First, what are natural beauty products? Many people believe a ?natural' beauty product is one that has no synthetic ingredients, has not been tested on animals and will not cause an allergic reaction. Trouble is, this is not always so. Some products that are labeled natural or organic actually do have a certain percentage of synthetic ingredients.

Many products classed as natural have chemicals such as stabilizers and preservatives (apart from other ingredients) in them, so don't think you are getting a100% chemical free product just because it has the natural label.

While most companies who sell natural products do adhere to the policy of not testing on animals, it is not always the case. And natural products do sometimes cause allergies to flare up or they may even cause an irritation to the skin that is not found with other synthetic products. So why are natural products so popular?

Most use natural products because they find that the product does work for them. They like the idea of it having no harsh chemicals to be absorbed by the skin. Very often the natural product has a greater percentage of the ingredient that does the job. This is why that natural product works a great deal better than its commercial counterpart. But sometimes, natural products will cause a rash or itch where the commercial brands don't. It all depends on your skin type and problem.

There are many commercial moisturizers out there that have a very small percentage of the actual moisturizing component. They work for some people and they don't work for others. Some products may even make your skin feel dryer, due to the amount of other chemicals that are in it. But some conditions such as eczema need the sort of emollient laden petro-chemical product that commercial brands afford. These products are tested for the condition they are meant to help before they ever come to the public, so you can be sure that they are helpful for your problem and relatively harmless in other ways.

That's not to say you may not find a natural product that works for you for a similar problem; it's just a question of which one. And a doctor cannot prescribe a natural product because so many would be unknown to him unless he majored in alternative cures.

Others are 100% free, but they may need to be kept in the refrigerator. They may not be available on the supermarket shelf either, but are sold via mail order to ensure their freshness.