One of the trends that we’ve covered fairly extensively on this blog is the trend towards all-natural products. However, nothing is ever totally black and white and it’s important that in the name of science, we look at new mentalities and issues holistically and with an eye for the true pros and cons. In the case of developing beauty products, this is always a matter of understanding which cosmetic raw materials are safest, most effective, and easily acquired so that your product can be both good and as cost-effective as possible for your company. Let’s take a deeper look at all natural beauty products.
Why Are We Obsessed with All-Natural Cosmetic Products?
All-natural cosmetic raw ingredients—and the products they go in, are some of the most important ingredients in the cosmetic and beauty world at the moment. Finding useful alternatives to the synthetic derivatives and chemicals of yesterday’s product lines is where the wisest beauty brands are choosing to foray.
Phoenix Chemical is no different in that we are also providing our loyal customers access to these types of products through our Green Chemistry line which anyone can purchase from to create the types of natural products that consumers are clamoring for in today’s market.
The question remains, however, why is the market so focused on all-natural at the moment, is it better?
The answer is yes, but there are some caveats.
Cosmetic science is an ever-evolving field, one that is complicated by the sheer amount of product diversity and care that is placed into offerings. One company may ethically produce and source safe products with high-quality ingredients, while some other more careless companies are simply looking out for their bottom line and will use whatever is cheapest and provides the desired results, and is legal.
However, just because an ingredient is legal to use in products doesn’t mean that it is known to be safe. Just look at ingredients such as formaldehyde which are all-but-confirmed to be carcinogenic and yet they are not formally banned from products—though many companies have sought to eliminate them from their own products.
Phoenix Chemical is one of those companies, we have eliminated formaldehyde from all of our products in our pursuit of quality ingredients, green chemistry, and clean beauty.
As science advances, more information becomes available to us and the consumer. Much like our post on how many dangerous substances were unknowingly used in the past, this tradition continues today on a more microscopic level to bar substances that are harmful in the long-term as the research proves them to be harmful.
The bottom line? The market trends towards natural ingredients because they are perceived to be safer as opposed to chemicals that require a great deal of research to know the true effects of. There is a general distrust of chemical products shared by consumers that are exposed to potentially unscientific information.
However, the idea that synthetic is bad and natural is safe is not entirely true.
Synthetic Doesn’t Mean Harmful
That is the key point we’d like to make in this post. As a company that provides cosmetic raw materials, we view matters through a lens of chemistry. Natural compounds are still a product of chemical bonds, and synthetic doesn’t mean unnatural. Technically, everything is a part of nature, and nature is sometimes the most dangerous of all.
Is lead natural or unnatural? Historically it was used in makeup prior to the modern age and it is far more dangerous than any chemical in modern products today.
Chemicals are viewed with distrust because there is this idea that they are manufactured and totally apart from nature. This idea isn’t limited to the beauty industry either, this same revolution is occurring in the food world, though it arguably makes more sense there. Chemicals are viewed as suspicious, toxic, disease-causing, etc.
The reality is that chemicals are derived from nature itself, and they are only deemed good or bad depending on how they affect our physiology.
Safety and Efficacy is What Really Matters
No one has all of the answers. We are continually working through the latest information to better ourselves as a company and as people. Green Chemistry encapsulates the ideas contained in this post. Chemistry and chemicals can be green too, and our catalog has a wealth of products that are 100% vegetable derived wherever possible, with only a few products containing 6% synthetic ingredients where absolutely necessary to maintain quality.
The bottom line is this: chemicals can be safe or they can be harmful. Natural ingredients can be safe or they can be harmful.
Considering all of this can be confusing both for brands looking for high-quality ingredients for their clean beauty products and the inevitable consumers who will receive those products.
That’s why partnering with a company that truly cares about the quality of cosmetic raw materials they use and whether they are safe and effective is key.
Phoenix Chemical is here to help. Contact us today to learn more about our products and all natural beauty products in general.
