At first sight
Natural cosmetics have the right to be called not just a means with natural ingredients (such, in fact, most), but compounds containing at least 70% of bio products: vegetable raw materials, natural natural salts, milk, honey, etc. To determine for yourself how much useful in a natural cream is useful, take a look at the place in the ingredient list: the closer to the end, the less the percentage of the substance in the total composition, so that, seeing the aloe vera gel second from the tail, you need to understand that this "aloe cream" can not be called natural. On the other hand, the presence in the cream or gel of a clearly "chemical" ingredient does not mean that cosmetics are not "bio". Without preservatives and emulsifiers, the shelf life will be reduced to several weeks, and this is not satisfied by all consumers. But what in natural means to be exact should not, so it's artificial dyes and fragrances. "Real" cream can not be pink, nor is it immaculately white. Natural color - yellowish, greenish or even blue, if the composition includes azulene (anti-inflammatory component, extracted from chamomile and yarrow). Natural cosmetics are plant or "animal" and, as a rule, these two directions are not mixed in one line (except beeswax is an excellent natural emulsifier). The choice is yours: the root of the radio is pink or the hood of the deer antlers, but not both. It is necessary, however, to realize that natural does not mean hypoallergenic or universal. Some natural ingredients, especially bee products - honey, propolis, pollen, as well as ingredients of animal origin - hyaluronic acid, lanolin can cause an allergic reaction. It is important to take into account another point: "natural" from the manufacturer's point of view is not at all what attracts the consumer. The same highly allergenic natural lanolin, produced from sheep fat or aggressive lauryl sulfate, obtained from the bark of coconut palms from the point of view of a "bio" and "organic" lover is not the ingredient that should be pursued, but the producer has every right to put on his own production marker "natural", because it did not synthesize them, but simply processed from natural raw materials.
"Eco", "bio", "organic" ...
These eye-catching prefixes on a jar of cream should mean that the product contains not only a large quantity of natural products, but also grown and collected in ecologically controlled plantations: far from highways and harmful enterprises, without the use of mineral fertilizers. Does the consumer have the slightest opportunity to gain confidence in the quality of the product? Alas, the outlook for Russia is pessimistic. We still do not enter the WTO, where the requirements for honesty of the seller to the buyer are tough enough. Our consumer, especially not trained in the art of reading packaging, can be cruelly deceived. Will foreign certification help in the search for a worthy quality? At least in part. Marvelous acronyms still do not guarantee, but some of them are worth remembering. Before buyers in Russia all the same the question arises whether the conditions of transportation and storage of this particular lot were not violated, whether it is overdue, etc. For example, several years ago in Russia, German cosmetics was widely sold in pharmacies, claiming the title of leader in the field of cosmetics from essential oils, which, according to unofficial experts, was from synthetic essential oils and caused a lot of damage to the skin of Russian women.
Benefit or harm
Is it worth to contact this natural cosmetics? Some experts are convinced that an important argument for or against natural cosmetics should be allergenicity: "If you have an allergy to a certain natural product of plant or animal origin, then, of course, the allergenic ingredient should be excluded." But there are also alternative opinions. Let one of the main accusations against "nature" is that natural ingredients are more likely to cause allergies, it is important to understand that cosmetics in this case is only a catalyst for our own problems. We live in such conditions that any "living" vitamin causes the skin to have a strong reaction: either positive, and then the epidermis literally glows with happiness, or (it happens quite often) - negative, provoking inflammation, redness, etc. A conscious approach to health presupposes that you concentrate your efforts not on instantly eliminating this problem by moving to a hypoallergenic "chemical" option, but rather dealing with the causes hidden in the immune system, the condition of the internal organs, etc. It is clear that most consumers think differently and are not ready for months to clean blood and liver or to strengthen general immunity to achieve a result that can be achieved simply by changing the cream to less active. The delicacy of the situation may also lie in the fact that allergies are caused not by the natural substances themselves, but by preservatives with which the "nature" is retained in the cream. Irritation can occur due to a natural, but not too high-quality ingredient. What exactly is your allergy, not even an allergist-immunologist will say, and self-diagnostics will not clear up at all.
Handmade
So is there really natural cosmetics? Specialists are unanimous: if you need to enjoy "nature" at home, the surest way is to make it yourself. Take, for example, baby yogurt without preservatives (a perfect moisturizer), mixed with grated carrots or cucumbers (of course, not Dutch, but better - if we follow the organic philosophy - grown on our own site), adding a few drops of lemon juice for clarification and easy lifting, and also juice of an aloe from a window sill, we receive reliable "food" for a skin. For one day, since it is not necessary to store this mixture for more than two hours - over time, useful properties quickly go away. Similar 100% natural, but often labor-intensive recipes are great. You can experiment on the basis of clay (bleaching, tightening and bactericidal action), honey, green olive oil, in which natural vitamin E is greater than in any rejuvenating cream ... But the main thing that is necessary in choosing this path is the readiness to continue from the day a day and a strong belief that the cosmetics created by yourself will make for your skin more than any high-tech novelty "from a jar".
When choosing cosmetics, the most reasonable thing is to follow the same principles as with food. If, for example, you see yogurt with a shelf life of three months or sausages of life-affirming pink color and with the smell of bouillon cubes, ready to eat for half a year, you perfectly understand that "nature" here does not smell. The same with the diet for the face. To choose a really high-quality product, you need to pay attention to external trivia. For example, real biocosmetics is unlikely to be sold in plastic packaging - rather in glass or ceramic containers. Buying a "live" cream in an appetizing pot, make sure that it is not just painted under clay, but really made of this natural material. Not the least role is played by such a benchmark as price. Some ingredients - for example, 100% natural rose or violet essential oil, black caviar extract - simply can not be contained in creams of 50 or even 200 rubles, because the production of such cream would be unprofitable ...
Second nature
If you are realistic, you have to admit that the home-make variant is more suitable for special occasions, home parties for the soul and body, improvised spa rituals, and in such capacity can be an excellent feed for the skin hungry for being close to nature. But when it comes to daily care, most of us prefer to resort to the conditions of the cherished jar. Under what conditions do we have reason to believe that we are receiving biocosmetics? The most reliable option is cosmetics made by spa centers located next to a natural source of miracle, whether it be marine or freshwater algae, volcanic clay, Dead Sea salt or thermal water. They have direct access to natural resources, which means they use a live, not canned product, turning it into a cosmetic product in their own "home" laboratory. The storage conditions are quite certain - in a vacuum package (it is in this form that popular concentrates are kept - ampoule cosmetics). But such cosmetics rarely go to the open sale. You can find it in pharmacies, online stores (a risky place of "hunting", after all, here you can meet as a bona fide seller and a quality product, and quite the opposite) or - the most reliable option - to purchase from the direct manufacturer - the very abstract spa, center, which made up its reputation just on the competent use of inexhaustible natural resources. Of course, foreign cosmetics, certified as an "ecological" or "bio" product, gives certain guarantees. But the law of the market is inexorable: the more "mass" cosmetics are, the less "bio". Bring to the consumer; make storage more simple (not requiring a refrigerator); make a tool suitable for more people with different problems, tasks and skin types - all of these tasks are solved at the expense of the achievements of the chemical industry, that each time "a step" delivers cosmetics from a genuine "organic". If the price of the product is more than democratic, you can be sure that its relationship to carrots or cucumbers is vague and has more to do with the image than with reality.
Should I chase the bio label at all? Here again there is an analogy with food. The restored orange juice in the package is, of course, not the same as his freshly squeezed fellow, and even more so, not the same as the same fruit, but ripe somewhere on the steep banks of Sicily. However, even reconstituted and canned long-playing juice is much more useful for the stomach than a "chemical" pop or dry drinks from a sachet. Let the canned and strongly reduced form, the natural product still gives the skin elements that have not yet been synthesized by anyone. And yet, the most important thing when choosing a diet for the face is to follow the skin reaction. After all, she always unmistakably tells you what she likes and what is missing. The main thing is to be able to listen and find time to fulfill her desires.