) is said to close the pores of our skin which causes the cells to suffer. And, let’s be honest, who wants to put Petroleum on his or her skin?
Fragrances:
For that apparently has not yet been found a good solution which is not said to cause cancer or allergies. Not even with the natural substance Coumarin, which is often used as an alternative. Many natural or bio products do not use any fragrances at all.
Microplastics:
The big topic when it comes to preserving nature. Microplastics are being used for example in peelings or tooth paste. Apparently there is no research yet on the side effect for us.
And now?
My personal takeaway: I do not want any substances that are harmful for my body. No matter which study you believe in or not. To me it makes complete sense that natural substances can be processed much better by our system and stimulate self regeneration. Also when I buy bio cosmetics, I double check ingredients in terms of allergies I have. This is of course my personal way of dealing with that.
There are various apps that help you identify ingredients of cosmetics. I have not tried them yet, but maybe it is an idea to start there.
I looked at all the cosmetics I use, and then started searching for alternatives. Preferably from local producers. They do say, local plants are more familiar to our bodies and therefor our system agrees better with them. Besides you reduce the footprint when buying local. But that would take us to yet another topic 🙂
