Marketers will have you believe natural or organic is synonymous with healthy, but that’s not always the case. (As one clinical professor put it over at INSIDER, “Poison ivy’s organic and it’s not good for you.”) Even more innocous ingredients like tea tree oil and rosemary can irritate your skin, though.


The INSIDER points out that, although many health-conscious consumers prefer natural products, those products can be just as bad, if not worse, for people with sensitive skin. According to the Mayo Clinic, a lot of the top triggers for allergic reactions come from natural, plant-based ingredients: eucalyptus and rosemary, for example. They reported:

“People have to be really cognizant of the fact that just because [a product] is botanical, that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be an irritant or an allergen,” Mona Gohara, MD, associate clinical professor at the Yale University department of dermatology, told INSIDER...even if you don’t have allergies, some natural ingredients — like tea tree oil and citrus-derived ingredients — are common causes of skin irritation. They may not cause an allergic reaction, but they can still make some people itch and develop a rash.


Of course, this isn’t to say these products are bad, either. But it’s always useful to know how marketing affects our purchasing decisions. For more info, head to Insider’s full post at the link below.

Photo by zenspa .

Why natural beauty products can be secretly horrible for your skin | INSIDER