It's time to get a little honest about independent companies claiming to have "all natural" ingredients. Many companies claim natural, from the earth, all-natural and organic. Many of them are unfortunately not telling you the entire truth.
Many of our ingredients are natural. Most (if not all) of the oils, extracts, essential oils and vitamin additives we use are naturally occuring. However, some things are not. We're alright with this because it creates a better product for you.
What do we use that may not be "natural" and what do others use that also may not be? Let's take a closer look at the most common offenders. (Disclaimer: Some companies go very far to make sure their claims are correct. We applaud these companies who strive to use 100% natural ingredients. Checking the label and ingredients declaration on your product should tell you the truth.)
# 5. Cleansers and soaps: Most people who claim natural cleansers and scrubs are missing some key things. Companies who use a base may want to look a bit closer at the base they use. Most bases contain preservatives or lab-created additives for moisturizers. Others who create their own bases use sodium hydroxide AKA lye and it is not created by dripping water through ashes anymore. Do we use sodium hydroxide? Of course! We can't make soap without lye. Heck, even if we buy a pre-made soap base it still has lye in it. You can't have soap without lye.
True, some shampoos and body gels or washes have potassium hydroxide which is similar to sodium hydroxide, but still a "caustic" solution. No, we do not use potassium hydroxide in any of our items. We'll stick to the old fashioned "cold process" or "hot process" methods.
# 4 . Preservatives: Lotions, shampoos, cleansers and conditioners - whether they are hand made or lab made use an oil or water based preservative. These preservatives are a good thing! They keep your items from growing mold or nasty stuff after using them in the shower. Most of the time, these preservatives are not naturally occurring. Esther's Antechamber does use a preservative in many of our products because we want your product to have a shelf life.
# 3. "Organic": This is completely organic. Organic is a lot like saying "natural". There is no actual regulation that defines either. Many items are certified organic, but many companies make the "organic" claim without their ingredients listed showing as certified organic. By definition, organic is: "of or relating to foodstuff grown or raised without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides or hormones".
This definition is what typically certifies a food or plant as organic. Frankly, I do not know if my sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, vitamin e or the carrot extracts and oat extracts (etc.) were originally grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers. They are not certified organic so I am not going to list them as organic. The only way I would know is if I grew every plant myself, distilled everything myself or bought all certified organic ingredients.
Unfortunately, the definition of "organic" goes a bit further than that and can be pretty expansive. Which is why many people say their products are organic when they are most likely not. Are our products organic? Not the entire product, no. Some of our products do contain organic ingredients. For instance, our bath oil infused with rose does contain roses that would be defined as organic. How do I know? Because the roses came from my own rose bush.
# 2. Fragrances and flavors: Lip glosses, soaps, cleansers and most body products that are hand made use fragrances. If they are not essential oils, then the fragrances are not natural. They are lab created scents in an oil or water base that is safe for the use on skin or in cosmetics. But, it is not natural. Do we use fragrance or flavors? We do indeed. Our lip balms use flavor oils, but our lip scrub is currently unflavored and unscented except for it's "naturally occurring" (no pun intended) scent. Don't worry, it doesn't smell bad or taste bad. Though, you probably shouldn't eat it.
# 1. Mineral make-up and colors: The largest offender yet! Mineral make-up creators and colors used in soaps and cleansers. Many of the mineral make-up lines you see have a very mis-leading name. They use ultramarines and oxides. Though these are completely safe for use on the eyes, lips and skin (as long as the FDA has approved them for use on those areas) they are not naturally occurring. Oxides and ultramarines are lab created.
As an aside, they are much safer than the major brand make-up you buy as long as the company creates their make-up according to regulations. The lack of "diomexythelene" and "sodiumbicarbonol" (not real chemical names) certainly do give a vote of confidence for a less irritating and a richer color in your make-up.
Most of our colorants are micas and some do contain oxides in them. Especially the lovely deep red we use in our cleansing scrubs. That is a mica with oxides in it. The lovely golden color we use in our "Royal Red Facial Scrub" also contains oxides. Don't worry - it's totally safe to use on your skin. The micas are not safe for use in cosmetics though. Though we do use micas that contain oxides, we do not currently use micas or aquamarines that contain FD&C colors.
Many soap and body care creators use lab created colorants in their products. Most of the time it's known as "soap dye". Soap dyes are completely safe for soaps and cleansers. They aren't safe for use in cosmetics, but they can easily be used in soaps for some lovely colors. We don't use soap dyes because they can sometimes bleed after sitting on the shelf or during the curing process. And we don't want that!
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