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Organic and natural food has become one of the fastest growing markets in the past couple of years, but have our beauty regimes kept up with the pace?

As the consumer has become more aware of the downside to intensive farming, GM, chemical preservatives, high salt, hormone injected food, we have witnessed a massive shift in supply and consumption. Organic and natural food have broken free from the confines of health food shops and now occupy shelf space in every supermarket around the country.

However, as our interest in more natural food increases, where does this take us with the rest of our lives? Despite carefully choosing preservative and pesticide free food many of us continue to treat our bodies with products that are packed full of chemical and toxic ingredients.

We are gradually seeing beauty products marketed as ‘natural’ creep onto the supermarket shelves and many of us have been loyal customers of ‘green’ brands such as Body Shop, however it is still important to read the ingredients and understand just what it is you are applying directly onto your skin.

Ideal products should be SLS free, created from plant-based and naturally-derived ingredients, using pure essential oil fragrances and gentle preservatives, without paraffin oil, synthetics, artificial dyes or animal by-products. However, all too often our beauty regimes involve some of the following, far from desirable, elements:

Alcohol (Isopropyl): 
As a solvent, alcohol is found in hair dye, body rubs, hand lotions, after-shave lotions, fragrances, and many other cosmetics. A petroleum-derived substance, it is also used in antifreeze and as a solvent in shellac and diluted essential oils.

DEA (dienthanolamine), MEA (monoethanolamine), & TEA (methanolamine):
These are hormone-disrupting chemicals known to form cancer-causing nitrates and nitrosamines. They are almost always in products that foam, including bubble baths, body washes, shampoos, soaps, and facial cleansers.

FD&C Colour Pigments:
Many colour pigments can cause skin sensitivity and irritation. Colours can be used in foods, drugs and cosmetics and are generally made from coal tar. There is a great deal of controversy about their use, because animal studies have shown almost all of them to be carcinogenic.

Fragrances:
Most deodorants, shampoos, sunscreens, skin care, body care and baby products contain fragrance. Many of the compounds in fragrances are carcinogenic or otherwise toxic.

Mineral Oil:
Used in many personal-care products (baby oil is 100% mineral oil), this ingredient actually coats the skin just like a plastic wrap, disrupting the skin’s natural immune barrier and inhibiting its ability to breathe, absorb and release toxins.

Polyethelene glycol (PEG):
This is used in cleansers to dissolve oil and grease as well as thicken products. Because of their effectiveness, PEGs are often used in caustic spray-on oven cleaners, yet are also found in many personal care products. Not only are they potentially carcinogenic, but they contribute to stripping the skin’s Natural Moisture Factor, leaving the immune system vulnerable.

Propylene Glycol (PG):
As a "surfactant" or wetting agent and solvent, PG is actually the active component in antifreeze. There is no difference between what’s used in industry and what’s used in personal care products. It is found in most forms of make-up, hair products, lotions, after-shave, deodorants, mouthwashes, toothpaste, and is even used in food processing. PG has systemic consequences such as a brain, liver, and kidney abnormalities.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) or Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES):
Used as detergents and surfactants, these closely related compounds are found in car wash soaps, garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers, yet are even more widely used as major ingredients in cosmetics, toothpaste, hair conditioners, and about 90% of all shampoos and products that foam. Tests have shown that SLS can cause eye damage, depression, laboured breathing, diarrhoea, severe skin irritation and corrosion, and even death. Other research suggests that SLS are particularly damaging to children’s eyes and the immune system.

Urea (imidazolidinyl) & DMDM Hydantoin:
These are just two of the many preservatives that release formaldehyde, which can irritate the respiratory system, cause skin reactions and trigger heart palpitations. Formaldehyde-releasing ingredients are very common in nearly all store brands of skin, body and hair care, antiperspirants, and nail polish.

Triclosan:
Triclosan is commonly found in detergents, dish washing fluids, soaps, deodorants, cosmetics, lotions, creams, and even toothpaste. Triclosan is a chlorophenol, a class of chemicals suspected of causing cancer in humans. Externally, it causes skin irritations and can lead to cold sweats, circulatory collapse, convulsions, coma, and death. Stored in the body fat, it can accumulate to toxic levels, damaging the liver, kidneys, and lungs, and can cause paralysis, sterility, suppression of immune function, brain haemorrhages, decreased fertility and sexual dysfunction, heart problems, and coma.

Product information sourced from Linda Chae, expert on chemicals in beauty products.

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