Too many people are fooled into thinking that natural is inherently safe and, conversely, that synthetic chemicals are inherently not safe – evidenced by the extremely common prefacing of the word “chemical” by “toxic” or “nasty”. This is far too simplistic. What is needed in cosmetics is a safe, effective formulation, irrespective of the origin of the raw materials. After all, ultimately, everything comes from nature originally. If all cosmetics contained only “natural”, or “organic” ingredients, many many (hundreds of?)thousands of square miles would be required for cultivation of the crops needed – reducing the area available for food crops. Biodiesel requirements are already causing problems in some areas – this would be exacerbated if all cosmetics were totally organic.

As with most things in life, some balance is required, in the case between “natural” and “synthetic” ingredients – they need not be mutually exclusive.