Despite the increase in awareness among consumers about the products they are using on their skin and hair, we are often fooled by the cosmetics companies and are misled by the labels such as natural and organic. Listing these five things to be kept in mind next time you go for cosmetics shopping.

1. What constitutes Natural and Organic
   Since there are no regulatory guidelines to define natural or organic, it is difficult to distinguish what is covered in the periphery of the natural and organic beauty products. Nonetheless, natural products are made anything which is either grown or found naturally without being altered by bleaching or deodorizing and organic products are those products which contain 95% or more of organically produced ingredients.
   
   
2. Phrases to look out for in the ingredients
   If the product says it is ‘paraben free’, ‘SLS free’ or ‘mineral-oil free’, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is natural as it might have other chemicals other than the ones mentioned. Research on the ingredients whose name you haven’t heard before. Some of others to beware of are ‘no tears formula’, ‘dermatologically tested’.
   
   
3. Check the order of the ingredients
   It is always good to go through all the ingredients on the packaging while focusing on the order in which they are specified as the ingredients should be stated in the descending order of the proportion in which they are used. Some sellers use very small amount of natural ingredients while advertising it as a natural product.
   
   
4. Not so pleasant fragrances
   As per International Nomenclature of Cosmetics Ingredients, the scientific names of the ingredients are to be used irrespective of their quality. But there is a loophole in the diction of the term fragrances and innumerable companies use scents, preservatives, chemicals and what not in the garb of fragrances. It is preferable to avoid those products whose manufacturers are using these tactics.
   
   
5. New buzzword – Hypoallergenic
   The hypoallergenic products give an idea that they won’t cause an allergic reaction while what they actually mean is that these have been tested on certain number of subjects and are therefore, less likely to cause any allergic reaction. Don’t get swayed by these products as there is no one type of sensitive skin and therefore, no such claims amount to any significant safety cover.

 

 by Navya Jain