Synthetic is The New Natural

Synthetic is The New Natural

Picture yourself walking through the store in search of new effective skincare products, then BOOM ! A plethora of products using the terms “Natural”, “Raw” and “Organic” arrive in your presence. It’s easy to believe that because these products seem to be the most beneficial to you, that they are a skin care MUST HAVE. However, did you know that products can include the word “organic” and only contain one percent of organic ingredients? Crazy Right! There are many more ways the beauty industry has fooled consumers into purchasing mislabeled “natural” or “organic” products, let us break it down for you!

How Companies Are Fooling You Through Packaging:

As we all know, packaging is a major key to catching the eye of the consumer. In terms of mislabeled natural and organic products, the packaging serves as a major selling point to latch on to shoppers. Companies often use keywords, neutral colored packaging, or unofficial certifications located on the front or back of the product.

Here are two products that can help demonstrate:

Let’s take a look at product number one. The name of the product is Dr. Organic, and as the consumer, you would think this was a natural product just based off of the name. Next, let’s take a look at the keyword being used on the packaging. Words like organic, detoxifying, purifying,

and refreshing could also nudge you to believe this is a clean and natural product. Lastly, if you look on the bottom right corner, there is a small certification that is meant to trick consumers into believing that this is a certified organic product. However Bio Activ is not a recognized certification body, which means it is NOT a truly organic product.

Now, let’s evaluate our second product. African Black soap is known to be an overall natural and raw product. They use the keywords “Veggie Based” to convince consumers that because this product includes veggies, that this is an overall natural product. They also throw in the fact that cocoa butter and vitamin E is included in the product, but check this out. After reviewing the list of ingredients, one of the main selling ingredients, vitamin E is made synthetically. Meaning synthetic vitamin E is produced from petrochemicals, which isn’t the best for your face nor what was advertised.

What is a Synthetic Ingredient? Why Does it Matter?

A synthetic ingredient by definition is not found or harvested by nature. There are tons of skincare and beauty products that claim to be natural or organic, but they are filled with synthetic ingredients. This matters because your skin is now absorbing these toxic fillers that can create buildup, ignite a skin irritation, or even make skin conditions worse.

Why You Should Read The Ingredients First

Oftentimes when we pick up an item in the store, we view the ingredients list and can’t quite identify what ingredients are beneficial and what is harmful to our bodies. Same thing with mislabeled natural and organic products. Mislabeled organic products contain only a few organic ingredients, OR NONE AT ALL.

Let’s Review the ingredients of the Dr. Organic Charcoal Shampoo:

As you can see, it’s quite easy to get confused by the heavy list of ingredients. However, this list consists of not only natural ingredients, but also harmful ingredients. For example, benzyl alcohol is a synthetically made ingredient.

Why Do Companies Mislabel Products?

Top 4 Reasons:

  • Organic products are one of the fastest growing industries
  • Often times consumers do not read the ingredients list
  • Natural products are more appealing due to the idea that it is healthier and more beneficial
  • Easy sales

Please take into consideration that there are FALSE natural skincare products that can or will harm your skin. Take the time to do your research on the “organic” ingredients that are included. Be a friend to your skin, and do not be fooled by unofficial labels and misleading key words!

Sources:

https://incidecoder.com/products/dr-organic-charcoal-shampoo https://youtu.be/mdt7Z-12FRY https://www.healthline.com/health/benzoyl-peroxide-for-acne


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