Natural, Naturally Derived and Organic:What is the difference?
If you are confused by all of the claims that a product is natural, naturally derived or organic, you will want to read on. We will be looking at some of the differences between certified organic, natural and naturally derived products. After reading this article, you should have a better understanding as to what level of purity you require.
Natural or Organic
First let me say that unless a product is USDA Certified Organic, (Or certified through some other independent body, i.e. Australian products are Australian Certified Organic and subject to most of the same standards as we have in America) chances are that it is loaded with harmful chemicals. People who wish to remain as toxic free as possible should be very careful about trusting claims that a product is natural or organic when it lacks a certification of some sort. As a general rule, if you wouldn’t eat it you shouldn’t put it on your body! Are you confident enough in your natural hair products to eat them? I didn’t think so!
That being said, to say that a product is natural implies that it is created without any type of chemical reaction. It should be safe and free from toxic chemicals of any type.
What about naturally derived?
A claim that you are seeing more and more is to say that a product is naturally derived. How often to you see natural hair care products that boldly state “Naturally derived!” as if that is some indication as to the safety and purity of the product. Manufactures are trying to trick you into believing that a product is good for you. The truth is the “derived” part means that some sort of chemical process happened to create the product. Unfortunately, impurities brought on by the processing aids in cosmetics have been linked to numerous health issues. Among them are birth defects, infertility, asthma and learning disabilities. I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sound too healthy to me! The reality is that naturally derived products are no healthier than conventional products. If you are serious about organics and your health, you should look to certified organic products.
