It seems like under the umbrella of “natural skincare” , words like green, vegan, non-toxic, clean are being tossed around, now - a - days, but what do these actually mean?
How do we differentiate between these terms?
There are green products which are not organic. There are organic products which are have toxic elements, while some vegan products not green. Goodness gracious! Choosing the right skincare can be difficult!
To solve this dilemma, I have listed some common certification terms below with their explanations, which will help you differentiate between these terms and help you to choose efficiently.
Organic
This one is a crowd pleaser! Almost every brand in skincare is jumping the ‘organic’ bandwagon. This simply means the ingredients in the product are cultivated with no use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides or artificial enhancers.
Green
Green refers to the impact on environment. It speaks for optimum utilisation of available resources, minimal wastage of natural resources, tackling waste issues, supporting sustainability and fair trade, and eradicating human or animal exploitation.
Ayurvedic
This is based on the age-old medicinal and healing formulas in the Ayurvedas, which is, now, a form of alternative medicine, from India. The ingredients are nature-derived and the formulation is archaic. Many brands are now experimenting a blend a of Ayurvedic recipes and modern science to create the best product suitable for today’s needs.
Vegan & Cruelty Free
As the name suggests, no animals are harmed in the entire process. While ‘Cruelty Free” refers to the products not being tested on animals, during R&D, 'Vegan' means that no animal derived products are used to create the product.
Non-toxic or Clean
Many commercial products have chemicals which, with prolonged usage, are extremely harmful to humans. Thanks to the research & development and the following awareness, we are now informed about these chemicals which have a detrimental effect on human body. When you see the product being tagged as “Non-toxic” or “Clean”, it simply means that the product is free from carcinogens, neurotoxins, skin irritants, hormone disruptors and so on.
Conscious
A conscious brand is the one that includes most of the above mentioned and puts their best foot forward. This is the one to root for!
These are some of the most important and known tags. Most of them are now certified by various governmental bodies. What is commendable is that many conscious brands are now working hard and getting their formulas and products certified, which makes it easier for us to decide and choose the right product which is good for us and the environment!
That is it, for now! I am going to talk about how to select the right skincare by asking the right questions in the next post.
Stay tuned. :)
XO
Kimaya
