Even though I am an advocate of using plant derived cosmetic ingredients myself, I wish things were that simple, writes Barbara Olioso of The Green Chemist Consultancy.
Formulating with naturals requires a lot of background knowledge, frequently updated information and constant investigation; it is an endless learning curve.
Before I dive into the topic, I need to define what I mean by naturals and skin mildness.
Naturals, what are they? Free from chemicals?
A century ago, this would have been a question with a simple answer: materials made by Mother Nature, either plant/animal or mineral, that could have possibly undergone some physical refining process.
Today this simple definition would not suffice. Thanks to the widespread use of chemistry, materials undergo all sorts of chemical processes. They get broken down into ‘bits’ and rearranged to create different molecular shapes. Sometimes the
