How herbal are your herbal cosmetics.....?

While the desire to look beautiful is quite strong in women, the desire to look "handsome" is no less in men. To fulfill this wish, both men and women make every possible effort to look at least attractive, if not beautiful! For this, everyone resorts to countless beauty products used from head to toe. The cosmetic industry is flourishing today due to this increasing trend and consumption of beauty products in the general public.

The advertising world has also contributed significantly to increasing the consumption of cosmetics and nurturing the beauty industry. When some cosmetic advertisements, as a result of showing something new and different, claimed that their beauty products were close to nature or made from precious herbs carefully selected from nature, it was as if a flood of herbal cosmetics had come into the beauty world. This herbal boom is so dominant in the markets of materialism and capitalism today that adding the word "herbal" to beauty products, as well as food and everyday items, becomes the product's USP. And the general public is such that without knowing or understanding anything, they are drawn into this magical maze of natural or herbal products. There is no doubt that herbal cosmetics are certainly safer and more effective than chemical cosmetics. But how herbal are the herbal products that are sold as herbal? How many herbs are in them? What is the standard of their excellence? Or are there even any herbal products in them? These are some questions on which there is no less controversy. However, in the hustle and bustle of life, everyone is so busy that they do not have the time to know and understand all this. Yes, if the advertisement states that the secret to a beautiful face, black thick hair, or soft lips and skin lies in the natural ingredients like aloe vera, honey, saffron, rose water, neem, gram flour, sandalwood, and cloves contained in a certain herbal cream, shampoo, or lipstick, then for the general public, this USP of the product is enough. There is neither concern, nor time, nor understanding, nor awareness to know and understand!

The question arises, is just looking beautiful the weakness of the general public? And for that, are they ready to spend any amount of money without worrying about anything? Because it is well-known that the price of herbal products is not just double but even four times that of normal products. Even if we don't care about the price, isn't it necessary for a common person to know whether the herbal product or cosmetic we have bought will also be beneficial as claimed?

Therefore, it becomes essential for the general public to try to know all aspects of such claims and authenticities made by herbal cosmetics.

Let's start with the various herbal creams, moisturizers, and lotions made for the skin that claim that the herbs contained in them improve the skin's complexion, make it fair, and reduce wrinkles. Before using such so-called creams, one should know that the color of the face, whether fair or dark, is due to a pigment called 'melanin' in the skin. The more melanin in the skin, the darker the complexion, and the less melanin, the fairer the complexion. Therefore, no cream or lotion applied externally can make dark skin fair. Yes, if the cream contains alpha-hydroxy acid or a special kind of detergent, which are chemicals, the skin will definitely look cleaner than before. In addition, the bleaching agents used in creams give the small hairs on the face a golden color and blend them into the skin, which makes the complexion look brighter due to the golden shade of the hair, and we live under the illusion of becoming fair. But it is also true that as soon as the use of such creams is stopped, the skin starts looking dark again. But the question arises, if the chemicals present in the cream show their effect on the skin, then what is the quality of the herbs present in it? Because it is a characteristic of herbs that they lose their effect when they come in contact with any kind of chemical. Then, the preservatives used in cosmetics are also chemicals! The base of shampoo is mainly synthetic detergent. Various types of dyes that claim to be herbal cannot be made without the oxidizing agent ammonia, and the hydrocarbons and hydrogen peroxide used in 'ammonia-free' dyes are not less harmful chemicals. In such a situation, it should be understood that the justification for the presence of herbal products in cosmetics whose base is based on chemicals is meaningless.

In the opinion of doctors, the claims of herbal creams and products that reduce wrinkles are also all hollow because wrinkles will appear with age and cannot be ignored. Yes, wrinkles that appear due to carelessness in skin care or dry skin can be reduced by massaging with any oil-based cream because the skin gets nourished by oil and massage and gets a glow. But it is dishonest to give credit to the herbal medicines contained in it because the amount of herbs contained in cosmetics is low, and the amount of cream and lotions we use daily is so small that any beneficial element or herb contained in it will have no effect. Then, what is the point of its use? Secondly, the amount of herb present per 100 ml written on the box of any cosmetic can only yield an extract, i.e., a water-like substance, from the herbs, not oil. Because it is well-known that the process of extracting oil from things like flowers, herbs, sandalwood, saffron, and amla is not only complex but also expensive. For example, about 15 to 20 kg of oil is obtained from 15 tons of neem and tulsi leaves. Similarly, to extract fragrant perfume from rose, jasmine, and sandalwood, if several thousand tons of flowers and wood are used, one kilogram of perfume is obtained, which costs from 5 lakh to 8 lakh. Therefore, assume that in the name of herbal cosmetics, you are only paying high prices for their claim of being herbal, not for the claim of any herb being present in them.

There are also some surprising facts about products made from saffron and amla. Take saffron, for instance. The way it is claimed to be used in everything from tobacco, pan masala to sweet shops, beauty products, soaps, and daily food items, in home kitchens and hotels, according to government surveyors, there is not even that much saffron production in our country, and the price is one and a half to 2 lakh per kg. According to surveyors, the amount of amla claimed to be used in everything from herbal mehndi, herbal shampoo, herbal oil, herbal soap, face wash, face pack to herbal paste, pickles, and murabbas, our country does not even have that much production and import of amla! The meaning is, if their availability is so low, then how and from where is their supply met in the cosmetic world? Obviously! In the name of herbal, only their synthetic fragrance and colors are used.

Yes! This is the truth of herbal cosmetics!! And the truth of the companies that make herbal cosmetics is that where ordinary cosmetics are subject to 40 to 100 percent excise duty, this tax on these herbal cosmetics is almost nil. Therefore, what better way can there be to save tax from the government by adding the word herbal with every cosmetic...?

However, the truth of herbal cosmetics may be far from beauty, but the world of herbs, flowers, leaves, and natural herbs is so precious that it is impossible to praise their qualities. But the way the market of capitalism is exploiting the name herbal, there is a need to curb such companies under the Drug Controller Act and to investigate whether the precautions to be taken in the use and maintenance of the quality of herbal products by such companies have been strictly implemented or not? Do the companies have complete information about the herbs and their maintenance or not? Along with this, there is a great need for mutual cooperation and coordination between botany, chemistry, and the science related to skin and its diseases so that through a concerted effort, not only can the correct information be made available to producers and consumers, but their use can also be made effective. Also, awareness can be brought among farmers to increase the production of herbal medicines so that through mutual coordination and cooperation, you and we get real herbal products and there is no trade of fraud in the name of herbal..!!