You have probably read one of the many stories in the papers about the safety of your skincare products. One such article claimed that women put “515 chemicals on their face every day”. Such stories describe those who enjoy standard beauty products as “chemical carriers” which naturally leaves us all feeling concerned about the safety of our cosmetic products.
We consulted the CTPA (Cosmetic Toiletry & Perfumery Association) to find out the truth. The CTPA is an independent association which provides the cosmetic industry and consumers with impartial advice on scientific, regulatory and legislative issues. If any ingredient is found to be unsafe, they have an obligation to make it known. In response to the articles about
‘chemicals in cosmetics’ they have three important points to make which no doubt weren’t included in any of the articles you may have read.
1. There is no such thing as a chemical-free product. The media suggest that it is dangerous to be exposed to chemicals. However, there is no such thing as a chemical free product. Everything is made up of chemicals, from cosmetics, to water, to the human body. Chemicals are the building blocks of all substances, both natural and man-made. To create a “chemical free” product of any kind therefore is simply not possible.
2. All cosmetics, toiletries and their ingredients, must be proven to be safe. You can feel confident that all cosmetic products you find on the shelves are safe for two reasons: First, stringent European laws require all cosmetic products to be safe and they cannot be sold if there are any concerns, secondly, each product must undergo a rigorous safety assessment by appropriately qualified professionals. The safety assessment takes account of all the ingredients used in the product, irrespective of their source. In fact, whether ingredients are natural or man-made has no bearing on how safe they are at all. What’s more important is how much of an ingredient you are using and in what way you are using it.
3. The number of ingredients present in a product has no bearing on its afety.
Cosmetic and personal care products are very complicated to make, which means they often have a long list of ingredients. Each ingredient within that list will have a specific role to play, from making the product work effectively, to making it smell and feel nice, to making it last for a satisfactory amount of
time. Furthermore, each of the individual ingredients have been rigorously tested. We hope with the CTPA’s independent advice, you can rest assured that the products you use are safe. This combined with our guarantee that real women have tested nurture products and agreed they are effective, you can be confident your skin is in good hands.
Source: www.thefactsabout.co.uk
(Cosmetic Toiletry & Perfumery
Association’s informative website).
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