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Why Organic?

Q1) How do you determine what is organic?

As an end user/customer the best and only true way of verifying that a product is "organic" is to search for the certification logo or registration on the product. Such Organic Certification should be from an accredited third party or Government certifying Body that is associated to IFOAM, the international body. If this is missing then it is likely that the supplier is simply paying lip-service and simply using the words "organic" for marketing reasons. In the skincare industry it is known that certain products may only contain as little as 3% of the weight, usually being a few Essential Oils blends as being from a "certified organic ' source.  It is therefore very wrong to use the word organic if this is the case.

Q2) How different/similar is organic skincare to organic food?

The answer is "similar but different".  In a nutshell, food products are often a single ingredient or product such as an organic apple or egg and therefore the certification really relates primarily to the growing conditions to ensure pesticides etc are not used. With Organic Skincare there are often a wide range of ingredients used.  We source up to 70 different ingredients in total and some products have up to 20 ingredients alone.  The manufacturing process is also religiously monitored to ensure compliance, and are audited annually by a third party auditor.  In our case we use the 'Organic Food Chain' as our certifying body in Australia and we also meet the same standards that they set their primary producers.

Q3). Is there any medical/scientific proof that organic products work?

It is probably easier to answer this by stating that there is vast medical proof of the harmful effects on the human body of the ingestion of synthetic ingredients, pesticides and herbicides.  At the end of the day the human body was not designed, nor is far enough evolved to cope with the barrage or such chemicals into our bodies and the alarming and increasing incidences of certain diseases is surely proof that today's diet often leaves much to be desired.  There is absolutely no doubt that organically grown vegetables taste much better and if you compare a free range organic egg with that from a 'battery hen' then the proof is surely there for all to see.

Q4) How come dermatologists do not use them?

I am not sure that this is a true statement.  There are many naturopaths, doctors and dermatologists who are intimately involved in the natural and organic movement and would not consider recommending anything else.

Q5). Organic products are natural, but natural products need not necessarily be organic. If the difference to my skin is minimal, then why should I buy organic?

I guess one could argue the same about a fake Gucci Handbag and the real thing from Italy.  Maybe they look the same today but in a few years let me guess whether the original leather bag or the synthetic plastic bag looks good.  As per the food example again, the potency of the Organic Essential Oils is certainly better and the fact that you have a certification in place eliminates the risks of any such contaminants that might be in the so called "natural" products.

Q6) As a consumer, what things should I look out for when i am considering buying organic products?

As stated above, the most obvious issue to ensure is that the product is actually "certified organic" as opposed to some natural or synthetic product that may be just using the word for marketing reasons.

Q7) Besides the way the ingredients are harvested, what else am I paying for?

Peace of mind, a healthier mind, body and soul, plus a knowledge that you are supporting the environment.  The old saying, "you are what you eat" is important and therefore considering that such a large percentage of the applied skincare or cosmetic is actually ingested through the skin or swallowed (as per lipstick) then it is important to know the risks you are taking applying synthetic ingredients to the body's largest living organ - the skin !!!.

Q8) I heard from someone that there is NO such thing as an organic beauty product because they contained distilled/treated water, which has all the natural bacteria removed making it synthetic. Do you agree with this?

Well that is a very interesting statement.  Firstly, only 7 of our 23 current products contain water so that makes a nonsence of this persons arguments to start with.  Secondly one could counter this statement by asking what is to be gained by leaving "bacteria" in water other than the health risk this poses via a contaminated product ???

In the case of Jasmin Skincare we use 'hydrosols' such as Rosewater which are a by-product of the steam distillation process during essential oil extraction and therefore any harmful bacteria is removed at the 100 deg C temperatures used in this process.  As far as our primary water source is concerned however, we draw our own water from underground artesian wells some 300 metres down on our own farm at the top of Mount Tamborine.  This is probably the cleanest water in Australia and indeed the neighbouring properties supply this as drinking water for the largest springwater bottling plants and most certainly the most famous and best selling brand. 

From hereon we our 'all natural' water through the following processes:-

At the Well

Primary Fine Sand Filtration
Primary Zeolite Filtration
Magnetic alignment
Aeration agitation
Primary Paper Cartridge Filter

At the Factory (200m away)

Silica Filtration
Carbon Filtration
Secondary Paper Filtration
Reverse Osmosis
Resin Bed Extraction
Gauze
Heating to 80 Deg C

There is little chance that any bacteria would survive all of these twelve stages.  Most importantly however you will note that we do not use 'town water' that has Chlorine and often other "nasties" added to kill bacteria.  I therefore believe we can claim to be truly organic as we certainly do not add any such harmful ingredients in our water purification stages.

This information is provided by Jasmin Skincare for educational purposes only and Harmonic Health do not take any responsibility for the veracity of the information supplied.

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