With the increase in the number of natural skincare companies popping up every year we could be forgiven for thinking that natural must be better.  Is this really the case though? The answer is natural is not always better.  The problem with natural products is that many natural ingredients also happen to be irritants.  People with sensitive skin would be advised to avoid most natural products.  Avocado oil which is commonly used can aggravate excema and dermatitis.  Once the avocado oil was omitted from their skincare their skin cleared up after years of suffering from this condition.

Tea tree oil and lavender oil are also commonly used.  Both of these essential oils cause phototoxicity or pigmentation.  By continually applying products with these oils in you are in fact giving yourself another skin condition to tackle at a later stage.  These ingredients are used extensively in acne products and also insect repellants. 

Citrus oils are also used in moisturisers.  These are more widely known to cause pigmentation but this does not stop cosmetic companies from putting them in.  Hey they get to sell you another product in a couple of years from the pigmentation they have caused! Tea tree oil has also been linked to breast development in boys.  Studies were conducted that showed pre-pubescent boys grew breast tissue after exposure to lotions and shampoos containing tea tree oil.  This was in children as young as 4 years of age.  The natural oils may be “gender-bending” chemicals mimicking effects of the female hormone, oestrogen, the findings suggest. The boys were otherwise normal, and lost the breast tissue within months of discontinuing use of the products. Source: www.newscientist.com The irony of this is that the majority of skincare companies touting to be natural are anything but natural.  They commonly use Sodium Lauryl Sulphate which is a major skin irritant.  In fact that is what everything else is tested against for irritancy.  Sodium Lauryl Sulphate though is derived from coconut a natural source.  Most surfactants are derived from coconut oil.  The new generation of surfactants are based on sugar.  Read the safety data sheet though and it says it is is really safe for sensitive skin.  I would like them to tell that to one client whose skin peeled for a week after using it. Almond oil and Rosehip oil are the staple oils used in natural cosmetics.  These are guaranteed to aggravate acne.  Silicones on the other hand have shown to have no sensitivity issues and do not cause acne or blackheads.  They have been shown to have excellent wound healing abilities.  Silicones though have been touted by natural companies as suffocating the skin.  Apparently they don’t allow the skin to breath.  Well last time I did anatomy and physiology I thought it was my lungs that breathed not my skin.  You can not suffocate skin.  You can clog skin by inappropriate use of ingredients.  Suffocating it means it is impermeable and given that then you should not sweat whilst you have a moisturiser on.  I can tell you that if I applied mineral oil all over my body I would still sweat.  So the fact that I am sweating means that it can’t be stopping normal skin function. 

Mineral oil is made up of hydrocarbons and is derived from petroleum is shunned by natural companies.  They then use an ingredient called C13-14 Isoparrafin.  This ingredient by the way is hydrocarbons and you guessed it derived from petroleum.  You as the consumer don’t know this though so it sounds that this product must be better.  C13-14 Isoparrafin also has a wonderful track record of causing acne even in people who don’t get it normally.  It is fabulously famous at the moment in Loreal Pure Makeup.  I have had numerous clients use this foundation recently and all complaining they are breaking out.  It is guaranteed to cause acne if you don’t already have it.

 Marketers are preying on your ignorance about ingredients.  Parabens have been given a lot of bad press and the past and they are still dubious as to their safety.  So what are they labelling them as now – hydroxybenzoates.  Average consumer would not know what this is and assumes they are buying a product that is paraben free.  This could not be further from the truth.

So the bottom line is natural is good if you can find one that does not irritate you.  But synthetic is probably safer.