Natural Skin Care Lines – Are They FDA Approved

There is a dizzying array of natural skin care lines in the market today. While many people are interested in avoiding synthetic chemicals, artificial preservatives and similar ingredients that are bad for the skin, they don't realize that the term "natural" on a label does not really mean anything.

While in the US, petitions by the FDA to have terms like "natural" legally defined have been denied by the court, the European Union has developed standards that manufacturers must follow concerning purity and the use hazardous ingredients.

Naturally occurring ingredients could still cause allergic or other adverse reactions. Therefore when evaluating natural skin care lines, you need to learn everything you can about the ingredients used in the product. Essential oils that are used in these products are not actually oils, at all.

Moreover, they are called essential not because they are necessary, but because they contain the "essence" of the plant. Essential fatty acids on the other hand are very similar to the skin's own oils. They are oils found in things like avocado oil, grape seed oil, Shea butter and passion fruit. Natural skin care lines that include these ingredients provide moisture without causing greasiness and are readily absorbed by the skin.

Avocado oil helps fade age spots and increases the skin's collagen content. Shea butter improves the skin's firmness, smoothing out wrinkles and fading stretch marks. Grape seed oil is rapidly absorbed by the skin which forms an invisible layer that helps to lock that moisture in. Some of the other beneficial ingredients include kelp extracts, vitamin E and coenzyme Q10.

Just like the cells of the rest of the body, the cells in the skin too need nutrients. If we can carefully evaluate the natural skin care lines that are currently available in the market and choose ones that provides nutrients important to our skin's health, then we will start to see a dramatic difference in our appearance quite quickly.