Aug 5, 2008 4:00 pm US/Eastern
Health: Organic Skin Care
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
The color of beauty is turning green. Skin care companies are offering products with claims like natural or organic. But what are you really getting? CBS 3 Medical Reporter Stephanie Stahl looks behind the labels.
Cleansers, moisturizers, concealers, and blush -- skin care products are endless. Some can contain ingredients that have been linked to cancer or reproductive problems, as we've reported.
Shopper Nikole Sarno said, "It's a little scary when you find out what you're actually putting on your body every day."
That fear is leading a growing number of women to explore so-called green alternatives.
These skin care products are chock-full of claims like "made with certified organic ingredients," "essential oils and fruit extracts," "plant and mineral derived," "bioactive," "natural" -- wooing women interested in avoiding chemicals.
"They're more health conscious in terms of what they're putting on their bodies, and it just makes sense for us to have organic and natural products," said Sephora skin care expert Jamelia Everly.
But the world of organic and natural skin care isn't always easy to understand, says University of Pennsylvania dermatologist Cherie Ditre.
"I guess most of the time when patients are asking about organic, they're thinking chemical-free. And I have to tell them it's not always true that they're chemical-free," said Dr. Ditre.
The confusion is the definition of "organic."
The USDA regulates the word organic in food and agriculture. But the USDA doesn't regulate cosmetics, the FDA does. And there is no FDA definition of the term organic.
The FDA also doesn't define terms like "natural," so you might have to dig deep to find out what each claim means.
"Get used to looking at what companies are making them, and really research it," said Dr. Ditre.
A few companies like Juice Beauty have gone so far as to have some skin care products certified under food regulations and get a USDA organic seal.
But are organic products necessarily better for your skin? Not always.
"You can think of an organic product like poison ivy," said Dr. Ditre. "It comes from a plant, but applied to the skin, it can really irritate the skin. So organic doesn't necessarily mean good for the skin."
Here are Web sites that offer explanations ingredients for beauty products:
Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep DatabaseBeautypedia's Free Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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