Homemade cleaning products can benefit greatly from using natural ingredients. From household staples like vinegar to more exotic options such as citrus peel or stinging nettle extract, many different ingredients make an impactful statement about our commitment to natural living and wellbeing.
Remember that “natural” doesn’t necessarily equal organic. Many naturally-derived chemicals may still be synthesized chemically in a laboratory setting.
Skin Care
Natural skin care products contain ingredients sourced directly from nature that won’t introduce harmful chemicals into your body. Harmful chemicals found in many store-bought face creams, serums and moisturizers may limit your body’s ability to heal itself while potentially irritating skin. Many of these absorbed into bloodstream and may impact immune, eye and respiratory systems as well.
Natural cosmetics are comprised of organic and biodynamic ingredients grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides or genetically modified organisms (GMO). Their ingredients may come from plants, minerals, animals or microbes in nature – unlike popular belief they adhere to all the same high safety and quality standards as conventional products; make sure you check labels and always patch test any new products prior to using on larger areas of skin. Be mindful when distinguishing between “natural” and “organic”, too – natural items may have undergone natural or chemical processes while “organic” must undergo physical transformation prior to being considered organic.
Hair Care
Many hair care products available on the market contain synthetic ingredients. Such ingredients have been linked with numerous risks and side effects such as scalp irritation, hair fall, dandruff issues and damage to ecosystems and the environment.
Natural ingredients tend to be gentler on both your scalp and hair than their synthetic alternatives, making them safer options than their synthetic alternatives. Furthermore, natural products tend to be more environmentally sustainable as well as biodegradable.
Natural ingredients, like jojoba oil, can help treat dry scalp issues like dandruff. The non-greasy oil helps balance production of oil on the scalp to keep it healthy and hydrated.
Personal Care
Natural products refer to those containing ingredients found in nature such as plants, minerals and microbes; any transformation has not reached such an extreme as to become synthetic.
Natural ingredients, like honey or crushed flowers, can be used in their unprocessed state. Alternatively, these ingredients can also be produced using green chemistry methods – for instance producing sorbic acid from rowan berries is one example of such production.
Consumers are demanding manufacturers be more transparent about the ingredients they use; but without an official legal definition for “natural,” it’s difficult to understand exactly what a ‘natural’ product offers on shelves. Therefore, it is crucial that when purchasing any such product that consumers take the time to read all labels to become informed consumers(10).
Food
Consumers may be mislead into thinking a food labeled “natural” is healthier when, in reality, this claim simply means the specific ingredient wasn’t synthetic. Salami for instance can still be labeled natural because the spices added as preservatives contain natural ingredients.
All materials and substances contain chemicals; synthetic versions can resemble those found in nature molecule for molecule. Citric acid, for instance, occurs naturally in lemons and limes to prevent spoilage.
Perceptions of naturalness of ingredients vary due to a number of factors, including familiarity and perceived dietary restrictions. Age and gender also play an important role; participants aged 55 or above were less likely than those under 55 to consider sorghum flour and black beans as natural.
