How stringent are the laws governing the manufacture of natural cosmetic products?
There are certain specifications that have to be adhered to for good manufacturing purposes. Every product is approved by the Ayurvedic Drug Control. This takes about four months. If they don’t have the necessary paraphernalia here, they send it to Delhi. A patch test mention is now mandatory for chemical-based products; it should be mentioned on the product. How does chemical base come into picture in Ayurvedic products? Powders can be 100 per cent natural. But every cream or moisturiser has to have a wax/oil base. Now, although the wax used is usually beeswax, you cannot use crude beeswax in its natural state because it is yellow and it stinks. Therefore, it is chemically bleached white, which means that your cream is no longer `purely’ natural. Yes, I admit that my creams too use this form of beeswax; however, my moisturiser uses aroma oil as a preservative. Take shampoos, for example. The very fact that they foam means they have some detergent in them. Now, Sapolin is a natural det
