UPDATE 4th June - we are no longer a stockist of Andalou Naturals products after an ownership change and a forced removal from our shelves. Leading USA brand Acure Organics is the replacement for this range. If you would like any assistance choosing a replacement product, please contact us and we will be happy to assist.

Andalou Naturals have recently had a facelift with their packaging and a selection of the products have had a slight formulation tweak. As the new packaging and products are arriving in to our own warehouse, we will be swapping the photographs out and updating the ingredients list on our own website.

Andalou Naturals have always been incredibly upfront and open about what goes in to their natural skin care, natural sunscreen and natural hair products. On their website, they have a very thorough ingredients list, right down to how the product is derived. There are three ingredients listed on their website now that are marked as Lab derived. While other stores feel the need to banish an ingredient for this, we are far more interested in the safety of the ingredient, not where it came from.

While we only sell skin care based on natural ingredients and not petrochemical ingredients, from time to time, there are formulas that may have one or two synthetic ingredients in small portions that we will still include in our range. We know our customers needs and budgets are varied. We know our customers are intelligent and savvy shoppers and it is our mission to provide thorough information and allow our savvy shoppers to make their own minds up.

Fear mongering around one or two lab derived ingredients that are perfectly safe to use is not necessary and not a part of our philosophy here at Shop Naturally. All three ingredients in the Andalou catalogue now that are lab derived have the HIGHEST SAFETY RATING on the EWG database. Lab derived does NOT equal toxic or dangerous. If you want to stay away from lab derived ingredients for ethical reasons, if you feel there's an issue with them washing in to the ocean, that is certainly a valid choice to make if evidence supports that suggestion (which we have not researched for this article - so it may not even be the case). However, in some instances, using the lab derived version IS the ethical choice as you will read below, making formulas vegan.

If you're staying away from them for safety reasons, then it's best to know if they're actually safe or not. All three of these ingredients have been listed with the highest safety rating by the EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetic Database, and they will be staying in our store with the lab derived marking in the ingredients list so our customers can make their own minds up.

Here's the details on the three ingredients in question to show you why we do not feel it's necessary to remove them from sale or marking the products as being unsafe.

DMAE

DMAE  has the ability to reduce build-up of page pigmentation in the skin and to tighten and tone skin quality. It is also available as a supplement used for cognitive health in the elderly. DMAE naturally occurs in small amounts in the brain and can be found in some breeds of fish. having this ingredient lab derived and replicating the natural DMAE makes this a vegan ingredient.

EWG safety rating = 1 (the highest safety rating available)

POLYIMIDE-1

This is a holding ingredient used in hair products.

EWG safety rating = 1 (the highest safety rating available)

VP/VA Copolymer

This is film former. In hair care products, it helps hold hair styles for longer by preventing moisture from entering the hair shaft.

EWG safety rating = 1 (the highest safety rating available)

You can check ingredients in the EWG (Environmental Working Group's) Skin Deep Cosmetic Database HERE>

With this information at hand, it is now entirely up to you whether you feel the inclusion of these ingredients is right for you. If you have any questions, please let us know.

*Note: the picture at the top of the page is of the exiting packaging. We are still waiting for the full range of new packaging to arrive in store so we can photograph them all.