Skin care with natural cosmetics is on everyone's lips and is becoming increasingly important. And rightly so, because organic products are not only good for the environment, but also offer particularly gentle care for the skin. The reason for this is the ingredients, because natural cosmetics do not contain any preservatives or mineral oils, but instead rely on pure nature. At least that's what the advertising promises. In fact, consumers shouldn't just access them blindly, but should also know about the different seals and backgrounds. Because organic is not just organic.
The aim of skin care with natural cosmetics is to achieve the naturalbalance of the skinto restore or maintain. The focus is primarily on the skin's self-regulatory powers, which should be stimulated or supported in their natural function using effective natural ingredients. A key difference to conventional cosmetics is that there is no rigid classification according to skin type, but the starting point of care takes the current skin condition into account. With conventional cosmetics, on the other hand, the skin is automatically supplied with everything it needs, but as a result it loses the ability to regulate itself. This is due to the chemical compositions, which sometimes represent factors unknown to the organism and can therefore only be partially used. However, some of these unused components cannot be excreted and remain in the body in the long term in the form of toxins.
components
- Essential oils
- Vegetable fats
- Plant extracts
- Natural antioxidants
- Organic waxes
- Natural colors such as beet juice or caramel
Advantages of natural cosmetics
- Environmentally friendly packaging
- No testing on animals
- Environmentally friendly manufacturing
- Chemicals such as parabens are not included
- Use of natural raw materials
- Raw materials from organic farming
- Decorative cosmeticscontains natural pigments
“Green” cosmetics at a fair price?
Almost every drugstore now offers natural cosmetics at a low price, enabling consumers to avoid conventional products. But even though the selection of tubes and jars is already very large, not every product is really harmless. The term “natural cosmetics” is still neither regulated by law nor clearly defined and there is currently no state or EU-wide seal. When buying, a distinction must therefore be made between genuine natural cosmetics and those products that simply want to jump on the bandwagon and take advantage of the naturalness that is currently popular. For this reason, many conventional companies add healing herbs to their products or advertise ingredients such as nourishing olive or refreshing aloe vera. The problem, however, is that these substances are usually based on synthetic substances, including paraffins, silicones or problematic fragrances and dyes. Some of these products contain allergenic preservatives and even carcinogenic formaldehyde, according to consumer magazineEco-Testfound out. Accordingly, these products are not genuine natural cosmetics - however, if you want to use harmless products, you should use the appropriate quality seals for controlled natural cosmetics. These can usually be found from established manufacturers such as Wala or Laverana, but the online market also sometimes has reputable providers, for exampleBärbel-Drexel shop. You can also check online whether it is a certified shop (Trusted Shops seal of quality) which, among other things, also offers a money-back guarantee.
Ambiguities caused by the use of seals
However, the seals used do not only provide clarity, because a look at a common drugstore shows that both cheap and high-priced products have the BDIH seal. Are the items therefore equivalent? The fact is that the BDIH's specifications are only minimum requirements - cheap brands often only meet these, while established natural cosmetics manufacturers often offer even more. Many established natural cosmetics manufacturers have now joined forces - this also led to the creation of the “NaTrue” interest group, which was founded by industry pioneers such as Wala, Laverana and Santaverde in order to implement stricter criteria in natural cosmetics. This ultimately resulted in a new seal that is valid throughout Europe. This stipulates how much organic food really has to be contained and actually ensures more clarity between all the different seals.
