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As medicines director at Neal's Yard Remedies, Susan Curtis is responsible for the medicinal side of the company, including herbs, homeopathic remedies, product development and legislation. SmartPlanet caught up with her to chat about our insecurities regarding natural and organic health and beauty products.
SmartPlanet: Do you agree that in the past year or so the interest in natural health and beauty products has grown massively?
Susan Curtis: Natural and organic is known to be one the fastest growing sectors in health and beauty generally, so yes, the interest in it has grown as well.
SP: Is it true that companies are allowed to call their products 'organic' even if they only contain a tiny amount of organic ingredients?
SC: Yes, because there are no legal standards. In food it has to be certified organic to be called organic. But that legislation doesn't cover cosmetics, so people can say their products are organic even though they aren't at all, which is very confusing. Only if it is certified by somebody like the Soil Association can you actually guarantee that yes, it is organic.
SP: What advice would you give to consumers who are going out to buy organic or natural beauty products for the first time?
SC: In terms of natural, look at the ingredients listing and check whether it looks like a natural ingredients listing. In terms of organic, it does need to be certified for you to be confident that it is organic.
SP: We've tried to look at ingredients listings on both organic and natural beauty products and there are still quite a few ingredient names that sound strange to me…
SC: There are some chemical names that will occur even in organic products. A shampoo will have a detergent even if it is a fairly natural shampoo. And a moisturiser will have something like cetearyl alcohol or stearic acid, which are common emulsifiers. They can be plant based, so that's something to look out for.
SP: Can we trust ingredients that say 'plant based', 'plant derived' and so on?
SC: It's not 100 per cent guaranteed that it's good, but it is one of the things that indicates the company is aware of the issue and is taking its considerations.
SP: In terms of the ingredients list, is there anything we should avoid at all costs?
SC: Yes, anything containing formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen, should be avoided. Dimethicones, and anything that ends 'methicone', are generally considered best avoided. Parabens, which are preservatives known to be hormone disruptors. Anything with aluminium and antiperspirants, as they can be absorbed by the body and can cause serious health problems. And talc, which is a mineral that is also easily absorbed in the body and has been linked to ovarian and prostate cancer.
SP: What else is important to keep in mind when reading an ingredients list?
SC: The first few ingredients on the list are sure to be the bulk of the product, and if they have chemical-sounding names you do have reason to be concerned. The further down the list the ingredient is, the less of it is in the product. At the end of the list you'll normally find the preservatives. There you want to avoid parabens and parfum; even if they're only in small amounts, they can be harmful to your body.
Once you start reading ingredient listings and asking questions, you quickly pick up what's good and what's not. It's not that different from reading food labels.
SP: Can we be confident that all ingredients in a product are listed in the ingredients listing?
SC: You can't always be sure every last ingredient in a product is actually listed on the packaging.
SP: So, if we are in doubt we should contact the company that manufactures the products and ask them whether they can guarantee their labels list all ingredients. Can we trust that all ingredients on Neal's Yard Remedies products are listed on the labels?
SC: Yes.
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