Organic beauty

Once consigned to the shelves of health food stores, organic ingredients have become the must-have beauty treatments of the moment. By Nikki Goldstein.

It’s a fact of life that celebrities attract column inches in magazines and newspapers. So when an über-celebrity such as Stella McCartney launches her own organic skincare line, it gets the global media’s attention. The Care by Stella McCartney range is said to be the world’s first real luxury organic skincare line. It’s backed by the might of Yves Saint Laurent, a major player on the international skincare stage. What’s important about the range is not that it’s stamped with the McCartney moniker, (fashion brands are expected to produce their own skincare and cosmetics these days) but that it’s organic. And instead of touting its wrinkle-fighting powers, Care is promoting biodynamic farming methods, gentle, natural, non-synthetic ingredients and a green lifestyle – revolutionary ideas for the prestige end of the skincare market.

“There’s nothing new about organic beauty products,” says Anthia Koullouros, a herbalist and naturopath who spends much of her time educating people and institutions about the benefits of organic ingredients. “Brands such as Jurlique and Aveda have been promoting organic ingredients for more than a decade. What’s new is that the mainstream is now taking organic beauty products seriously and views them as credible alternatives to the high-tech creams we’ve traditionally used,” she explains.

The term ‘organic’, as we know it today, refers to crops and animals that have been farmed without the use of synthetic chemicals, artificial fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides, growth regulators, antibiotics, hormone stimulants or intensive livestock systems. Once upon a time, all farming was organic and chemical-free, but by the end of World War II the use of synthetic fertilisers, antibiotics and other chemicals became widespread in developed countries. 

There’s no question that intensive farming methods have benefited the world; they’ve enabled our generation to consume a wide and varied diet. But, over the past few years there have been rumblings of change as farmers and consumers have begun to clamour for products free of synthetic chemicals.

According to Organic Monitor, an information service that reports on the global organic market, the total market is advancing overall at a rate of around 25 per cent annually. Global sales of organic food and drink were reported as approaching US$40 billion in 2006. And in terms of beauty care, European sales of organic cosmetics are growing by about 20 per cent annually and sales have now exceeded one billion euros.

Akiko Nicholls, certification manager for Australian Certified Organic, a branch of Biological Farmers of Australia, believes the organic movement has finally come of age. “Only a generation ago organic was just for hippies. Then in the early part of this decade people thought organic products were too expensive and out of reach for most consumers. Now that organic products have turned up on supermarket shelves, we know they are for everyone who cares about their health and the environment,” she says.

Anthia Koullouros agrees: “One of the reasons organic products are gaining popularity is that there’s mounting evidence organic crops are higher in essential nutrients. There’s also evidence indicating pesticides and the use of hormones are having adverse effects on human health.” A recent study by Belgian toxicologist, Dr Charles Charlier, reported in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found women diagnosed with breast cancer were six to nine times more likely to have the pesticides DDT or hexachlorobenzene in their bloodstreams compared to women who did not have breast cancer. Even the traditionally conservative British Medical Association recently stated: “Until we have a more complete understanding of pesticide toxicity, the benefit of the doubt should be awarded to protecting the environment, the worker and the consumer – this precautionary approach is necessary because the data on risk to human health from exposure to pesticides is incomplete.”

While organic foods have been showing up on our tables for some time, organic ingredients have also been popping up on the labels of beauty products over the past few years. Sharon McGlinchey, a beauty therapist with more than 20 years’ experience, created her own organic skincare range because she was treating women with allergies and skin sensitivities, particularly those who had undergone chemotherapy and found themselves unable to tolerate many traditional skincare products. “The skin is the largest organ of the body – it seems logical to reduce the toxic load on our systems by reducing the amount of synthetic substances we take in via the skin,” she says.

Even without the benefit of science, most of us probably feel intuitively that products free of potentially harmful chemicals are better for us. But if we’re going to opt for organic beauty products, we need to know how effective they are as well as finding out whether they’re as pure as they say they are.

Sharon points out current labelling laws permit manufacturers to make a claim that their product is organic with only one natural or organic ingredient. “The danger is that the word ‘organic’ is being used far too liberally,” she says. She maintains a product that contains any less than 40 per cent organic ingredients is not seriously organic. Sharon’s own MV Skincare is between 85 per cent and 95 per cent and is now undergoing the lengthy certification process with Australian Certified Organic. “Getting proper certification for cosmetics is very arduous in Australia.

The only certification process is the general food standard, which may not technically cover all the requirements for skincare,” she says. 

Today, companies such as Aveda and Jurlique have sophisticated green policies setting high standards for the cosmetics industry. Aveda has converted 75 per cent of its raw materials for essential oils to certified organic. It is phasing parabens (chemicals that mimic hormones in the body and affect the DNA of the cells) out of all its products and has established what the company calls its ‘Soil to Bottle’ traceability system, which allows Aveda to document the source of all its ingredients.

Likewise, Jurlique produces all its products in line with the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia and can legitimately claim its ingredients are farmed in bio-dynamic soil, free from chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and insecticides.

But is organic skincare as effective as synthetic or merely natural skincare? According to Anthia Koullouros the answer is both yes and no. “Like any cosmetic a product may be deemed effective based on both its ingredients and its formulation. While it’s true that organic ingredients may do less harm to the environment and the body, a product’s effectiveness goes far beyond the collection of its ingredients,” she says. What Anthia stresses however, is that as the organic cosmetic market grows, more and more brands will enter the fray that are backed by the same research and development as any high-tech synthetic brand. “With the launch of brands like Care on to the market it lifts the game of the organic cosmetics industry as whole,” she says. What we can all look forward to then, is an organic beauty industry that will one day rival the power of the synthetic cosmetic market. That’s got to be good news for us as consumers and the environment, too.

Organic education

Anthia Koullouros answered these questions about organic products.

What is an organic product?

A product grown and processed without pesticides, fertilisers, fungicides, herbicides, colours, flavours, preservatives, synthetic growth hormones, vaccines, antibiotics and genetically modified organisms.

What is certified organic?

It’s a process that involves an annual audit by a certifying body to ensure the product is free of synthetic substances. For example, Biological Farmers of Australia certified organic means more than 95 per cent and ideally 100 per cent of the product (excluding salt and water) must come from agricultural origin to be certified organic at all.

What is biodynamic?

Biodynamic farming is a method of producing crops and animals that cares for the environment without the use of synthetic chemicals. Farmers deter pests by planting diverse crops, rotation planting with the seasons, and conserving natural ecosystems. Its focus is on soil health, which leads to healthy plants and animals.

Why choose organic?

Choosing organic acknowledges the interactions between people, animals, environment, food and the products we use. In many cases organic products are healthier, more nutritious and less allergenic. Evidence is emerging that higher concentrations of antioxidant-rich compounds occur in organic crops, as the plants produce their own immunity if no pesticides are used. When we consume such plants, we take in these cell-protecting constituents.

 

 

Photogrpahy: Corrie Bond. Styling: Magda Ching. Hair & make-up: Chris Coonrod.