Remember the days where “going green” used to mean we just partied a little bit too much the night before? It now represents a world-wide movement where we are more eco-conscious as consumers. We have become avid label readers. We want to make sure the food we eat is pesticide free, our cleaning products use no harmful chemicals and the recycle police will not be busting our door down for throwing that tin can away.

Remember that green face? At the top of the growing list of concerns about our health is how we look. Women and men alike spend thousands of dollars yearly to obtain that fountain of youth. We want products that make us not only look good but are simultaneously good for us and the environment. That’s why consumers are looking at organic beauty products to fill this need.

Better Regulation

With traditional beauty products and make-up there is no regulation as to what goes into these brands. These days almost anything can be marketed as “natural”, they rely on the term GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe), but read the label and you’ll see words like, triclosan, phthalates and polyethylene glycol floating about.

Where the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not have a say in regulating organic products, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) allows manufacturers to earn a “certified organic” seal. There are two ways to earn this seal:

• 100% organic. This means the products must contain only organically produced ingredients. This label earns the blue ribbon, meaning no fertilizers or pesticides were used in the farming and no added chemicals or synthetics in the manufacturing.
  Organic. This is a close second; these products use at least 95% organic ingredients.

A label may also use the term “Made with organic ingredients” if the product contains at least 70% organic ingredients but can not display the certified seal from the USDA and there’s no guarantee what’s in the other 30%.

Better for your health.

Even though we wash and scrub our skin everyday, it will still absorb up to 60% of the beauty products we put on it. That’s why label reading has become almost a national pastime. The hard to pronounce words floating about earlier, are just a sample of the ingredients in traditional cosmetics. A one time use will probably not affect you, but over time, these ingredients can cause a build up of toxins in our body that have been linked to a myriad of health issues, everything from simple allergic reactions to Alzheimer’s and even breast cancer. Why take the added risk, switching to products with organic ingredients just helps us breath a little easier. Literally.

Better for the Environment

Our body can thank us for using organic products but Mother Earth can too. We rest a little easier knowing that farmers following the USDA guidelines use no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides in growing these ingredients, which in turn is better for our soil, water and air quality. Manufacturers use no added chemicals, colorants or perfumes and their packaging is biodegradable.

Organic beauty products give a whole new meaning to the term, “beauty is only skin deep”. It now impacts our health, environment and lifestyle.