Your Questions
Find the answer to our most commonly asked questions, please
click on a question below to see the answer:
General
Packaging
Biodegradeability
Animal Testing
Ingredients
Sun Lotions
What evidence is there to support claims
that many chemicals are absorbed through the skin?
Until the fairly recently it was believed that the skin
was an efficient barrier that prevented external substances
from entering the body. This theory was challenged back in
the 1960's with the development of the drug DMSO which was
shown to transport other substances through the skin barrier
and into the bloodstream.
The ability of many chemicals to be absorbed trough the
skin is now widely accepted and in some cases is used as
a route of medication. Drugs such as nicotine and female
hormones are now routinely administered in the form of a
skin patch and are readily absorbed into the body. Studies
have shown that most substances can be absorbed through the
skin and that up to 60% of any substance applied to the skin
may enter the body through this route.
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Why is glycerin used in some personal care
products?
Glycerin is produced during soap manufacturing and has several
valuable properties in skincare products. Firstly it is a
humectant, which means that it helps to retain moisture in
creams and lotions.
The earliest known hand cream was made from equal parts
of glycerin and rosewater. Secondly, glycerin is an emollient,
which means it makes the skin feel softer and smoother and
helps to reduce wrinkles. This is achieved partly through
coating the shin with a thin layer of oily wax, and partly
by reducing water loss from the skin. Glycerin is also a
solvent and helps different ingredients used in many creams
and lotions mix together.
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Is all glycerin extracted from vegetable
sources?
Glycerin is produced by adding alkalis to fats and fixed
oils. It is an important by-product of the soap making industry
and can be produced from almost any fat, animal or vegetable.
All of the glycerin used in Green People products comes from
either coconut or palm oil and is guaranteed to be of non-animal
origin.
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How are Sun Protection Factors (SPF) for
sun-screens calculated?
In order for a sun-screen to claim a given Sun Protection
Factor it must contain one or more filtering agents that
are approved under European legislation. This legislation
not only sets out which ingredients may be used but also
gives the percentages of each ingredient that the finished
product must contain in order to achieve and claim a given
level of protection. This ensures that sun-screen products
made by different manufacturers using different ingredients
can be compared on a like-for-like basis.
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What active ingredients do Green People
use as UV filters in sun-screens?
Green People use two different sun-screens in our sun lotions.
The first is Titanium dioxide, a naturally occurring white
mineral that acts as a reflective barrier to UVA radiation.
Widely recognised as being non-toxic and inert, this is one
of the sun-screen agents approved under European legislation.
The second ingredient is an extract from cinnamon leaf with
the proper name of Isoamyl P-methoxycinnamate. This is effective
against UVB radiation and is also on the approved European
list. By using these two ingredients we are able to offer
effective, natural protection against both UVA and UVB radiation.
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What is the difference between a herbal
infusion and a floral water?
A herbal infusion is made by pouring boiling or nearly-boiling
water onto a quantity of plant material which may be either
fresh or dried. The mixture is then stirred and covered and
allowed to stand for a period of time, typically 10 to 15
minutes before being strained.
Herbal infusions are often used for their therapeutic effects
rather than their scent or aroma. A floral water on the other-hand
is a by-product of the process used to produce essential
oils and is usually far more concentrated than an infusion.
A good example of a floral water is rose water, widely used
as a perfume in many skin preparations.
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What is the difference between a herbal
extract and an essential oil?
Herbs can be in several forms including fresh juices, dried
powders, infusions, concentrates and other types of extract.
Most of these retain the broad spectrum of ingredients found
in the original plant material and consequently have the
same or similar therapeutic properties.
Essential oils are made by extracting the volatile fractions
of plant through the process of distillation. They are very
highly concentrated and generally reproduce the odour and
taste of the starting material. They also have strong antiseptic
and antibacterial properties and can help to preserve other
ingredients from deterioration.
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What is the purpose of the citrus seed
extracts used in some skin care products?
The citrus seed extracts used in some Green People formulations
form part of our preservative system. All products which
contain both oil and water based ingredients such as creams
and lotions have the ability to support bacterial growth
and need to contain some form of preservative.
Green People prefer to use natural ingredients wherever
possible and using this citrus seed extract means we can
use lesser quantities of preservatives such as potassium
sorbate and sodium benzoate.
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Is there any difference between sodium
lauryl sulphate and ammonium lauryl sulphate?
Although they have similar names, have similar functions
and can both be extracted from the same plant source of coconut
oil, these two ingredients are quite different. Sodium lauryl
sulphate (SLS) is an anionic surfactant used as a cleanser
and foaming agent in a wide range of shampoos, bubble-baths,
liquid soaps and toothpastes. It is a known skin irritant
and may cause sensitisation when used over a period of time.
The molecular structure of SLS is small enough to allow
it to penetrate to the lower layers of the skin where it
is most irritating. Ammonium lauryl sulphate (ALS) is also
an anionic surfactant used as a cleansing foaming agent but
has a different molecular structure. This difference means
that the ALS molecule is much larger than that of SLS and
so it cannot penetrate the upper layers of the skin, making
it much less irritating to the skin. Green People do not
use SLS at all, and only use ALS in a very few products,
all of which are designed to be rinsed off shortly after
application.
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Green People say that they are committed
to using organic ingredients. Why then do some of the products
you make contain non-organic plant material?
In order to claim that an ingredient is organic it has to
produced to internationally recognised standards and be certified
as organic by an approved body such as the Soil Association
or Organic Food Federation. Unfortunately, there are some
plant materials that are not as yet certified by one of these
bodies and so we cannot claim that they are organic even
though they may have been grown without the use of agricultural
chemicals.
Examples include vegetable glycerin, seaweed and Spirulina,
and some essential oils such as sandalwood, benzoin and myrrh.
Green People are continually searching for organic alternatives
to non-organic ingredients and will change to organic as
soon as these become available.
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I have started to use your Fennel toothpaste
and like the taste very much, but I find I don't get much
foam when I use it. Why is this?
Conventional toothpastes produce foam because they contain
detergents such as Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS). These ingredients
often cause skin irritation and may be a contributory factor
in some cases of gum disease. Green People do not consider
that the use of foaming agents in toothpastes is either necessary
or desirable and consequently do not add them to any of our
dental care products.
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I find that the perfumes used in many skin
care products cause skin rashes and sensitivity. Do Green
People products contain any perfumes?
The term 'perfume' causes a lot of confusion in skincare
products. Technically, perfume is anything added to a product
in order to give it a smell or odour. The term perfume or
parfum does not indicate to the consumer whether the ingredients
are natural or synthetic, nor how many ingredients are used
- some contain as many as 200 different chemicals.
Synthetic perfumes are amongst the most frequent allergens
and they are frequently left out of hypoallergenic formulations.
Green People do not use any synthetic perfumes and the only
scents used are pure floral waters and essential oils. To
enable customers to avoid specific ingredients we list every
ingredient used in all of our products rather than use blanket
terms such as 'perfume'.
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For some time I have suffered from 'tummy
trouble' and have now been told I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Apart from avoiding certain foods, is there any other way
of helping this?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome causes a wide range of symptoms
including alternating constipation and diarrhoea and abdominal
cramping. One of the most effective ways of controlling this
condition is to increase your intake of soluble dietary fibre.
When dissolved in water this forms a soft gel that soothes
the lining of the gut and helps to prevent fluctuations between
constipation and diarrhoea. An ideal source of soluble fibre
is Flaxseed or Linseed, as used in Green People's Omega 3 in 1 Fuel, and when taken daily may help to reduce the severity
of your problem.
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I keep reading about Essential Fatty Acids,
particularly Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats. What is the difference
between these and what foods contain them?
Dietary fats consist of mixtures of fatty acids, with different
fats containing different mixtures of fatty acids. There
are many different fatty acids but just two are considered
essential for human health. These are called Omega-3 and
Omega-6 fatty acids and, as the body cannot synthesize them,
they have to come from the foods we eat.
Whilst these two fatty acids work closely together they
have different functions and are not interchangeable. Omega-6
Fatty acids are found in many plant oils and few people are
deficient in them, but Omega-3 Fatty acids are less commonly
found in our diets and some people would benefit from supplementing
their diet with them. For further information on this subject
please see the article entitled 'Essential Fatty Acids' in
the Information-Features section of this website.
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Why do you use plastic tubes instead of
glass for many of your products?
There are three main reasons why we use plastic tubes for
packing most of our product range. The first is that this
packaging offers the best protection to the product as it
reduces the risk of bacterial contamination. This means we
can use less preservatives in the formulations.
The second reason is that advances in plastics manufacturing
mean that the material we use is overall less environmentally
damaging that some other forms of packaging. It is recyclable,
biodegradable, can be burnt without releasing harmful or
noxious gasses and costs far less in cost and fuel to transport.
The third reason is for consumer safety as many of the products
are used in the bath or shower where the use of glass could
pose safety risks.
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Why do you use polystyrene chips as mail
order packaging materials?
The chips that we buy to use to protect your products in
transit are made from corn starch and are 100% biodegradeable.
However, we do re-use the chips we ourselves receive in goods
delivered to us. So it is possible that your parcel will
arrive packed with polystyrene chips but this is only because
we re-use these rather than throw them away.
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Why don't your herbal capsules state what
they are for on the labels?
Under national and European legislation the only products
that can make claims for specific use in health concerns
are Indicated Licensed Medicines. As our herbal capsules
are sold under food law as herbal supplements they are not
allowed to make any reference to health conditions on the
label or in any promotional material. For information on
the uses of different herbs we suggest consulting one of
the many herbals available in the UK.
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Why do you avoid ingredients such as DEA,
TEA and Padimate-O in your products?
These ingredients are amongst those which are known to be
allergenic and irritating. They also release small amounts
of formaldehyde when they degrade. Formaldehyde is strongly
irritating and is also known to be carcinogenic.
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If I eat organic foods, why do I need to
think about using organic skin care too?
The skin is composed of multiple, lipid containing layers.
As with all lipid-containing membranes, the skin can be easily
penetrated by lipid-soluble materials. Once a chemical gains
access to the dermis, rapid and complete absorption into
the bloodstream is usually assured.
Around 75,000 chemicals might come in contact with your
skin and you absorb up to 60% of any substance applied. Differences
in skin structure and condition affect the degree to which
chemicals can penetrate the skin. When the skin is damaged
by abrasion or chemical irritation, penetration of chemicals
further increases.
Using chemical based skin care products adds to the toxic
burden that we have to deal with. By using organic skin care
products you can help to decrease the toxic load on your
body and on the environment.
Back to Questions
Why are some of your formulations not 100%
organic?
It is possible to create skin care products containing only oils, fats and waxes using 100% organic ingredients.
However, products such as lotions, creams, shampoos and
conditioners that contain herbal infusions and floral waters
must also contain ingredients such as emulsifiers, surfactants
and some kind of preservative system - without them they
couldn't be made, wouldn't work, and wouldn't be safe to
use.
Although many of these ingredients are available from natural
sources, they are not available in an organic form at the
present time. Even common ingredients such as glycerin are
not yet available as certified organics. We are working closely
with ingredient suppliers to develop organic forms of many
of these ingredients to be introduced as soon as possible.
Back to Questions
Why do a lot of your ingredients sound
like chemicals?
Under EC legislation all ingredients have to be given their
Latin, INCI name (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic
Ingredients). Some manufacturers use this to disguise or
hide the true nature of the ingredients they use. We use
truly natural and where possible organic ingredients in our
products.
The glossary on this
web site lists all ingredients that we use and gives their
common names and sources. Some ingredients do sound like
chemicals even though they are from natural sources. Examples
include foaming agents, e.g. Decyl Glucoside derived from
corn; emulsifiers, e.g. Cetearyl alcohol - not an alcohol
but fatty waxes derived from plant oils; or preservatives,
e.g. Phenoxyethanol, which are necessary to give the product
at least 30 months shelf life.
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Are your products suitable for sensitive
skin?
Green People products are based on pure, natural, certified
organic ingredients. All our formulations are extremely gentle.
They're easily absorbed into skin and do not block the pores.
Our products are free from sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate,
chemical irritants, artificial fragrances, synthetic colourants
and alcohol (ethanol). If you do have very sensitive skin
it is a good idea to use our Organic
Base 'no-scent' formulations. As a common sense precaution,
we recommend a patch test is carried out prior to first application.
Back to Questions
I see that many Green People products contain
essential oils. Are these safe to use during pregnancy?
There has been a great deal of misleading advice put about
in the media over the past few years regarding the supposed
dangers of using essential oils during pregnancy. Unfortunately,
these articles are generally out of context and greatly exaggerate
the perceived risks. Often these articles are written by
journalists or self-styled aromatherapists with little or
no knowledge of essential oils, and are merely re-writes
of earlier incorrect information.
One or two essential oils have been specifically targeted
as being unsafe to use during pregnancy - these include pennyroyal,
sage and thuja. The reason that these have earned this reputation
is because some women have deliberately misused these oils
in misguided attempts to bring on miscarriages. They have
actually ingested large amounts (30ml) of the pure essential
oil in these attempts, and have harmed themselves in so doing.
The truth is that using essential oils diluted at the normal
levels of between 2 and 5% in products designed for topical
application has never been shown to have any adverse effect
whatsoever during pregnancy. All Green People products that
contain essential oils use them at concentrations of less
than 5% therefore all Green People personal
care products can be safely used during pregnancy.
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What is your policy regarding animal testing?
Green People are and always have been totally opposed to
any cruelty to animals.
Since starting the Green People in 1997, we have operated
to the following principles: -
- We have never carried out or commissioned
animal testing of any raw material, cosmetic ingredient
or finished product. All Green People products are tested
on human volunteers.
- We do not and will not use ingredients
that have been made by manufacturers who carry out or commission
animal testing of cosmetic ingredients.
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Do any of your products contain parabens?
No, none of Green People's products contain parabens.
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I will soon be travelling to an environmentally
sensitive area. Are your products biodegradable?
The majority of ingredients used in Green People formulations
are 100% compatible with nature and biodegrade very readily.
These include ingredients such as plant oils, herbal infusions,
floral waters and essential oils.
The active and functional ingredients used in our products
are all from natural sources and again biodegrade readily.
Examples are emulsifiers obtained from olive oil and palm
oil, and foaming agents from coconut oil and corn oil. As
well as being readily biodegradable, these ingredients are
also environmentally-friendly and are all approved under
the Scandinavian Swan Mark scheme, one of the most rigorous
environmental standards in the world.
The preservative systems we use are also chosen because they
have minimal environmental impact and are readily biodegradable.
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Why are some of your products boxed? Is
this not environmentally unfriendly?
We knew that boxing some of our products would be a little
controversial with some of our customers, many of whom are
environmentally aware. However, we did not box them for marketing
reasons. The problem we have which led us to using a box
was simply that there is so much EU legislation regarding
the information that has to be given on product packaging
we simply ran out of room on the tubes.
The boxes allow us much more space on which to print the
required information. For example, the product description,
the ingredients, the directions for use and the size all
have to be in the same field of view and there are size limitations
of the type face. We also sell in different European markets
and now have to have some of the text in the host language
of the country in which we sell.
We couldn't possibly afford to print different labels for
each country, we are too small for that. So there is a lot
of information to get onto a small tube!
The boxes are made from 50% post-consumer recycled board
and 50% from sustainable soft-wood Scandinavian forests.
The inks used are environmentally-friendly, not solvent based.
Back to Questions
Why doesn't your toothpaste contain fluoride?
We do not use fluoride in toothpaste because we do not
believe that medication should be taken via toothpaste when
cleaning the teeth. Fluoride (which if taken via toothpaste
enters the bloodstream, which has nothing to do with it coming
into contact with the teeth) has a hardening effect on the
bones.
This makes bones more likely to crack and break. Hardening
of the bones is also very negative, for example,for sufferers
of Osteoporosis. Therefore by offering toothpaste without
fluoride we are leaving the supplementation of fluoride as
a choice rather than forcing our customers to take medication
that they may prefer not to.
If they want to take extra fluoride they can buy fluoride
tablets. Anybody with a varied diet will anyway ingest adequate
fluoride.
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Can your products help with an itchy scalp?
The most aggressive ingredients in shampoos are the detergents
or surfactants used to make them foam and cleanse. Of these,
the most commonly used are Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and Sodium
Laureth Sulphate. Both of these are known to cause skin irritation
- indeed, the first one is used as a standard skin irritant
against which other ingredients are assessed. Avoiding products
containing these ingredients will often help.
As far as Green People products are concerned, we would
recommend our Rosemary Shampoo and Conditioner which are
made using only the mildest cleansing agents and are ideal
for itchy scalp. The second thing to realise is that residues
of any shampoo left on the scalp, no matter how mild, will
irritate and aggravate dryness and itching. It is essential
to rinse the hair and scalp very thoroughly after washing
to remove all traces of shampoo before you apply a conditioner.
Long term dryness of the skin and scalp may indicate that
there is some form of dietary deficiency. Most dry skin conditions
respond to supplementation with Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty
acids - essential nutrients that are often lacking in Western
diets. Taking these in the form of a liquid supplement would
correct any dietary imbalance and may address the root cause
of your problem. Green People Omega Fuel 3:1 ratio taken
every day for at least 1 month would be the best way to supplement
with these.
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Why don't you produce larger sizes of your
products?
We do not have any immediate plans to offer large sizes
at the moment. There are compelling reasons to do so, but
there are also difficulties which we are currently unable
to overcome:
- We are a small company and containers
have to be purchased in tens of thousands, we do not have
sufficient demand to justify such a purchase. (Not to mention
the packaging design etc.).
- Our products are made from natural
ingredients and therefore have natural preservative systems.
These preservatives are not strong enough to work in bulk
quantities. So the larger the size, the stronger the preservatives
have to be and we do not wish to compromise our products.
(We certainly would not manufacture two formulations of
the same product depending on the package size).
So you see, we know there is a demand for large sizes and
there would be ecological benefits, and we therefore do have
vague long-term plans to provide them, but it is not possible
at the moment, or for the foreseeable future.
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Is your plastic packaging safe and is it
biodegradable?
The plastic we use for our packaging is either PP or HDPE.
In both cases, the material consists of long molecule chains
made from Carbon and Hydrogen. These materials are recyclable,
are fully biodegradable and when burned release only Carbon
Dioxide and water. They are inert substances and do not react
with or adversely affect the products packed within them.
Please note that we never use PVC or any other form of plastic.
None of the plastics we use contain phthalates in any form
whatsoever. The reason we don't use glass packaging is three-fold.
Firstly, glass is not a safe material to use in bathrooms
and showers as it is prone to breakage if dropped onto hard
surfaces. Secondly, glass is very heavy and expensive to
transport and would add considerably to the cost of the products
making them unnecessarily expensive. Thirdly, the cost to
the environment of using glass is very high when compared
to PP or HDPE.
Taking into account the energy needed to manufacture glass
(whether from recycled material or from scratch), and then
to transport it means that up to three times as much energy
goes into making a glass container compared to a plastic
one. Added to that is the fact that unless glass is properly
recycled it never biodegrades and contributes the build-up
of waste materials polluting the earth. On balance we believe
that our use of selected plastics is fully justified, although
we continually monitor the situation and review all developments
in new packaging materials as and when they happen.
The symbols allocated to different plastics are largely unnecessary for the recycling process to take place. The following description of the process is taken from www.wasteonline.org.uk
Mechanical recycling of plastics refers to processes which involve the melting, shredding or granulation of waste plastics. Plastics must be sorted prior to mechanical recycling. At the moment in the UK most sorting for mechanical recycling is done by trained staff who manually sorts the plastics into polymer type and/or colour. Technology is being introduced to sort plastics automatically, using various techniques such as X-ray fluorescence, infrared and near infrared spectroscopy, electrostatics and flotation. Following sorting, the plastic is either melted down directly and moulded into a new shape, or melted down after being shredded into flakes and than processed into granules called regranulate.
It is not necessary for the plastic type number to be placed on the packaging for either of the above processes to take place.
We currently use HDPE (type 2) for our tubes and PP (type 5) for the airless pumps. The jars for Body Butter and Scrub are PS (type 6). The reasons we don't put these numbers on the labels are a) because they are not needed in order to facilitate recycling, and b) in case the composition of plastics in the packaging materials changes in the future.
Back to Questions
What is the best way to open your flip-top
caps?
Moulded into the rim of the collar (the bit that fixes onto
the tube) are a couple of small ridges which serve to prevent
the cap from coming open accidentally. When trying to open
the tube, any pressure that pushes the cap against these
ridges actually serves to lock it shut, thus making it almost
impossible to open.
To avoid this, we have found that by using the index finger
to apply pressure to the back of the cap just above the hinge,
and at the same time sliding the thumb up the indentation
on the collar to the cap generally opens the tubes easily
and quickly. This sounds more difficult than it really is
and can normally be done with just one hand.
Back to Questions
Are your products
Vegan?
Most of our products are vegan and carry the Vegan Society
logo on the packaging and on the web site detail page. However, a small part of our main range and some of our Organic Body Spa range are not suitable for vegans.
The following products are NOT vegan:
- Help at Hand
- Foaming Face Wash
- Dry Zone
- Body Bliss
- Foaming Hand Sanitizer
- Fennel Toothpaste
- Fennel Mouthwash
- Baby Salve
- Baby Foaming Cleanser
- Soothe & Calm Baby Balm
- Children's Sun Lotion SPF22
- No Scent Sun Lotion SPF22
- Baby Care Gift Pack (includes Baby
Salve)
- Rejuvenating Cleansing Balm
- Hydrating Cleanser
- Brightening Exfoliator
- Toning Facial Mist
- Firming Facial Gel
- Revitalising Face & Neck Serum
- Reviving Day & Night Cream
- Exfoliating Spa Shower Wash
- Hydrating Body Lotion
- Triple Action Cellulite Lotion
- Sensuous Body Butter
- Body Brush
- Weekend Pamper Gift Set
- Organic Spa Collection
All these products contain Beeswax, Propolis or Milk Protein.
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© 2002-2006 The Green People Co Ltd