As the festive season draws to a close, I'm sure most of us will be left with a fuzzy feeling of warmth and gratitude for all the gifts we shared.

My daughter was given a lovely gift box (bought at a well know high street body care store), containing 'Coconut Body Butter' - with coconut oil . It looked very natural (packaged in a hessian covered box with coconut prints, and filled with wood wool). But is seems that this was far from the truth!

I couldn't help but take an interest, as my daughter slathered on the body butter, filling the room with the smell of coconut. "You'll approve of this Mum", she said.

Intrigued, I tried some on the back of my hand, and having a nose for natural smells, I suspected that this wasn't the smell of natural coconut. After washing my hands, the smell of coconut still lingered on my skin (despite having used a lemongrass hand soap)! This prompted me to look at the label.

On the underside of the tub in thirteen languages were the words: 'Coconut Body Butter, for Normal to Dry Skin. Keep in a cool place.' But where was the ingredients list? Ah ha!! It took me a while to realise that it was a 'peel back' label.

I peeled back the label to reveal the ingredients list. But guess what? No mention of coconut oil! (The official name for coconut oil is cocos nucifera.) But at least there were the reassuring words (in capital letters): 'AGAINST ANIMAL TESTING'.

Still curious, I decided to check out the ingredients on the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. As well as several which raise real health concerns, I was amazed to find a large number associated with Animal Testing and Animal Cruelty. ( I have listed all the ingredients here with a description of each ingredient taken from the Skin Deep database', highlighting the ingredients which, according to 'Skin Deep' have actually been tested on animals. I think you'll agree that it makes very interesting reading!)

So, back to the elusive coconut oil. Surely it would be against the law for a company to state 'with coconut oil', if the product doesn't contain any. And if there is no coconut oil, where does that highly pungent smell of coconut come from? Here's my explanation.

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (the second ingredient listed), although highly refined, is actually a derivative of coconut and glycerin. I can only assume that this is what has been termed as 'coconut oil.' (It is completely odourless.) The coconut smell (that doesn't wash off) is 100% synthetic. Not only that, my guess is that it's made with fragrance compounds - 'Coumarin' and 'Butylphenyl Propional' - that are on the EU Banned and Restricted Fragrances list as hormone disruptors.

The reason I felt compelled to write this blog post is two-fold.

Firstly, that I believe we should all be able to make informed choices. Most of us don't have a knowledge of chemistry to understand what is in the products we buying. But we don't expect the manufacturer to lie to us either.

Secondly, I believe that there is enough evidence about the toxic effects of synthetic fragrance, to make manufacturers question their place in personal care products. Why then are chemicals known to be hormone disruptors, being used in a leave on body butter targeted at young women? (If you're interested in reading more about the dangers of synthetic fragrance, see my earlier blog post.)

If you have similar concerns about what's in the products you are using, leave a comment below. I'm sure you'll find Skin Deep Cosmetics Database a really useful tool. If you can't find what you're looking for, let me know and I'll always try to help.