CosBeauty Magazine #93

R OSS
M AC D O U G A L D
F O U N D E R A N D C O S M E TI C
C H E MI S T, BI O L O GI
‘ Gree n was hi ng’ is a ter m use d t o descri be w he n
a bra n d ma kes clai ms t o be gree n a n d nat ur al
t hr o ug h t heir mar keti ng, yet w he n y o u delve a
little dee per, c ha nces are t here is m ore eff ort
p ut i nt o t he perce pti o n rat her t ha n t he act ual
practice. Ter ms li ke ‘ nat ural’, ‘ orga nic’, ‘ nat urally
derive d’, ‘gree n’ a n d ‘ der mat ol ogist a p pr ove d’ are
all s o me clai ms t hat are see mi ngly ever y w here o n
s ki ncare la bels b ut sit i n a grey area of c o nf usi o n
a n d u ns u bst a ntiate d clai ms.
U nf ort u nately, u ns u bst a ntiate d a n d
mislea di ng clai ms still a b o u n d i n t he bea uty
i n d ustr y, s o it’s i m p ort a nt t o ma ke y o urself
i nf or me d w he n it c o mes t o t he p urc hases y o u
ma ke. D o y o ur o w n researc h a n d d o n’t t a ke
t hi ngs at face val ue. A great way t o delve a
little dee per is t o rea d t he i ngre die nts la bel o n
t he bac k of t he pr o d uct, t he n researc h eac h
i ngre die nt. If t he pr o d uct is dee me d ‘ nat ur al’
b ut t here see ms t o be a h uge list of c he micals
o u n di ng i ngre die nts o n t he bac k, c ha nces are
it is n’t as nat ural as it is ma ki ng o ut. Researc h
t he bra n d, t heir i ngre die nts, lear n a b o ut t heir
pr ocesses a n d h o w t hey’re ma de. I n m ost cases,
y o u ca n als o as k t he br a n d or ma n ufact urer
directly – if t hey have n ot hi ng t o hi de, t hey
will be o pe n a n d h o nest wit h y o u a b o ut t heir
practices a n d w hat’s i n t heir pr o d ucts.
At Bi ol ogi, we av oi d gree n was hi ng at all
c osts by offeri ng f ull tra ns pare ncy regar di ng
t he s o urci ng, ma n ufact uri ng a n d s u p ply of o ur
pr o d ucts t o hel p c o ns u mers ma ke i nf or me d
c h oices. Bi ol ogi pr o d ucts are create d t hr o ug h a
pla nt-t o- b ottle pr ocess usi ng l ocally-s o urce d fr uits
a n d q uite literally p utti ng t he m i n t he b ottles.
We rely o n t he eart h’s nat ural res o urces t o give
us o ur i ngre die nts f or o ur pr o d ucts ( w hic h are
nat ural a n d n ot sy nt hetically ma de), s o bei ng
tra ns pare nt, et hical a n d s ust ai na ble is i ncre di bly
i m p ort a nt t o us.
Bel o w are s o me c o m m o n ter ms t o be
mi n df ul of:
N at ur al – Nat ural is a ter m see n o n a l ot of
bea uty a n d s ki ncare pr o d ucts, h o wever it is ofte n
mis use d. I n s o me cases, it ca n mea n t hat o nly
a s mall perce nt age of a pr o d uct’s i ngre die nts is
pla nt base d, or w hat was origi nally ‘ nat ural’ has
n o w i n fact g o ne t hr o ug h a pr o d ucti o n pr ocess
w hic h res ults i n a less-t ha n- nat ur al f or m.
N at ur all y d eri v e d – I n esse nce t his refers
t o i ngre die nts t hat are derive d fr o m nat ure b ut
t he pr ocess mea ns t hat it is t he n delivere d i n a n
u n nat ural f or m (s o it s o u n ds nat ural b ut may be
la de n i n c he micals).
Cl e a n – Clea n is ofte n a rat her p uzzli ng
ter m t hat is s hr o u de d i n c o nf usi o n a n d h ol ds
ma ny differe nt mea ni ngs. It c o ul d refer t o t he
i ngre die nts t hat are free fr o m sy nt hetics, b ut
it ca n als o refer t o t he bra n d’s s ust ai na bility
practices or refere nce t hat t he pr o d uct is vega n,
or et hical, etc. I deally, t he ter m ‘clea n’ s h o ul d
refer t o a nat ural pr o d uct usi ng ra w pla nt
e xtracts a n d wit h o ut a l o ng, ever-ev olvi ng list
of i ngre die nts t hat ca n be li n ke d t o har mf ul
healt h effects.
P ar a b e n-fr e e – T here has bee n a s urge
lately of bra n ds clai mi ng ‘ n o para be ns’ – a n d
rig htly s o beca use t hey are sy nt hetic preser vatives
t hat have bee n li n ke d t o t hi ngs li ke ca ncer,
h or m o ne disr u pti o n, D N A da mage a n d
i ncrease d s ki n agei ng. To kee p o n t he safe si de,
tr y t o av oi d a nyt hi ng e n di ng wit h t he w or d
para be n, s uc h as i ngre die nts li ke met hyl para be n,
b utyl para be n, et hyl para be n, pr o pyl para be n a n d
is o b utyl para be n. C B M
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