I Don't Want to Use Products With Chemicals In Them. Aren't Your Products Natural?Updated 3 years ago
We choose our raw materials very carefully and work with chemists to formulate our products. Additionally, our CEO is a Naturopathic Doctor and Trichologist and is currently pursuing her Masters in Cosmetic Chemistry to further ensure the integrity of product development.
Our objectives with product formulation are that they are:
- Safe for use on the skin and hair - the ingredients don't cause harm to the body
- Effective - they do what they say they're going to do
What undergirds these objectives is the evidence. What does the scientific literature say about a specific ingredient and its safety profile and positive/negative effect? What doesn't undergird these objectives is opinion on what is deemed to be a "good" or "bad" ingredient based on what is trending and what people "feel" should be used in a product or not.
We understand that based on the opinions of influential people with little to no scientific or medical background - concerns about toxic and dangerous ingredients have placed fear in consumers who now desire beauty and personal care products that are safe and non-toxic. However there is no standard to define what this means, leaving these labels open for interpretation by retailers, bloggers and celebrities who are not dermatologists, physicians or cosmetics scientists. They and are defining what is "natural" and "clean" for themselves. Unfortunately, this is causing confusion among consumers as to what ingredients are considered safe or not, and incorrect conclusions over what is a chemical and what isn't based on how natural ingredients are presented.
This is where knowledge of chemistry comes in. EVERYTHING is made up of chemicals. Absolutely everything. From pure air which is O2, to pure water which is H20. An atom is the smallest unit of matter, and the basic building block of chemistry. Molecules are formed when atoms are joined together by chemical bonds that are difficult to break. And a compound is a molecule made of atoms from different elements (eg. hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, etc). It gets complicated but the point is that everything - including the natural essential oils that are preferred over synthetic fragrances oils - are made up of chemical constituents.
So even if you're using natural products, you are still using products that contain chemicals.
We believe it's important that you understand this as there is a misconception that just because something is natural it's automatically safer for you. This is simply not the case.
We love this video by Lab Muffin Beauty Science. She holds a PhD in Chemistry, is a cosmetic chemist and cosmetic educator. She breaks this down beautifully.
Hopefully it begins to clear up some confusion and promotes understanding of natural products, ingredients, chemicals and products.