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| by Adria Lake as published in Ageless magazine edition Sept/Oct | |||||||||
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Adria has built her spa concept and product company on the unusual concept of “custom formulation”. To date, she has amassed over 3,000 original formulations and is constantly researching new and effective ingredients. Adria works with highly reputable labs, both in the US and Singapore, on her research and formulations. She is a life-long proponent of pure and organic ingredients. But, above all else, she advocates the formulation of high performance and intelligent products. This is why she keeps an open mind, immerses herself in the latest scientific research and findings, and uses common sense to sort through the various industry claims and clamors. Send your comments and/or questions to adria@awlakeonline.com |
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What is it about the idea of “organic” that we find so alluring?
We equate organic with quality, safety and sustainability. We believe that organic products are superior to their non-organic counterparts. We are convinced that synthetic chemicals are toxic for both our health and the environment. So, buying organic seems a smart and sensible choice.
But is it? Especially in the case of organic skin care. As a formulator and proponent of organic ingredients, I experience first-hand the challenges in formulating organic skin care and understand their limitations only too well. We produce small batches of freshly prepared organic spa and skin care products in quantities that would be laughable by commercial standards. Even then, it is always a race against time, as organic ingredients begin to degrade from the moment of production.
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Far from being the ‘gold standard’, organic products have many shortcomings and limitations. By demystifying the term, we may finally focus on the one issue that really matters: product safety and efficacy.
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Unlike fresh organic produce, which require very little processing, organic ingredients used in skin care must go through physical, biological, and chemical processes before they are ready to use as cosmetic ingredients. Most plant extraction methods also require synthetic or petro-chemicals. And at least 50% of the ingredients used in cosmetics are derived from petroleum.
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“(Organic Certification programs such as) the NOP is a marketing program, not a safety program” according to USDA’s spokesperson Joan Shaffer. She further explains that the NOP organic seal works just like the USDA grading system for beef. “Steak may be graded prime, but that has no bearing on whether it is safe or nutritious to eat”. The Soil Association also admits that one of its key market restraints is the lack of conclusive evidence to support the benefits of natural personal care products.
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The idea of organic skin care that can be produced cheaply in mass quantities is a fantastic marketing invention that has no base in reality. By its very nature, organic products degrade within a relatively short amount of time. And, large quantities of pure, high quality organic ingredients are economically and ecologically costly to produce. In the case of skin care, our insistence on organic ingredients has resulted in countless number of ineffective products that pay lip-service to the concept of organic formulation. Our misguided demand may also be detrimental to the environment as it fuels an explosion of land cultivation for non-food crops which will go to waste in the hands of unscrupulous cosmetic giants. |
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Interested in our products and services? Contact us at info@awlakeonline.com or write to Cathy at cathy@awlakeonline.com We look forward to be of service.
copyright A.W.LAKE® 2010 |
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