Natural or synthetic – which is better?
What do we really mean when we say that something is "natural" or "synthetic"? Is one better than the other? How do you know what is safe to use, both for you and for the environment? Are natural ingredients in moisturisers always good?
What comes from nature, grown in a field or harvested in the forest, is healthy, harmless and natural. What is made in a lab, which is artificial and synthetic, is scary and even harmful... That's the way many of us think without really having any facts to base it on. Here we will try to sort out the concepts.
Blurring the boundaries between natural and synthetic
But it's not that simple. In nature, there are many things that are dangerous, poisonous, or that we should avoid. Pure toxins are found in heavy metals but also in plants and berries – to name a few places. In addition, there are a lot of things in nature that people can be allergic to: birch pollen, strawberries, lilacs and shrimps, for example. Some substances from nature are thus "good" and some are "bad".
Synthetic materials are made from chemicals in a factory. The raw materials may well come from nature. Fossil oil, for example, is a natural raw material that is converted into plastic or other synthetic materials with the help of chemical processes. Everything we do, even in laboratories, originates from nature. And some substances produced in factories and laboratories are thus "good" while others are "bad".
The most important thing is the characteristics
In other words, there is no clear winner between natural and synthetic. What is important is what properties the natural or synthetic ingredient has. Is it poisonous? Can it cause cancer or allergies? Is it quickly biodegradable? Can it harm animals and organisms that live in water?
The Nordic Swan Ecolabel places the same strict requirements on all types of ingredients, whether they are natural or synthetic. What we care about is how they can affect your health and our environment. Whether grown on a farm or in a laboratory.
Natural beauty?
The beauty industry tries to lure us with descriptions such as "only natural ingredients" in the hope that we will believe that this means that the product is safe to use. But it doesn't have to be true at all. Examples of natural substances that can be allergenic are perfumes and fragrances. An extract from hyacinth or rose can cause both itching and other discomforts. In fact, a lot of natural fragrances are on lists of substances classified as allergenic or irritants.
So when it comes to skin, hair, and beauty products, it's good to look for the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and the EU Ecolabel. We care about the properties of ingredients, how they affect the environment and how they affect you. Some we ban, while others have to meet tough limit values. Some chemicals may be needed in small amounts for the product to work and give the promised effect. Then we make sure that the amounts we allow are as small as possible so that they burden you and the environment as little as possible.