Is It Real Coconut?
Herbs, minerals, fats, oils, wax – these are all ingredients used in beauty products. The label says, ’24-hour organic moisturiser’ – it sounds fine. A quick check of the ingredients shows ‘coconut’, followed by ‘DEA (diethanolamine)’. You love coconut, so that’s great – right?
Wrong. 89% of the 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products have not been evaluated for safety. I’m sorry to say that this ‘coconut’ has nothing to do with the original, natural coconut. It has been synthetically processed.
Look out for the names DEA (diethanolamine), MEA (monoethanolamine), and TEA (triethanolamine).
According to the Cosmetics database, these substances are often used in cosmetics to adjust the pH. TEA causes allergic reactions including eye problems, dry hair and skin, and could be toxic if absorbed over a long period.
These chemicals are already restricted in Europe because of known carcinogenic effects. Dr Samuel Epstein (Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Illinois) says that repeated skin applications of DEA-based detergents resulted in a major increase in the incidence of liver and kidney cancer.
What to look for
It’s all about how the ingredients are processed, and where they have come from.
Look for:
* Organic, raw coconut oil
* Coco glucoside – a non-ionic surfactant (foaming agent), synthesised from coconut and glucose
* Certified organic cocos nucifera (coconut) fruit oil
* Certified organic logos, to ensure you have non-chemically processed products.
