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We’ve been talking about organics a lot recently, and with good reason - we’re fully behind Australia’s Organic Awareness Month! Aside from the benefits for our health and that of the environment, organics in skin care products are also far kinder to us. Here, we talk about some of the nasties you might find in your non-organic beauty products.

 

Our skin is an amazing organ and is in fact the largest organ of the human body. We no longer wander around with no clothes on all year round, so we ditched our hairy coats tens of thousands of years ago. We still have some hair, and in an intricate deal with our skin, helps us regulate our temperature by wicking away sweat or standing on end when we’re cold. Our skin also acts as a physical barrier to bugs and other invaders and obviously keeps everything else neatly tucked away inside.

 

BUT WHAT ABOUT NANOPARTICLES AND OTHER CHEMICALS?

 

The skin is great at stopping bigger things getting access but tiny things such as molecules of certain drugs can pass through the skin. We know this, because we can wear skin patches with drugs in them, such as hormones or nicotine, that slowly seep into the skin.

 

Knowing this makes it alarming then, that it’s perfectly legal for beauty companies to add toxic ingredients to skincare and makeup products, that will enter our bloodstream and potentially cause disruption. 

 

A Brief History of Dangerous Skincare

Farming methods and food production used to be organic by default. Farmers didn’t use artificial fertilisers or chemical pesticides to grow crops or growth hormones and antibiotics to rear livestock. It’s only in recent decades that the use of these chemical nasties has become commonplace.

 

In contrast to this, the earliest known recordings of ‘makeup’ are from around 6,000 years ago in Ancient Egypt, and they were made from far from harmless ingredients! The dark kohl eye liner we associate with Egyptian mummies was generally made of ground up lead, copper and soot. Face powders regularly contained mercury and white lead. Thankfully the rouge was a tad gentler, often made from red clay.

 

Things carried on like this for centuries. Even English Queen, Queen Elizabeth used lead based powders in her makeup routine. She died in 1603, and its thought she died of lead poisoning. Lead was finally classified as a poison in 1634.

 

This all seems quite alarming. There are now strict regulations on skincare and beauty products that prevent the use of heavy metals and known poisons.,

 

BUT THIS DOESN’T MEAN THAT EVERYTHING WE PUT ON OUR SKIN IS NECESSARILY KIND.

 

Chemical Ingredients in Non-Organic Skincare

Take a look at the ingredients list on the back of your shampoo, moisturiser, shampoo or anything else you use in your regime. If it’s non-organic, it probably lists long ingredients that sound like they’re straight from the chemistry lab. And that’s because they more or less are.

 

The most common of such ingredients are parabens. The word parabens may be preceded by methyl, ethyl, propyl or butyl. Parabens are used as a preservative to make products last longer. A study from back in 2004 highlighted worrying evidence that parabens could lead to cancerous breast tumours. Yet still they are used.

 

Artificial fragrances, often listed as parfum and added to all kinds of beauty products have been linked with skin irritations such as dermatitis. They’re also linked with migraines and headaches in those with multiple chemical sensitivities.

 

Mineral oil, made from the same crude oil as other petrochemicals such as petrol, can lay on the skin and block pores, preventing them from eliminating sweat and waste products from the skin.

 

Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) is used to make liquid soaps, shampoos and even toothpastes froth up. It can cause skin irritation, especially in babies.

 

Finally, phthalates, used to add moisturising properties to beauty products are known endocrine disruptors. This means they can seep into the bloodstream and play havoc with our hormones.

 

A full list of chemical nasties used in the beauty industry can be found here.

 

The problem with these chemicals is that when they get through the skin barrier and enter the bloodstream they can accumulate in our tissues, making dermatitis and other skin complaints worse.

 

MORE ALARMING IS THAT EVEN IF WE DON’T DEVELOP ISSUES FROM ONE SYNTHETIC INGREDIENT, A ‘CHEMICAL COCKTAIL’ COULD BUILD UP IN THE BODY LEADING TO HEALTH PROBLEMS.

 

A study in 2007 concluded that, “it is difficult to rule out the possibility of mixture effects from low-dose multiple exposure to such ingredients”.

 

Organics to the Rescue! 

Thankfully, we have organic skincare. None of these chemical synthetics are allowed in organic skincare products. Here at the Wholesome Hub, we have beautiful ranges of organic makeup, organic skincare and all the organic beauty products you could ever need. They’ve all been developed by passionate people, committed to making a difference.

 

Organic beauty products don’t just benefit us. They’re kinder to to environment, as we’re not washing endocrine disruptors and other shocking ingredients into our waterways with each shower and the ingredients used instead are more ethically sourced and sustainable. Our planet’s animals are better off too, since organic ingredients are not tested on animals.

 

Give your makeup bag, bathroom shelves and dressing table an organic makeover this Organic Awareness Month and do good by yourself and the planet!