Natural Herbal Cosmetics Guide

Natural herbal cosmetics have become extremely popular in the last few years. There are now dozens of firms manufacturing and selling 'natural' cosmetics and many thousands of enthusiasts are making their own cosmetics at home, either with ingredients they, have bough t or with ingredients they have picked in the wild.

To a certain extent I can sympathize with this enthusiasm. Natural herbal cosmetics are sometimes cheaper than the ones made by huge, international companies which have massive advertising and marketing bills to meet. And there is something rather attractive about being 'able to get back to nature and make your own cosmetics. But a couple of warnings are needed:

1 Do not imagine that just because a cosmetic is 'herbal' or 'natural' it cannot produce an allergy reaction. It can.

2 Do be on the watch for confidence tricksters. There are just as many tricksters selling 'herbal' products as there are selling chemical products. You shouldn't automatically believe everything you read simply because there are pretty pictures of flowers and plants on the accompanying brochure or label.

3 Remember that herbal products don't usually contain preservatives. This means that they can't be kept for long periods. They should be bought (or made) in small quantities and then either used or thrown away. If you keep such cosmetics for long periods of time there is a real risk of infection.