/ Chemical Romance

by Anokhi Admin

Chemical Romance

Aug 01, 2013

Is the Honeymoon Over?

Almond oil, meadowsweet, cucumber. Is this lunch in the gardens of Buckingham Palace or a stroll through your local Sephora? What are we putting on our faces in the name of beauty, and more importantly, why? Is it simply style over substance that moves us to buy products peddling the latest in herbal or mineral ingredients or are we finally taking advantage of everything nature has to offer? Claims made by cosmetic companies seem outlandish, promising to provide ‘luminous’ skin with apricots and jojoba or ‘gravity lifting’ results by using caviar. Caviar? When did Captain Highliner get into the cosmetics business and why weren’t we informed?

It’s possible that this is all a part of the green revolution. I’d rather say I’m moisturizing with cucumbers and grape seed than aluminum silicate. That being said, I also enjoy telling people how full my compost container is and how little garbage I actually throw out these days. We are all products of the green movement and we like everyone to know it. Whereas years ago it seemed that natural ingredients used to be found only in high-end products for only the upper crust to consume, today you can take a walk down the aforementioned cosmetic aisle and see that almost everything you pass hypes some sort of natural ingredient–green tea, vitamin C or alfalfa. How do we know which of these elements really work and, more importantly, do we really care?

Proof seems to be lacking in the field of natural ingredients–not to say chemists and botanists are not making a concerted effort. Could it be that more funding is offered to the chemical aspect of cosmetics rather than organic? As savvy shoppers we often find we’re doing the research ourselves rather than depending solely on what someone else is telling us. In such an age where information is literally at our fingertips it would take seconds to research whether an ingredient in a product actually does what it claims. However, whether the information you’re getting is through a friend, a colleague or the Internet, everything should be taken with a grain of salt–sea salt if you prefer.

Natural ingredients are, for the most part, harmless to the general public and that fact alone makes it a solid selling point. If it doesn’t irritate my skin it must be good for my skin, right? Plus, babassu oil sounds so charming and exotic. It’s not just oils, herbs and plants rapidly entering into everything we lube ourselves up with. It’s minerals too; namely gold, copper, zinc and silver. The thought of rubbing any one of these onto my face or body in cosmetic form conjures ideas of skin rashes and money flying out of my bank account at a rate never seen before. Mind you, when I was a child and suffered from a sty on my eye lid, my Mom always had me use her gold wedding band to rub on the affected area. The sty always cleared up within minutes. Though the use of gold or silver may not be a first choice, for many, essential oils and organics are a key component to any natural cosmetic, and despite the recent explosion of green products, have been used successfully for many years.

For example, organic-based company Kiss My Face has been around since 1981. They carry a complete line of products from shower gels to toothpastes, and use vitamins, minerals, botanicals, with no artificial colours, unnecessary chemical additives or animal ingredients in their products. Clarins, another front runner in the cosmetic world, has a network of ethnobotanists who study the botanical discoveries of cultures from all over the world. Their work is validated by rigorous scientific experiments where each part of the plant is screened to isolate the most active compounds. National trainer for Clarins Canada, Marie-Claude Cote, tells ANOKHI, “We are always looking for the most synergistic ingredients for skin–from roots, stems, leaves and flowers–to create a product for our customers with the best guarantee of product safety and effectiveness.” Both of these companies put a great amount of energy, science and research into utilizing nature to its fullest potential, helping us realize that natural and organic can work. This bids the question–how do these natural ingredients last for so long once processed?

When buying fruits, herbs and vegetables we don’t expect them to last longer than a week. So how will these natural-based products sit on our bathroom shelves for weeks if not months? Perhaps a little bit of help from their chemical ‘frenemies’? “Not necessarily, as there are natural ingredients that can act as preservatives, depending on the nature of the product,” says Dr. Lida Mahal, vice-president of reseach and development at Cosmetica Laboratories in Toronto, “but people should be aware that there is no official definition of the term ‘natural’ as of yet.”

I think we can all agree that chemical words and descriptions don’t necessarily invoke the most pleasing images. It’s not that the chemical aspect is left out of the picture altogether–it’s just tucked into the fine print amongst several other elements that make up a remarkable product. And sometimes, it’s just about the experience. I don’t claim to be a chemist, but the last time I checked a cucumber had no real scent to it. When opening the latest container of “cucumber-infused” body wash or lotion I always marvel at the crisp smell and think about how refreshing it is.

So why do we decide to lather, lube and clean with tea tree oil rather than taking advantage of the tried and tested results of benzoyl peroxide? It could be easily tied into our love affair with everything growing out of the ground or our obsession with style over substance. Maybe simply mind over matter. In any case, I love the way my melon-candy-masked-as-cucumber-body-wash makes me feel, whether it actually works or not.

_{WORDS HELEN HODGKINSON

IMAGE COURTESY OF CLARINS}