Organic and natural soaps are getting to be more and more common nowadays. Though not exactly a dime a dozen, unfortunately. But what do sellers mean exactly when they say their product is ‘organic’ or ‘natural’?

Lye (a.k.a. caustic soda or Sodium Hydroxide) is a necessary ingredient in soap-making. It would be rare, if not impossible, to find soap made nowadays without lye. Thus, at best, soap may only be ‘mostly organic’ or ‘mostly natural’ soap. But that doesn’t sound catchy does it?

Did you know that papaya does not really whiten your skin? Papaya enzymes exfoliate the skin (i.e, remove dead skin cells). Using loofah or pumice stone produce the same result. But saying papaya removes dead skin is apparently not as enticing as saying it is a skin whitener.

It is really up to the consumer to know better or at least step up their inquisitive (or investigative) powers to find out the truth in sellers’ advertising claims.

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Although, at very small quantities, they may be safe, remember that the following common commercial cleaning ingredients have been reported as toxicants or irritants and may therefore cause serious damage (if not cancer) due to prolonged or excessive use:

  • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) - irritant
  • Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) – toxicant/carcinogenic
  • Cocamide DEA or Cocamide Diethanolamine (CDEA) – toxicant/carcinogenic
  • DMDM Hydantoin - irritant
  • Sodium Sulfite - toxicant/carcinogenic
  • Carboxymethylcellulose (cellulose gum) - toxicant/carcinogenic
  • Sodium Carbonate – toxicant and irritant

Check the ingredients of your bathroom products. You may be surprised at what you’ve been consuming on a daily basis. Perhaps you’ll find that having a ‘mostly organic’ or ‘mostly natural’ soap is the best you can have even if the makers do lye.

Read in full on The Legally Inclined Blog.