by Dorothy A. Pela

It seems like every time you turn your head in a beauty shop or at your local pharmacy, you see creams and lotions, all having 'botanical skin care' on their label. The same applies if you type 'botanical skin care products' in the search box of a search engine on the internet.

The word 'botanical' itself means plant-based. The question is: Do all of these products really consist of ingredients that come from plants? What are the things you should be looking out for, in order to convince yourself that a product is really what it says it is?

Being intrigued myself, I did a little bit of research on the subject. As a result, I came up with a couple of guidelines that I would like to share with you:

1. Some of these products which claim to be all natural, more often than not they contain some very harmful ingredients as well. Some of these are the following:

Mineral Oil: This is also known as liquid paraffin, paraffin wax and petrolatum. This is petroleum based and once applied, it may clog your pores, making your skin 'suffocate'. As a result, it will make your skin dry and chapped and if you use it for a prolonged period, it will strip your skin of its natural oils. The simple reason why skin care companies keep using it, it's because it is cheap!

Fragrances: It is true that almost all of us, when we are trying different cosmetic products we instinctively tend to smell them. The nicer it smells, the more attractive it is.

Being aware of this fact and in order to lure their prospective buyers, many skin care companies put in their own botanical skin care products different fragrances.

Well, based on scientific evidence, you should better stay away from products that contain any type of fragrance. Most of them come from ingredients that are known to be toxic or even worse, carcinogenic.

Parabens: In order to prolong their products' shelf life and obviously to improve their own bottom line, many skin care companies use parabens. These are preservatives, which are not so innocent after all. Clinical studies have clearly linked them with serious health hazards ranging from allergic reactions to even cancer.

2. Another thing you should pay attention to is not only the type of active ingredients that are used, but also their quantity (or concentration volume).

You see, in order to have the desired results, each of the listed ingredients must have a high enough percentage volume. In reality, however, many skin care companies, for obvious financial reasons, do not put enough of the ingredients. Therefore, you end up frustrated and disappointed, feeling you have wasted your money on a product which in the end does not live up to your expectations.

So, the next time you look at the list of ingredients of a botanical skin care product, make sure that you look at their percentage volume as well. As a rule of thumb, the total concentration of active ingredients should be at least 50% of the volume.

If you would like to educate yourself more on botanical skin care and find out about products I personally recommend, visit my website.

Dorothy A. Pela has been using and researching about natural skin care products for a long time. Visit her site now to learn everything you need to know about the latest breakthroughs in natural skin care: http://www.all-about-skin-care.com/.