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Question: Are natural/organic products better than ones with chemicals?

Answer:

I think with the growing “green” trend and stores like Whole Foods sprouting about, there is a growing concern about whether or not natural skin care products are better. In my opinion, natural and/or organic products are simply a marketing hoax. Okay, maybe not organic products because their ingredients are FDA certified and many of them claim to not test on animals…

But anyway, in essence, everything is chemical and made up of chemicals, even natural products. I always here lots of people saying they don’t want to put any more “chemicals” on their skin, but everything is pretty much one so that doesn’t really make much sense. I think what most people mean by saying that is that they don’t want to use harsh ingredients like acids, retinoids, etc. That’s somewhat understandable, but for me and many others who will never have clear skin without the help of “chemicals”, that is pretty much impossible.  

I guess the thing that bothers me the most about some “natural” skin care companies is that they make their products sound they were stripped from nymph bark or scooped out of angelic glacial waters. But natural products are still formulated and bottled in laboratories/factories, just like any other skin care product. Many natural and organic skin care products also have labels that claim they do not test on animals. However, even if they don’t test on animals themselves, many of the ingredients they use in their products are ingredients researched and developed through animal testing.

Some people also think that natural products use ingredients closer to their raw material form. What I mean is, have you ever heard people say that you should only put stuff on your skin that you can eat? Like using fresh lemons is better than L-ascorbic acid for Vitamin C? That sounds like healthy skin advice, but a lot of the times, the raw material form of some things, like fresh lemons, can be quite irritating to your skin. Also, sometimes your skin will not be able to absorb any of those nutrients unless they are formulated better.

For example, there’s always a lot of talk about soaking green tea bags and using the tea as a toner. However, the green tea wouldn’t have any effect on your skin because the particles are too big and would just sit on the surface. The green tea isn’t in the right form so your skin wouldn’t be able to absorb and use any of the good stuff from it at all. That’s why there are products with green tea extracts and other antioxidant “chemicals”. These nutrients and skin vitamins are formulated in a way for your skin to better absorb and utilize them.

Choosing natural products versus ones with chemicals is a personal choice, although I think there is no harm done using products with chemicals. At any rate, there is no guarantee that using natural products will improve your skin more than if you used products with chemicals. Just keep in mind that natural does not automatically equal gentle.

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