Don't Miss A Trick!

10 Tricks Companies Use to "Look" Natural

More people than ever are aware of the harmful effects of toxins in their body care products, and are actively seeking non-toxic products. In response, companies are portraying their products as natural and healthy, organic and toxin-free. Even if their products are in fact unnatural, unhealthy, unorganic and toxin-filled. So finding products that are truly safe, can be quite an adventure.

There are a variety of ways companies encourage potential customers to believe that their product is natural, even if it isn't. I saw an ad recently that featured compelling photos of exotic plants with a voice over saying that the product was "inspired by nature". I was left with a feeling that the product was made of exotic plants. In fact, it was almost completely made of petroleum products!

I always recommend reading labels, as the only way to possibly know what is in the product you're considering. If they don't tell you the ingredients, it's because they don't want you to know what they are! I no longer buy a product that does not list ingredients.

Sadly, even when companies appear to list the ingredients they don't always actually do so. Within the so-called lists of ingredients, reside more tricks that make it look like they're telling you what's in it, when they really aren't.

Here are some of the tricks I've found so far:

Trick #1
"Active Ingredients" are listed, but none of the others- which is where the fragrances, parabens and glycols reside.

Trick #2
"Natural Ingedients" I found one popular site that lists these at the top of the ingedients box. Then there's an empty space. The rest of the ingredients are there- if you scroll down, and down to the bottom of the box, where it's not so pretty! And not at all natural!

Trick #3
"No SLS, parabens, etc" They tell you what isn't there, but not what is! It's true that there is no sodium laurel sulfate--they use sodium laureth sulfate! Or sodium myreth sulfate....

Trick #4
You get to see all of the ingredients except the "proprietary blend of natural somethingorothers". Maybe it's so cool everyone will want to copy it. Or maybe it's nothing more than propylene glycol and fragrance oils. Or their own special mix of chemical preservatives. The problem is that you won't know.

Trick #5
Use a combination of tricks. I saw one today that described itself as being 100% biodegradeable and poison free. Then a statement about their patented formula of oils. This followed by the list of things not in the product. But nowhere a list of ingredients that ARE in it.

Trick #6
Using a comforting phrase so you won't feel the need to look at the ingredients list. "All natural and organic." Or "Made with organic ingredients". The words "natural" and "organic" have no legal meaning; anyone can describe their product that way, without a single natural ingredient! A manufacturer can legally put these phrases on products filled with toxins!

Even "70%" or "99% certified organic ingedients" should not lull you into buying without checking ingredients. Fragrances and parabens are often less than 1% of a formula. Use 6 products during your day with this kind of marketing and you now have 6% toxins building up in your body. Daily.

The next two tricks are ones that rely on you being unaware of what goes into the product in question. Use a word like surfactant and people start getting drowsy. Invent a new name for an ingredient--who will know? It sounds good. Educate yourself and these will be easy to catch too.

Trick #7
Describe the ingredients without naming them..."mild coconut based surfactant", "natural plant essences." The first one describes numerous chemicals including some excellent and some awful ones. I have no clue what plant essences are, do you?

Trick #8
List the originating plants only. At least I think that's what they did. I read the label on a popular and very expensive shampoo the other day that listed ingredients that would feed people a delicious organic meal, but absolutely would not result in the clear shampoo found in the bottle, unless there were major chemical changes made to the cherries and walnuts therein. Or maybe they just made the whole thing up. But I do know that if you or I mix cherries and walnuts, we won't get shampoo.

The last two are ones that sound like good ideas that make sense, but may not actually work.

Trick #9
Rely on the brand name. There are brand names that are, or have been synonomous with truly natural. They became so popular that they were bought by big companies and have entered the commercial distribution system. So now you see them at every natural food store and some are even in the grocery store or pharmacy chain.

Some of the products of these brands will be the same, and remain natural. Others will change and become anything but. Most will likely be the original plus chemicals that are necessary to stabilize the product for an extended shelf life. Over time, even these are likely to become less natural as the corporation moves toward less expensive or consolidated sourcing. The only way to know is to read the label. And check it each time you buy the next bottle or jar. Corporations will make the changes slowly, in hopes of maintaining the image of the original.

Trick #10
Rely on the store. There's a small "health food store" that serves our community, and many health conscious people rely completely on the store to select only things that are organic and natural--things that are good for you. They sell organic produce and grind organic peanuts into butter for you. But when it comes to body care products almost all retail stores are part of a commercial distribution system that sells products with lengthy shelf lives. The products may be better than stuff sold in big chain stores, but maybe not.

So don't miss a trick!
Read labels.
Learn the ingredients to avoid, and/or take a list with you when you shop.
Notice what you find in every lotion or shampoo label you read, so you'll know if they're not telling you everything. Or find someone knowledgable to do it for you.

You'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel!

Liz McEwan 9/6/11