Category: Top » Beauty

Is it really Natural?

Tags: organic cosmetics, miessence, natural, wellness

Is it really Natural?September, 2007.
You and I probably share at least one thing in common. Neither of us wants to do harm to ourselves. Advertisers and Brand Managers realise this and are also aware of the growing interest in the environment. They know that we are not going to purchase products that we think might be harmful to ourselves or the environment. Faced with this, savvy marketers can gain an advantage if they convey that their product is environmentally safe and natural. To do this, they plaster the words Natural, Nature, Pure etc across the label of their product. Then you and I, as discerning consumers, will select their product and take it home, secure in the thought that we have purchased a 'Natural Product'. Unfortunately, often this is very far from the truth. There are no standards that define what these terms mean. Manufacturers using them are not subject to any tests or controls. In a great many cases the only meaning in the use of the 'Natural' tag is that it forms part of a registered Trade Mark, owned by the manufacturer. So what do we get when we purchase a product boldly claiming to be Pure or Natural? A quick check around your home can answer this question. What I found was alarming. Of the three everyday products that I used, none of them contained any meaningful quantity of 'Natural Ingredients'. For the most part they were petro-chemicals. To the extent that they had any natural contents, these were only insignificant in proportion. Initially, I was surprised and a bit confused to discover this. Surely I must have misunderstood? But no, the fact was that none of the 'Natural' products we had in our household were as their labels had promoted. These products had nothing in them to warrant a label that implied they were safe to use or based in nature.At first the solution seemed simple. All that I had to do was find products that were made from safe, natural ingredients and switch to them. This also turned out to be a journey of discovery. I purchased a range of Organic products to try out. I am pretty fussy and my first experiences were unimpressive. These products were more 'hippy' than organic. To use them meant a real reduction in my quality of life experience. In some cases, the products were just plain awful. I was beginning to lose hope. What I had also not considered before was that many things that are known to be harmful are also Natural. It is one of those 'obvious' things that is anything but. We just don't equate natural with harmful, particularly in manufactured products which we presume someone is taking care to make safe for us. Unfortunately, many natural compounds that find their way into skincare and cosmetic products are known or suspected carcinogens. At this point I was starting to realise the awful truth. Manufacturers make products for profit, not because they are good for us! And petro-chemical based products are the easiest and cheapest to make.Petro-chemical compounds are so widely used that even caring manufacturers add unsafe ingredients without realising. A case in point is a small boutique soap maker I came across. She went to extraordinary care to select products that were natural, safe to use and harmless to the environment. The result was a beautiful product of rare excellence. She had even gone to the trouble of having an exclusive French perfumery create a special fragrance for the soaps. Then she added what she thought was an everyday colour agent. Imagine the shock of discovery to find that colour agent listed as a suspected carcinogen by the US food and drug Administration. It just did not occur to her to check if the colouring agent was safe as it was so commonly used.So what does 'Natural' really mean when it appears on a health and beauty product? The answer is that in many cases it is merely an advertising ploy designed to make you feel safe and buy the product without thinking. Right now, you might be exposed to as many as 126 chemicals every day. There are more than 10,500 separate ingredients used in personal care products and fewer than 12% of them have been evaluated for safety. A popular brand name product which promotes itself as being natural claims just one natural fruit ingredient mixed with 10 chemical compounds. Not surprisingly, the single natural ingredient is prominently listed on the front label. Do yourself and the environment a favour by switching to genuine Certified Organic products. The difference will amaze you.
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Author: naturalb | Total views: 219
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Hello, my name is John Barclay. This article explains some of the reasons why I switched to using Certified Organic products. My search led me to Miessence. I now use Miessence products every day. Visit http://www.naturalbeautycentre.com to find out more. When you have tried Miessence for yourself, please let me know what you think.

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<h1>Is it really Natural?</h1><br />by naturalb<br />Is it really Natural?September, 2007.<br />You and I probably share at least one thing in common. Neither of us wants to do harm to ourselves. Advertisers and Brand Managers realise this and are also aware of the growing interest in the environment. They know that we are not going to purchase products that we think might be harmful to ourselves or the environment. Faced with this, savvy marketers can gain an advantage if they convey that their product is environmentally safe and natural. To do this, they plaster the words <b> Natural, Nature, Pure</b> etc across the label of their product. Then you and I, as discerning consumers, will select their product and take it home, secure in the thought that we have purchased a 'Natural Product'. Unfortunately, often this is very far from the truth. There are no standards that define what these terms mean. Manufacturers using them are not subject to any tests or controls. In a great many cases the only meaning in the use of the 'Natural' tag is that it forms part of a registered Trade Mark, owned by the manufacturer. So what do we get when we purchase a product boldly claiming to be Pure or Natural? A quick check around your home can answer this question. What I found was alarming. Of the three everyday products that I used, none of them contained any meaningful quantity of 'Natural Ingredients'. For the most part they were <b>petro-chemicals<b>. To the extent that they had any natural contents, these were only insignificant in proportion. Initially, I was surprised and a bit confused to discover this. Surely I must have misunderstood? But no, the fact was that none of the 'Natural' products we had in our household were as their labels had promoted. These products had nothing in them to warrant a label that implied they were safe to use or based in nature.At first the solution seemed simple. All that I had to do was find products that were made from safe, natural ingredients and switch to them. This also turned out to be a journey of discovery. I purchased a range of Organic products to try out. I am pretty fussy and my first experiences were unimpressive. These products were more 'hippy' than organic. To use them meant a real reduction in my quality of life experience. In some cases, the products were just plain awful. I was beginning to lose hope. What I had also not considered before was that many things that are known to be harmful are also Natural. It is one of those 'obvious' things that is anything but. We just don't equate natural with harmful, particularly in manufactured products which we presume someone is taking care to make safe for us. Unfortunately, many natural compounds that find their way into skincare and cosmetic products are known or suspected carcinogens. At this point I was starting to realise the awful truth. Manufacturers make products for profit, not because they are good for us! And petro-chemical based products are the easiest and cheapest to make.Petro-chemical compounds are so widely used that even caring manufacturers add unsafe ingredients without realising. A case in point is a small boutique soap maker I came across. She went to extraordinary care to select products that were natural, safe to use and harmless to the environment. The result was a beautiful product of rare excellence. She had even gone to the trouble of having an exclusive French perfumery create a special fragrance for the soaps. Then she added what she thought was an everyday colour agent. Imagine the shock of discovery to find that colour agent listed as a suspected carcinogen by the US food and drug Administration. It just did not occur to her to check if the colouring agent was safe as it was so commonly used.So what does 'Natural' really mean when it appears on a health and beauty product? The answer is that in many cases it is merely an advertising ploy designed to make you feel safe and buy the product without thinking. Right now, you might be exposed to as many as 126 chemicals every day. There are more than 10,500 separate ingredients used in personal care products and fewer than 12% of them have been evaluated for safety. A popular brand name product which promotes itself as being natural claims just one natural fruit ingredient mixed with 10 chemical compounds. Not surprisingly, the single natural ingredient is prominently listed on the front label. Do yourself and the environment a favour by switching to genuine Certified Organic products. The difference will amaze you. <br /><h2>About the Author</h2><p>Hello, my name is John Barclay. This article explains some of the reasons why I switched to using Certified Organic products. My search led me to Miessence. I now use Miessence products every day. Visit<b> <a href="http://www.naturalbeautycentre.com" title="www.naturalbeautycentre.com">http://www.naturalbeautycentre.com</a> </b>to find out more. When you have tried Miessence for yourself, please let me know what you think.</p> <br /><h3><a href="http://www.content4reprint.com/beauty/is-it-really-natural.htm" title="Is it really Natural?">Article Source:</a> <a href="http://www.content4reprint.com" title="Free high quality articles">Content for Reprint</a></h3>

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