Is it really 'organic'? organic beauty products

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October 22, 2006

Is it really 'organic'?

A know-your-stuff guide to organic beauty products

By Fellingham

Special to The Courier-Journal

By Fellingham

Special to The Courier-Journal

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061022/FEATURES04/61\

0220313

Like " natural " and " herbal " and any other " good-for-you " buzzwords, the

word " organic " can be misused, misunderstood and just plain

misappropriated on product labels.

A CRASH COURSE IN ORGANIC BEAUTY

Back in my beauty-editor days in New York City, I was borderline

fanatical about exposing the ways words such as " natural " and " herbal "

were cynically misused just to sell products.

Not that I'm a die-hard green shopper myself. It's just that I respect

other people's choices and really hate to see someone buying some

so-called natural product that is anything but.

So, I had my own reasons for being excited a few weeks ago when the

Rolling Stones rolled into town. You see, Jo Wood, wife of guitarist

Ron Wood, just happens to have her own gorgeous organic body-care

line, launched last year at Henri Bendel.

I know. Somehow, you wouldn't expect a wife of a Rolling Stone to be

touting the benefits of organic living. It sounds so clean, healthy …

so not rock 'n' roll.

But this rocker/grandmother of four is known for doing exactly that.

Even before Wood started sourcing organic ingredients for her

luxurious skin-care potions, she was famous for traveling with organic

linens and a self-made portable stove that she uses to cook organic

foods on the road.

Not that she was always an organic girl. Wood admitted in an interview

in her Louisville hotel room that she got into the lifestyle in a

roundabout way.

" I became a maniac about organics after I was misdiagnosed with an

illness. … Eventually, I wound up curing my symptoms by seeing an

herbalist and switching to a completely organic diet. "

She soon began growing her own vegetables, buying organic cola for the

grandkids and mixing up her own beauty products.

" It's very hard to find true organic skin-care lines, and I really

wanted to have organic products to use on my skin, " she says. " So one

of my friends said to me, 'Jo, why don't you just sell your own?' "

So she does.

And if she can find a way to live a remotely organic lifestyle while

having the kind of far-flung experiences that one can only imagine the

wife of a Rolling Stones guitarist would have, I figured she could

give us a few pointers on making organically correct choices here.

Happily, she did.

So I've talked to a few local experts, pulled from my own beauty-editor

background and grilled Jo Wood, creator of her own ultra-elegant organic

skin-care line and a fervent organic shopper, to come up with some tricks

to spotting organic products. These pointers should help you make smarter

choices on your next beauty shopping trip.

'Organic' on the label just isn't enough

" There are all different levels of organics, " says Wood. " Some products

are 100 percent, others contain only a tiny percentage of organic

materials. "

Fortunately, unlike the words " natural " or " herbal, " the word " organic " is

regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It refers to an

ingredient grown without use of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

Here are the precise meanings of terms you'll see printed on labels:

• 100% organic: This is the gold standard for organic products and it

means precisely what it says. Other than salt and water, every single

ingredient in the product must be certified organic.

• Made with organics: Products labeled with this wording must contain 70

percent or more of certified organic materials. (And, yes, they can

contain chemicals and preservatives.)Contains organics: These products

contain less than 70 percent organic material.

• Contains organics: These products contain less than 70 percent organic

material.

• Organic: A label with this nonspecific wording could contain less than 1

percent organic materials or more.

For the whole truth, read the ingredient list

" I'm a nut about reading ingredients, " says Wood. " Sometimes a product

that's labeled natural or organic contains a third of these crazy

ingredients. "

So if all-organic or preservative-free is important to you, do your

homework: Flip that bottle around and look at the ingredient list.

Remember, ingredients are listed in order of most to least -- so you want

to see your organics up top and anything else at the bottom.

And some companies (like Kiss My Face) go so far as to list the

percentages of each ingredient.

Be sure to check the expiration date

Because they contain few (or no) chemicals or preservatives, organic

products often come labeled with an expiration date. That's because they

tend to have a shorter shelf life -- especially once their seals are

broken and the products are exposed to air.

Keep this in mind and don't open your organic goodies until you're ready

to use them fairly regularly.

It's also smart to keep your organic beauty care away from extreme

temperatures, which can cause them to break down and lose efficacy and,

possibly, become irritating to your skin.

Organic isn't always best for sensitive skin

Though some synthetic ingredients (like alpha hydroxy acids and parabens)

can be extremely irritating to certain skin types, the same is true of

their potent organic counterparts. One reason? Each herb is actually made

up of numerous chemical components … and you could be allergic to any one

of them.

You also should know that the first culprit most dermatologists suspect

when you have an adverse reaction to a product is the fragrance, whether

synthetic or natural.

That said, most organic companies go to great lengths to choose the

gentlest, least irritating ingredients and to maintain the purity and

consistency of their products. But, you can't assume that everything

organic is automatically less irritating.

You may have to shop in less obvious places

Your local CVS or Macy's, for example, won't stock a huge selection of

organic body products, but your local organic market might.

Locally, you can find a good selection of facial, hair and body care at

Whole Foods Market and Rainbow Blossom Natural Foods.

" We have a lot of customers who come in just for the organic body washes

or baby products, " says Sara Beasley, manager of Rainbow Blossom at

Springhurst.

But it's fair to say that shopping organic still takes a little extra

effort and creativity. Even Wood has to get creative when it comes to

finding a full supply of organic beauty care.

" It's getting easier (to find the stuff), but I really can't find a great

organic makeup line, " she says. " I still use MAC eyeliner, but I do use

some Dr. Haushka powders and I love their moisturizers (available at

Rainbow Blossom in Middletown). "

(Wood's Web site is www.jowoodorganics.com -- think of it as skin care

with a lot of skin.)

Other organic lines with cult followings include Ecco Bella (a

flower-based cosmetic and skin-care line available at Rainbow Blossom),

Jurlique, Kiss My Face (at Rainbow Blossom and Whole Foods) and Burt's

Bees (semi-organic and available at Whole Foods, Rainbow Blossom and CVS).

Some of these lines occasionally use synthetics or preservatives to

maintain stability or safety or simply to deliver a specific aroma or

color -- and only you can decide if that's OK.

Finally, if your search for organic makeup is disappointing, you can do

what many organic types do and buy mineral makeup (available at Pure Image

on Baxter Avenue, Headz Salon on La Grange Road, as well as most

health-food stores).

Though they're made of minerals (and, therefore, aren't organic per se),

they are preservative- and chemical-free and completely natural. They're

also extremely lightweight, blendable and natural-looking.

Don't be misled by scent

" I personally love all-natural aromas, but they can take getting used to, "

says Wood.

The truth is that we're so accustomed to the enhanced, engineered and

souped-up synthetic versions of scents like lavender, rose or green tea

that the real or " organic " thing may seem unappealing.

But try not to pass up a lavender bath oil, for example, just because it

doesn't smell as sweet as the stuff you may be used to. Most likely, once

you become accustomed to the heady fragrance of a natural ingredient, you

won't want to go back.

Fellingham, a Louisville resident, is a contributing writer for

Glamour, Health and Shop Etc. magazines, and O: The Oprah Winfrey

Magazine.

*

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