what would you choose....

5181 Views 28 Replies 19 Participants Last post by dre, Apr 13, 2007

SusanRL

Discussion Starter · Oct 23, 2006

Skin care products that are all natural, but have not gone under extensive lab testing by the FDA... or skincare products with chemical ingredients that have been tested?

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

bad cat

· #2 · Oct 24, 2006

I would choose skin care products that are all natural, but have not gone under extensive lab testing by the FDA.

Especially b/c there have been a few that have snuck into the US and are great products and are now approved.

On the other hand look at how much stuff has been approved by the FDA and then it turned out to be deadly.

Naturally

· #3 · Oct 24, 2006

I don't need lab tests or FDA ruling what is good or not (especially when I know the FDA isn't about health but more like lining their pockets with $$$)

Give me something natural instead! Besides chemical/synthetics often end up having side effects.

vtoodler

· #4 · Oct 26, 2006

I'd choose the ones with chemical ingredients that have gone testing. There are some all natural products that are potentially dangerous.

Naturally

· #5 · Oct 27, 2006

no more dangerous than some if not most of the chemical ingredients.

vtoodler

· #6 · Oct 27, 2006

Yes, but at least I'm informed about what I'm getting.

goodlooking

· #7 · Oct 27, 2006

vtoodler said:
I'd choose the ones with chemical ingredients that have gone testing. There are some all natural products that are potentially dangerous.

Could you please name a few truly "all natural" products that are potentially dangerous? I'm not talking about products that claim "all natural" on their packaging, but products that are truly "non-synthetic". The worst issue I have ever seen is an allergic reaction to an essential oil in "all natural" products. Allergic reactions can also occur in conventional skin care.

Since this is the skin care section of this great forum I assume that we are talking about "all natural" skin care products and not some "all natural" snakeoil that is being taken internally or as a foodsupplement.

goodlooking

· #8 · Oct 27, 2006

Naturally said:
I don't need lab tests or FDA ruling what is good or not (especially when I know the FDA isn't about health but more like lining their pockets with $$$)

Give me something natural instead! Besides chemical/synthetics often end up having side effects.

Thanks for your post. I think there is a common misconception that the FDA approves/tests conventional skin care, but "all natural" skin care products are somehow exempt. The truth is that no cosmetics and/or skin care product is being tested or approved by the FDA. The FDA has a list of certain ingredients that are NOT allowed in skin care. Everything else is fair game. Usually an ingredient has to cause serious harm before the FDA puts in on that prohibited list.

And I agree that the FDA doesn't have the best track record on the pharmaceutical side either.(Vioxx, Fen-Phen, etc.)

skincareteacher

· #9 · Oct 27, 2006

Goodlooking, "All natural" skin care products are somehow exempt from FDA Testing because they are all natural. They cannot patent (or profit from) something that's found in nature.
It infuriates me because so many are needlessly dying of cancer and the treatment (which is all-natural) will not be made available for sale here.

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vtoodler

· #10 · Oct 28, 2006

There are all natural some herbs that are dangerous.

Ephedera is an all natural herb that was found to be potentially dangerous. The FDA had to regulate ephedera as a result.

goodlooking

· #11 · Oct 28, 2006

vtoodler said:
There are all natural some herbs that are dangerous.

Ephedera is an all natural herb that was found to be potentially dangerous. The FDA had to regulate ephedera as a result.

Thanks for the clarification. Again, this is the skin care forum and not weight loss/internal application forum. I'm not aware of any skin care product that uses ephedera as an ingredient.

You are absolutely right, "all natural" ingredients can be potentially harmful as well when taken internally.

Trisha

· #12 · Oct 28, 2006

goodlooking said:
Thanks for the clarification. Again, this is the skin care forum and not weight loss/internal application forum. I'm not aware of any skin care product that uses ephedera as an ingredient.

You are absolutely right, "all natural" ingredients can be potentially harmful as well when taken internally.

Im prety sure vtoodler was just giving an example of how natural ingredients can stil be dangerous. A lot of people just assume that because its natural, it can't do any real damage to you. There are TONS of natural skin care ingredients that are damaging to the skin & body.. some more than their chemical substitutes. Even stuff like Licorice in skin creams has estrogen properties which have not been fully studied.

vtoodler

· #13 · Oct 29, 2006

Trisha,

You could not be more right. Hydroquinone was once considered to be a natural product. But, it has recently been shown to cause skin damage when used frequently. Therefore, the FDA is thinking of banning it. So, this notion that "all natural" is "all good" is misleading.

vtoodler

· #14 · Oct 29, 2006

There was even a special on either Dateline or NBC nightly news about "all natural" herbs harming people's health. Feel free to disagree but I feel pretty strongly about this.

bella

· #15 · Oct 29, 2006

I can certainly understand vtoodler's point.

blue-eyz

· #16 · Oct 29, 2006

theres nothing we can call it a natural products in the skin care industry
coz they have to put some chemical ingredients to prevent it from expir
unless u made it at home u then call it natural products

i totally agree with vtoodler

martha

· #17 · Oct 29, 2006

blue-eyz said:
theres nothing we can call it a natural products in the skin care industry
coz they have to put some chemical ingredients to prevent it from expir
unless u made it at home u then call it natural products

i totally agree with vtoodler

I have seen some places that say they use natural preservatives for their products. Are natural preservatives effective?

misty

· #18 · Nov 2, 2006

Just read the label. If it says cucumber extract and almond oil, I think it's safe to rub it on your skin. If it says phyeknetlpxgh (not an actual word by the way), I'd stay away from it. (P.S. some common sense is need however, if you are allergic to almonds, I would not suggest rubbing it anywhere.)

misty

· #19 · Nov 2, 2006

Just an added note. Poisen Ivy is "All Natural" but I don't want to rub it on my skin or take it internally. Reading of the label is important. I think the title "All Natural" is given to help give some of us a place to start looking. It says "I am not full of synthetic junk ". Now after you've got that far, read the label and anything you don't recognize... do some research. But to answer the orginal question.. I would go with Natural products and do my own reasearch than being a lab rat for a chemical based product... the public is the really the long term lab...

beauty_addict

· #20 · Nov 2, 2006

As a consumer when choosing skin care products (natural or not) you need to become self educated, especially since your putting it on your skin ? the body?s largest organ. Check the label as Misty said ? if you don?t know an ingredient, Google it. There are also some good sites out there that rank skin/hair care products and their potential harmful ingredients. The one I continue to post is Skin Deep EWG Report || Skin Deep.

I am pro natural and organic products ? most of these major lines are formulated in labs using natural ingredients and produced under high quality control. With regards to natural preservatives or chemicals that really depends on the brand and how they formulate their products. Some major brands use only natural ingredients while others use chemical preservatives (which are safe). If you use all natural an organic products the shelf life is usually shorter mostly because the potency of the products diminishes with time. Most products with natural preservatives have expiry dates. I hope this info is helpful? Mike.

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