choosing the best organic skin care products for your skin.

We are constantly bombarded with ads for one type of environmentally

friendly product after another, so there's no doubt that going green is on in

the minds of many consumers. Many manufacturers are jumping on the

'green' bandwagon and that can make it very difficult to know which

organic skin care product is truly organic.

There is very little regulation when it comes to labeling of cosmetics.

Food, alcohol, even household cleaners have more labeling regulations

than the products you put on your skin like lotions, in your hair such as

shampoos, conditioners and even in your mouth, like toothpaste and

mouthwash.

So what do you do as a consumer who wants to drastically cut back on

the potentially cancer causing chemicals in the cosmetic and personal

care products you buy?

Today we are going to go over some helpful tips on what to look out for

when purchasing your health and beauty products. While I can't cover

every product on the market in this issue I will do my best to give you

enough information to get started.

The first thing you need to be on the lookout for is any product that has an

ingredient that says 'derived from'. This means that the original, natural

ingredient has been chemically modified, possibly to the point of now

being toxic. Many companies find it cheaper to substitute natural products

with manmade alternatives, but they still want to create the illusion that

their product is all natural, or organic.

Another thing to be on the lookout for, and one of the favorite tricks of

cosmetic manufacturers, is the term 'infusion'. This implies that a

wonderful, healthy infusion of a certain organic ingredient has occurred.

The reality is that the ingredient has been so diluted as to be virtually non-

existent in the product.

It would be like me taking a glass of ice water, squirting some lemon juice

in it and packaging it in a wrapper that says 'infused with lemon'. While it

might be technically true there is lemon in the product, it's in such a small

amount it's inconsequential.

Since the cosmetic industry has a rather loose definition of 'organic' it is

difficult, but not impossible to find products that truly are organic.

When most people think of organic products they think of things from

nature, without being processed and combined with man made

chemicals. There are some manufacturers out there that adhere to this

code.

If you really want to make sure the product you are buying is totally

organic you can look for labels from a third party.  There are many

reputable certified  organizations, which have followed the manufacturing

process of the product, from the way the plant was grown, all the way

through to the way it is being packaged stored and shipped.

While many of the greedy cosmetic manufactures, who are trying to cash

in on the 'organic craze', make it hard for a consumer to know which

products truly are organic and which are not, it's important to remember

that there are many fine organic skin care product available. It might take

a little looking, but it is well worth the hunt.