Thus, choosing natural, organic body care should not only ensure compatibility with the most sensitive skin, but also help to decrease the toxic load on the body.

Plants grown organically yield the purest oils and extracts, free from herbicide and pesticide contamination. - There is little point in using therapeutic herbal extracts if they contain chemical residues.

Using organic products also means that you are helping to support the sustainability of our environment. It is widely acknowledged that organic farming is better for wildlife, causes lower pollution from sprays, and produces less carbon dioxide and less dangerous wastes.

Why Certified Organic?

All our products have been certified according to Soil Association organic standards, which are among the strictest in the world for organic health and beauty products. Indeed, only a handful of companies have achieved these standards for skincare products and we are the only company making an approved Shampoo.

The Soil Association's organic standards correspond to our philosophy that health and beauty products should be ethical, chemical-free and as organic as possible. In particular, the SA ensures that any products carrying its logo not only use organically grown ingredients where available, but also do not contain the substances that we are strongly against and never use (see below).

To obtain organic certification for a product, a minimum of 95% of all ingredients must be certified organic. Where insufficient organically grown ingredients exist, the Soil Association will approve products that contain at least 70% organic ingredients (such as our Shampoo) but they cannot be labelled "organic". The remaining ingredients, however, are also bound by strict guidelines. Substances suspected of being toxic to humans or the environment are not allowed, neither are genetically modified ingredients.

We must provide the Soil Association with certificates of organic status for every single supplier we use during the year. To be accepted by the Soil Association, suppliers' certificates must either be issued by the Soil Association or by a body that the Soil Association has investigated and recognises as equally rigorous in its testing and certification. - When we began the certification process, we were surprised to learn that some ingredients suppliers could not back up their organic claims with the relevant paperwork.
We also have to provide the Soil Association with declarations from every supplier of a non-organic ingredient (where organic is not available) to prove that it is GM-free. Our formulae, labelling and production methods are examined regularly for quality and integrity.

So you can see that it can be a quantum leap in purity and organic content between a product that claims to have natural or "certified organic ingredients", and one that bears a (e.g. Soil Association) logo indicating the whole product has been independently certified as having a certain organic content and being free from suspect substances.

For a full list of Essential Care ingredients, please click here.

SUSPECT SUBSTANCES GLOSSARY (work in progress)

The Soil Association uses the precautionary principle to determine whether an ingredient is acceptable in its organic health and beauty standards. In other words, "if in doubt, do without" - if any research casts doubt over the ingredient's safety to humans or the environment, it is not permitted.

The substances mentioned below are some of the more common ones that are neither allowed in products certified by the Soil Association nor used by Essential Care. While the European Union has been restricting use of potential allergens recently, all of these substances are still permitted and very commonly used:

Artificial colour or fragrance "parfum" (if not qualified as an essential oil)
"19% of children with eczema are fragrance sensitive" (8)
Many other studies link rising levels of dermatitis in recent years with an increased use of fragrance chemicals
N.B. "phthalates" (pronounced THAL-aytes) are allergens found in certain fragrance chemicals and nail varnishes; many are now restricted in use by the EU.

Dimethicone (or any other silicone products)

Hydrogenated oils
Highly processed and refined, hydrogenated fats offer no value to the skin, and in the diet have been linked to heart disease due to hardening of the arteries.

Lanolin
A bi-product of sheep wool that, due to pesticide residue, has been linked to skin-sensitivity.

Methyldibromo glutaronitrile
"No safe level for methyldibromo glutaronitrile (MDBGN) in cosmetic products has been established… it is recommended that it should not be present in any cosmetic product"(2)
The EU has reduced the permitted level of this preservative in recent years to 0.1% in wash-off products, but it is still commonly used.

Nanoparticles
Not enough evidence is currently available to support their use. Concerns exist due to potential disruption to body chemistry.

Paraben preservatives (butylparaben, ethylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben)
Other than being suspected as a skin-irritant the paraben family of preservatives was recently linked to breast cancer: "The findings of parabens in tumour samples are in line with the general hypothesis that there may be a link between oestrogenic compounds currently used in underarm cosmetics and breast cancer"(1)

Peanut oil

Petroleum oils such as petrolatum and mineral oil and liquid paraffin
They may come out of the earth originally as crude oil, but dead petrochemicals offer little benefit to skin and health. They create a surface film on the skin and block the pores, holding moisture in, but preventing the skin from secreting its toxins. Not only do they stop the skin breathing and absorbing oil soluble vitamins, which are so vital for skin health and repair, (a real problem in the case of eczema and dermatitis sufferers), they actually accelerate the ageing process by encouraging free-radical generation.

Tests performed on 100 children at Sheffield Children's hospital concluded that:
"56% of the episodes of exposure to aqueous cream [petroleum-based cream] were associated with an immediate cutaneous reaction… Cutaneous reactions to aqueous creams in children with atopic eczema are so common, that it should only be used as a soap substitute and not as a leave-on emollient"(6)

The manufacturing process of petrochemicals is extremely polluting to our environment.

Petroleum derivatives include:
Propylene glycol and butylene glycol which have been linked to skin sensitivity.

Sodium lauryl(eth) sulphate (or other sulphate detergents)
"Sodium lauryl sulphate is used around the world in clinical studies as a skin irritant" (4).
Other akyl sulphate detergents are reputedly less damaging to the skin, but the Soil Association does not allow them on environmental grounds.

Solvent extracted substances
Including solvent-extracted essential oils which may contain toxic solvent residue

Alkyloamides; identified on skin-care product labels as:
Diethanolamine (DEA)
Monoethanolamine (MEA)
Triethanolamine (TEA), and sometimes preceded by 'cocamide'
Primarily used as a foam-booster in shampoos, but can also be used as thickening or binding agents, triethanolamine is used as a pH balancer. Some evidence suggests that they can be skin irritants. In addition, alkyloamides contain a free amine that can combine with formaldehyde-releasing preservatives in cosmetics, and there is concern that they may form nitrosamines (carcinogens)

Imidazolidinyl Urea and Diazolidinyl Urea
These are the most commonly used preservatives after the parabens. "a hazardous substance with respect to skin sensitisation by skin contact" (3)

References

(1)Journal of Applied Toxicology, vol. 24, 2004 p.1-4, (2) EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Products, 15/3/05; (3) Australian Government Final Report on Hazard Classification of Skin Sensitisers, January 2005; (4) Journal of the American School of Toxicology, Vol. 2, No. 7, 1983; (5) Danish Environmental Agency Project 615, 2001; Sources: (6) The Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. 271, 2003; (8) Contact Dermatitis, vol. 48, p.59, 2003