I have received some questions regarding labels and how to identify if a product is good for you. Labels tell of a product, regardless of what type of product it is. What is on that label tells much about a company, and what you're putting on your body.
It's very easy to identify synthetics in labels. My labels are easy to read. There are no synthetics and no names that are long and hard to read. Hard to read labels ALWAYS have synthetics. I'll break this down.
Natural labels will read like mine. Coconut, Olive, Safflower, Sunflower, Grapeseed, Lye, water, glycerol, Lavender essential and so forth. Names are easy to read, easy to understand, and simple. You don't need to look up the names to understand what an ingredient is.
Synthetic names are any names that are long, hard to read and must be looked up to see what it means. Sometimes, a name like coconut oil will have a long, hard to pronounce name. It's a synthetic right? Nope. Big companies like Colgate, Clorox, etc., have to use these names because of the FDA regulations on mass production facilities.
Smaller companies also use these long, hard to read names, to make their product look more professional and to hide what is really in their products...nasty stuff like parabens. It must be good for you though because its being marketed as a natural product, right? Wrong. Research is everything when buying products for your body. I eliminate the research for you because I don't offer anything that is bad for my customers. Everything that is on my label is what is in the product and my labels are easily understandable and don't hold any surprises.
When it comes to scent, aroma, there are two different types. Essentials oil and Fragrances. Essential oils of lemongrass, lavender, orange, lime, etc.. Is a natural scent. Fragrance, the very word is all synthetic. When I read labels, I skip it all and look for the word Fragrance. If I see it, the product is not real, not natural. Some people use Fragrance as Natural Fragrance to hook the buyer into believing the product has natural ingredients. Again, Fragrance is the key word to synthetic. There is no natural fragrance, there is just Essential Oil. So when you read a label and you see "Fragrance" the product is all synthetic. Essential oils wont anchor scent wise in a chemical base, only fragrance oil will because its a synthetic. Soap makers use synthetics to make money, its cheap ingredients which they use to up the price of their product. They don't care about a person's health, they care about money and making a name for themselves. You as the customer have money and that is why they care about you because you fund their crap products. Most people will vow up and down that a synthetic product works for them, only because they don't realize that in the long run they are actually harming themselves, while they support a company that cares absolutely nothing about them, except what is in their wallet.
A "natural fragrance" will have a small amount of essential oils. The mixture is a way to lure customers into buying crappy products. The essential oil percentage is far less than the fragrance oil percentages, but it's labeled as natural because of the very small amount of essential oils. My scent is 100% essential oils and when a customer asks to see a bottle, I show them. No secrets. My recipes are secrets, but the ingredients are not.
So, when you're shopping around in other soap stores, farmer markets, vendor sales, craft shows or online and you read a label with very long, complicated names to pronounce. and also see the word "fragrance", it's not real. It's not good for you. It's not natural. If a product doesn't have a label, DON'T BUY IT. The FDA requires a label, no label, that means anything can be in that product. Why spend your money on a product you know nothing about? It's wasteful and can be harmful to you. I care about my customers, that is why I offer 100% natural products and never use synthetics of any kind. It goes against my beliefs; it goes against my goal, and it goes against my ethics to help, not harm.
