3 Natural Ingredients To Avoid In Skincare And Why
Not all natural oils are created equal. Some oils and ingredients are included as a cost-saving measure and branded as beneficial for the skin. Let’s look at the top 3 ingredients skincare and cosmetic companies use to support a “natural” label, but don’t really live up to the hype.
These ingredients are often highly oxidized, rancid, and cause major environmental
Overview
Most companies value profit over quality and choose to use cheap, widely available ingredients to label “natural” on their products.
These ingredients are essentially filler ingredients that have no true function in a skinacre formula.
1. Palm Oil - Used in 50% of skincare products globally. Mostly grown and produced in Indonesia and Malaysia, and is a major contributor to deforestation. Acts as a filler ingredient with low nutrient value compared to premium oils. Is high processed, refined, bleached, and deodorized, and can have a comedogenic effect on the skin.
2. Canola Oil - Highly refined oil that undergoes heavy processing, including heat and chemical extraction. Easily oxidized and may contain trace residue from industrial extraction. Major filler ingredient with minimal skincare benefits compared to premium ingredients like jojoba oil.
3. Sunflower Oil - A cheap and widely available ingredient that is easy to blend and commonly used as a filler ingredient. No real active benefits, mostly used for budget skincare because it is easy to label as “natural”, “gentle”, or “clean”. High-linoleic sunflower oil is prone to oxidation, and oxidized oils may contribute to premature skin aging.
Skincare is science, and a complex natural formula should actively work to benefit the skin. Opting to use cheap filler ingredients places an emphasis on profit and not skin health. Find out the premium ingredient choices we make to avoid these 3 ingredients in our skincare.
Why Skincare Companies Market These Ingredients In Their Formulas
Skincare companies that label themselves as “natural” or “clean” can get away with these claims by using cheap ingredients in their formulas. Technically, palm, canola, and sunflower oils are all natural, but not all natural ingredients are the same.
These are industry-standard skincare ingredients that “clean” brands love to use because they are extremely cheap. Even if they are certified organic, canola, palm, and sunflower oil cost between $1 and $1.50 per pound.
As a reference, the Black Pepper Essential Oil we use in our Best Seller Hair Mask costs over $350 per pound, and that’s just one ingredient. Premium skincare ingredients are 30, 50, and sometimes 150+ times more expensive. Companies buy hundreds of pounds of these cheap oils to use in their formulas.
Each ingredient in a skincare formula needs to have a true function that benefits the skin. Unfortunately, ingredients like castor oil, palm oil, and sunflower oil have no real complex function, which is one of the reasons they are so inexpensive.
These are just filler ingredients companies use to “fill up” 80 to 90% of their formula to save money and cut costs. At Lucin Organics, we always put the health of your skin before profit. We will always choose premium and result-oriented ingredients instead of cheap and rancid filler oils.
Why You Should Avoid Palm Oil In Skincare
Palm oil is among the worst in the list of ingredients that people should avoid in skincare products. About 50% of all packaged products use palm oil because of how cheap it is. Palm oil is often used to affordably “bulk up” formulas.
Unfortunately, the growing and harvesting of palm oil causes major environmental damage. Palm trees for palm oil are mostly grown in Indonesia and Malaysia. These countries use an illegal “slash and burn” technique, which essentially means they burn existing forests to make room for growing palm trees.
These fires are so big that they are often visible from space. So not only are millions of trees lost in the process, but the smoke is also terrible for the environment and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
Palm oil also lacks the rich antioxidants found in ingredients like rosehip oil, green coffee oil, and elderberry extract, all of which are found in our luxurious Anti-Aging Line.
Why You Should Avoid Sunflower Oil In Skincare
Sunflower oil is an extremely common marketing ingredient in the skincare industry, allowing companies to use labels like “natural”, “gentle”, or “clean”. However, sunflower oil is often high-linoleic sunflower oil, which is especially prone to oxidation, meaning it can degrade quickly.
Oxidized oils may contribute to skin stress and early signs of skin aging. Not to mention, there are no real active benefits. Sunflower oil lacks potent anti-aging compounds.
This is another cheap and widely available filler oil with limited benefits, mostly used to reduce the cost of production for skincare companies.
Why You Should Avoid Canola Oil
Canola oil is among the most industrially processed ingredients used in skincare and cosmetics. This ingredient goes through heavy processing, including heat and chemical extraction. The industrial extraction processes can involve solvents that may result in trace residue.
Canola oil is also extremely prone to oxidation and goes rancid easily, which can contribute to skin irritation and free radical damage. The result is an oil that lacks any significant levels of skin-healthy compounds, especially compared to premium ingredients like jojoba oil and olive squalane.