THE DIRT
In the cosmetic industry certain words are used merely for their marketability rather than giving any truthful information about the product.

To be as informed as possible you must read the ingredient listing.

Below are some common words used on labels and how they can be misapplied:

Organic
Current legislation means that while organic bread for example must be made up of 95% organic ingredients, a product labeled ‘organic shampoo’ indicates that as little as 1% of the ingredients are of organic origin. So there is a still lot of room for some potentially damaging chemicals.

In Australia, cosmetic labeling laws do not carry any definitions of the term organic. So therefore anyone can call their products organic without being certified.  Look for a 'certified organic' stamp, if you are in doubt.

Dermatologist tested and approved
This statement implies that the product meets an industry standard; however those 'standards', do not actually exist. Any testing that is performed is at the company’s discretion and is usually over a short period of time. Not particularly useful given that most of us wear these products every day,  for most of our lives.

Natural
Means absolutely nothing and can be put on any product.

Hypoallergenic
Merely means that the producer believes that the product is less likely than others to cause an allergic reaction.

Unscented
Can mean that that the product has no odour. It does not however mean that fragrance has not been added to mask the smell of other ingredients.

READING LABELS
Cosmetic labels are required to list ingredients in descending order from the ingredient making up the largest percentage of the product to that which contributes the very least. Below is a general rule of thumb for reading labels.
The first third of ingredients make up 90 to 95% of the product.
The second third make up 5 to 8% of the products
The last third of ingredients make up 1 to 3% of the product

G SPOT
In reference to our article on Genetic Engineering by Janet Grogan two weeks ago, GM stands for Genetic Modification, rather than any specific company - we apologise for any confusion regarding this matter!

COME CLEAN
Become an ingredient detective and Come Clean.....................

We recommend ‘The Chemical Maze’ by Bill Statham.  The ‘Shopping Companion’ version is small and fits in your bag, so you can check out the ingredients before you make a bad purchase!

Also worth a read is 'Cosmetics and Personal Care DANGEROUS BEAUTY' by Dr Peter Dingle and Toni Brown.

Check out Skin Deep (Cosmetic Database), a US website that rates products for there safety (note; many Australian Made companies have not been researched by this group and therefore will not be listed.)

Visit the CleanLife directory to find a range of products and companies offering safe products for your whole family. If we wouldn’t use it, we won’t include it!