Above: The giant multi-national cosmetics company, L'Oreal, is the latest to get on the 'botanicals' band wagon with a new range of haircare products.

With natural and organic skincare gaining popularity with concerned consumers, it’s not a surprise that mainstream health and beauty brands are getting in on the act.

In some cases, as we reported on our blog recently, this can lead to confusion, with well-known high street brands using words like ‘natural’ to describe products containing ingredients that would never be permitted in certified organic beauty products, like Botanicals.

Botanical Haircare

Some people have been confused by a new high street haircare range which claims to be ‘botanical’ because the manufacturers have removed silicones, parabens and colourants from their formulas and added a selection of natural ingredients.

Although it has a similar name, we can assure you that this range isn’t produced by us. If you’re concerned about buying natural haircare products, we suggest you look at the list of ingredients and make up your own mind.

Botanicals Natural Organic Skincare is exactly as it’s described. Our products will always feature our Botanicals logo – look for ‘Botanicals’ in bold, and ‘Natural Organic Skincare’ underneath it.

We don’t currently make a haircare range, but if we did, it would be like the rest of our product range, which is certified by the Soil Association - one of the recognised natural and organic certification bodies.

We’re proud to be certified organic and so we always display the Soil Association logo on our skincare products – we wouldn’t want there to be any confusion!

The organic difference

We’re extremely proud of the lovely skincare products we create, which is why when you buy a Botanicals product, we like to tell you about what goes into it. We list the high percentage of organic ingredients that we use on the front of each product.

If you investigate further, you’ll find a full list of all the high quality, natural ingredients that go into each product. We promise you that you will never find any controversial ingredients in any of our products. So we will never use colourants, silicones or parabens.

We also leave out other nasties like the ‘Terrible Ten’ ingredients as identified by a leading independent toxicologist as part of the Soil Association’s ‘Come Clean about Beauty’ campaign.

These ten skincare nasties have been implicated in causing allergies and hormone disruption, and have the potential to cause harm to unborn babies. We think they are better left out of products we put on our skin.

Always look for the logo - and do your research

How to make sure that your organic products really are organic.

• Look for products that are certified by key natural and organic certification bodies.
• Check the ingredients list carefully for synthetic or chemical ingredients and choose products which contain high percentage of organic ingredients instead.
• Do your research – has the company won any awards or been recognised for its commitment to the natural and/or organic skincare industry?
• Find out how a natural and organic product is made.  Usually they are produced with care, passion and dedication and in smaller batches, for greater quality products with better quality ingredients and enhanced benefits for skin. This sort of information is usually readily available online as true organic manufacturers are happy to tell you about what they do.

Don’t think about the price – it’s not true that organic skincare products are more expensive than ‘luxury brands. In many cases, organic products are a similar price or even cheaper, give you superior results, and are safer and kinder to your skin.

Botanicals’ Soil Association Organic Commitment:

• No parabens, sulphates or controversial ingredients used
• Only certified organic ingredients
• Or from sustainably produced, approved sources
• Safe ingredients, both from a human and environmental perspective
• Fully biodegradable ingredients that are also certified non-GM
• Reassurance there is minimum processing of ingredients
• Clear labelling for informed choices about what to buy
• Strict ethics based on personal & environmental health & wellbeing