Just like eating organic food, using non-toxic toiletries and cosmetics is a way to ensure that your body has the best chance of staying healthy. The skin is a living, breathing organ, and up to 60 per cent of the lotions and potions we put on to it get absorbed into the bloodstream. You can test this by rubbing a clove of garlic on your ankle - shortly after you'll taste the garlic on your tongue. This is why ayurveda practitioners advocate that you shouldn't put on your skin what you wouldn't put in your mouth.
Sadly, you wouldn't want to eat many of the products available on shop shelves, in your hotel bathroom or even at spas, because they usually contain a plethora of chemicals, which makes "natural", "botanical", "plant-based" and "spa" labels a tad misleading. The term "organic" doesn't always ensure that harmful chemicals haven't been used in the product either - it just refers to the method by which an ingredient has been farmed.
There is a distinct lack of safety data for the synthetic preservatives, detergents, colours, fragrances and petroleum-derived ingredients that are used in toiletries, cosmetics and spa products, and not enough research has been done to reach a definitive conclusion on their effects. Studies have shown, however, that products that use these chemicals can be allergenic, dehydrating and irritating to the skin, and that they clog the pores, preventing the skin from breathing properly - vital because it's through the skin that we sweat out a large portion of the body's toxins and waste. More seriously, synthetic chemicals can also have an adverse effect on cell renewal and genetic make-up.
The best way to ensure you're using good products is to read their labels. The word "parfum" alone can hide up to 100 allergenic chemicals. Phthalates, chemicals used to make vinyl flexible, give lotions the right consistency, while parabens are synthetic chemical preservatives. Lauryl sulphates and laureth sulphates are potentially harmful, especially sodium lauryl sulphate, a detergent used to create foam in shampoos and shower gels that is also used to de-grease car engines. DEA, MEA or TEA, formaldehyde, lanolin, methylisothiazolinone (MIT) and mineral oils are also on the list of ingredients to avoid - and it goes on.
At most spas, therapists will tell you that the products they are using are "natural" when they actually contain potentially harmful chemicals, usually because the spa workers haven't been trained in what goes into them. The ideal beauty treatment would use organic, raw ingredients freshly prepared on the day, though this isn't realistic for most places, and health and safety laws in many countries prevent establishments from experimenting with their own products. If you're having a massage at a spa and you're not sure what products they're using, ask if they can use a simple base oil such as almond or grapeseed oil.
Seek out products with a sell-by date and that are made by companies who genuinely care about what ingredients they use. This varies across the world, but those leading the way include Ren skincare products, which are stylish, easy to use and contain no nasties, including petrochemicals, sulphates and parabens; Voya, which uses 100 per cent certified organic hand-harvested seaweed from the Atlantic coast of Ireland; Spiezia, a luscious range of 100 per cent certified organic products created by Dr Mariano Spiezia, who has since developed another range of organic lovelies called Inlight; and Pevonia Botanica, which gives out charts about the potentially harmful ingredients it avoids.
My favourite, however, is Ila, the creation of Denise Leicester, a registered nurse aromatherapist and yoga teacher who has studied both eastern and South American traditions of healing. Ila produces delicious products in clean white containers and colourful packaging that use genuinely natural ingredients. Most are organic, and where they are not it is because Ila believes they have found an alternative of even greater purity, such as rose oil from a single source in the foothills of the Himalayas, or argan oil from the lower Atlas Mountains of Morocco.
Caroline Sylger Jones is the author of Body & Soul escapes and Body & Soul escapes: Britain and Ireland, compendiums of places to retreat and replenish around the world. See www.carolinesylgerjones.co.uk.
