This science evolves like a logical alternative to traditional cosmetics. Natural cosmetics are elaborated with components of vegetal origin mostly. 
 
More and more laboratories elaborate their creams, lotions and ointments with these natural ingredients, elaborating authentic natural cosmetics. But, unfortunately there are many other manufacturers who advertice their products as 100 % natural, taking advantage of this tendency, in fact only incorporate vegetal compounds in a very small proportion, being the rest of their product mostly synthetic.

Authentic natural cosmetics should be elaborated with ingredients of vegetal origin, and some soft or weak preservating agent, in order to guarantee its durability.
Natural cosmetics offer enormous advantages for the health of the skin, in addition to not being aggressive for it, it fortifie and it improve the it´s functions, thanks to the natural chemical components of the plants.
On the other hand, the cosmetic product manufactured with vegetal ingredients is in accordance to ecological ethics, because it doesn´t have chemical byproducts, avoiding agresivness for the environment.
Cosmetics elaborated with natural compounds does not have side effects, and  doesn´t produce allergies, which are generally caused by aggressive colorants or excipients.
We have done a selection of the most important vegetal ingredients that are in use as active principles in the natural cosmetics industry, in order to understand the properties of the product that we are going to buy.

Criteria to choose a high quality natural product

For the moment there doesn´t exist any rule of quality, regulated by any specialized agency, which identifies seriously if a cosmetic product assembles the requirements of natural product. Therefor we will have to guide by our senses, sight, tact, smell and certainly by common sense to detect if a product is natural or if it is a synthetic copy.

  • Sight: Natural products never have showy colorst, like fuchsia, green or fluorescent. So, We should discard the natural cosmetics that are commercialized as such and present too many of these colors.
  • Smell: Very often we are tempted by a lot of brands that offer us the wonderful properties of some “essences” as the apple, melon, pear, strawberry, watermelon, etc … and with an exactly equal aroma to the mentioned fruits. We are sorry to disillusionate you, but these fruits do not contain oils, it is therefore impossible that they offer us essential natural oil with the aroma of any fruit that does not come from the citrus fruits: orange, grapefruit, lemon, bergamota, mandarin, etc… For that reason, the aroma that they are offering is simply a chemical composition, which does not contribute any therapeutic property.
  • Common Sense: Natural products should carry in their prospects a legend which identifies that in its production there had not been carried out tests on animals. Don´t trust the products that in it´s composition speak about a natural re-constituted extract, this means that there have been copied in a laboratory the smell or the properties of the plant, which will never have certification and beneficial properties of the active natural principle.
  • Price: The price of the synthetic products always will be more economic than a natural product, since they are composed by chemicals, and they do not depend on cultures, temperatures etc. So, we distrust all natural products that appear to be too cheap.

Points to consider for an ideal cosmetic

The consumer cannot wait for the same presentation, texture, color and smell in truly natural products that in the conventional cosmetics. We do not prune to demand the same life of a product preserved with chemicals to one with natural substances. Since nowadays there is no clear criteria on what is to be considered a naturalcosmetic, personally I consider as very important the following concepts:

  1. A Natural cosmetic must be composed, in a percentage superior to 90 %, of prime natural matters of not animal origin (they shoul be vegetal or mineral).
  2. It must not contain harmful substances neither for the skin nor for the health of the user.
  3. Since we value more the content over vehicle, we are more interested in the effect of the product than it´s presentation.
  4. Any artificial scent shouldn´t be allowed
  5. It should be an alternative to conventional cosmetics, and reach the same or bigger advantages promoting the use of vegetal substances, and not a simple argument of “green marketing”.

In order for accomplishing all these rules for natural cosmetics, there has to be a change in the consumers, an education that values the differences of quality, and not only of price, and grupal conscience that helps us to see what is what we really want and need, because, if we continue deceiveing ourselves, only they´ll keep selling whatever they want.

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