WHY COSMETICS CAN'T BE ORGANIC?

Dr. Riccardo Matera, Research and Department

If a cosmetic product is labeled BIO, is it 100% organic?

Or again, if you read different percentages on the label you wonder why it's not 100% ORGANIC?

Let's clarify things a little: get a 100% organic cosmetic product is almost impossible , if we exclude simple products, such as oils And butters.

The reason is to be found in the very origin of the ingredients. Consider, for example the water which it is the main ingredient of many formulations. The water and obviously the natural ingredient par excellence, but it is not of agricultural origin, so it cannot be certified as organic and consequently does not enter into the calculation of organic percentage of the finished cosmetic product.

Even other ingredients, although natural, are not cultivated, but obtained for mechanical extraction from rock (e.g. talc, clay) or from spontaneous collection (e.g. silt, algae) which has not been certified by any body, therefore they too they cannot be certified organic.

Same emulsifiers, surfactants, humectants (technical ingredients used to make emulsions or to make them stable) can be of natural derivation, eco-friendly And biodegradable, but cannot be organic. In fact, to carry out their function, they have been transformed by man and they cannot be obtained directly from a plant (grown organically) but only through physical processes.

Most organic cosmetics on the market NOT they report the percentage of organic, but only the logo BIO, however this it does not mean that such products are 100% organic, even if the consumer is automatically led to believe so.

All the products of Terra biocare line report on the label quantity of organic ingredients, expressed as percentage of the total formula . The possibility of checking on the label the real percentage of organic is an added value, an act of absolute transparency towards the consumer, as it allows the buyer to understand with certainty the composition of the cosmetic.

So be careful! It should not be thought that where the percentage of ORGANIC is indicated this is lower than a cosmetic that does not report it. Usually, exactly the opposite is true! Indeed, all products from the Terra biocare line contain at least 95% organic ingredients compared to the total products of agricultural origin present in the formula, i.e. compared to the maximum possible organic content.