In addition, some scientists and health professionals have raised concerns about some of the potentially harmful ingredients being used in skin care products. This concern focuses on these ingredients being applied to our skin and thus absorbed into our bodies, with potentially harmful effects on our health.

These reports have led to a 'natural' skin care ingredient boom right across the skin care industry, and increasingly we see advertisements promoting natural skin care products.

Toward the end of 2005 however, buyers have been realising that natural skin care products may not necessarily be all-natural skin care products and are starting to doubt the validity of advertisements promoting their skin care products as being natural.

Further, the men's skin care market has been more strongly targeted with many well-known brands creating and promoting their skin care range specifically for men.

So what can we expect in 2006?

I believe, that the above trends will continue during this year and will intensify in certain areas. These areas include:

• An increased focus on Men's skin care
• More anti-aging 'miracle' products
• Increased focus on promoting so called 'natural' skin care products
• An increased 'buyer be ware' attitude from consumers about just how natural the promoted skin care products are, and
• An increase of scepticism toward the use of the word 'natural' and 'organic' in respect to skin care products.

I see the manufacturing of skin care products to be divided into three types of manufacturers:

1. Traditional Skin Care Manufacturers that produce skin care products that will provide good results, but these products are not advertised to be natural, organic or anything other than skin care products. Their products include emulsifiers, preservatives and possibly potentially harmful ingredients, but they do work and many customers do get good results.
   
   
2. Jump on the Bandwagon Manufacturers that market their products as being natural, simply because there is a trend toward a preference of natural skin care products, and actually do include natural ingredients or at least naturally derived concentrates together with other ingredients. They will promote these products as being natural and will attract buyers who are concerned about what they are putting on their skin and subsequently into their body.
   
   This category contains another type of manufacturer, I call it the Psydo-Natural manufacturer. This type uses only natural ingredients, but does not use these ingredients in their natural state. That is, they will not always use traditionally made herbal extracts, but will use isolated, active ingredients from herbs or essential oils in their products.
   
   The problem with this type of product is that the ingredients are no longer complete, they are 'out of balance' and as a result could cause potential health concerns, such as allergic reactions or side effects. This has been explained in another article called 'Natural, All Natural, Holistically-Natural or Pseudo-natural - that is the question'.
   
   
3. The third type of manufacturer of skin care products are manufacturers that have resolved to provide purely natural skin care products to their clients and are dedicated to use holistically, natural ingredients to produce truly natural skin care products. They use pure essential oils, traditionally made herbal extracts, and follow the philosophies and principles of natural medical practices such as herbal medicine and naturopathy.

The next 12 months or so will see consumers becoming more and more aware of what is truly natural and what is not. The Internet is a great source for gathering such information and women especially will start to research skin care products in ever increasing detail to find the type of products they prefer. Allergic reactions and sensitivity to some chemicals (including some naturally derived substances) are causing increasing concern in consumers and for this reason manufacturers will have to start listing ingredients used in their skin care products on their labels or websites.

Men will start to become more aware of their skin's needs and will increasingly start to follow similar skin care regimes as women. However, I think it will take men a little longer to start thinking about the purity of their skin care. They will probably leave it up to their spouses to select their skin care products for them.

I also believe that government regulations will start to be introduced as to which ingredients may no longer be included in skin care products. In addition, I hope that some guidelines will be introduced as to what exactly can be labelled as a Natural skin care product and what is not. This is necessary, as there are currently no regulations for the use of the term natural skin care product and this needs to be addressed through legislation.

I know this opinion is not a popular one, but if consumers want natural skin care products, they should be able to buy products labelled as natural confident in the knowledge that that is exactly what they are getting.

Our belief and philosophy for Wildcrafted Herbal Products is that nothing goes into our products that is anything other than holistically-natural and that all our skin and personal care products will be natural regardless of current trends and market forces. We will not include isolated, active ingredients, natural or otherwise, but will strictly follow the philosophy and principles of natural medicine in the manufacture of our natural skin care, personal care and therapeutic products.

Other Related Articles:

Chemical Free, Natural Skin Care - How can you be sure?
Increasingly usesrs of skin care products are finding they have been putting potentially toxic chemicals on their skin and subsequently into their body. How do you know what is in your skin care products? How can you find out?...

Natural, All Natural, Holistically-Natural or Pseudo-natural - that is the question.
You may have realised that recently everything you look at claims to be 'natural', but what is natural? Does it referrer to everything that the product contains? Is it some of the ingredients in the product that are natural? Or is a single ingredient, which was isolated from an originally natural source, the only thing that is natural about the product?

Natural Skin Care Products: Out with the new in with the old?
Natural skin care products are changing rapidly - one minute it’s all about AHA's (Alpha Hydroxy Acids), the next it's dead sea products, then... some other fad is sure to strike any minute now.... How natural are your natural skin care products?