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The dirt on personal care products
Misleading labels
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Misleading labels
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. There are seven certifying
bodies in Australia. Look for certification by one of these
bodies.
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 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
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