Not to Alarm You...

All this talk about ingredients got us thinking about how some will try to mislead consumers by either ignoring or downplaying the dangers or harmful effects of an ingredient or product. Of this, you are probably well aware. However, another way that we see consumers misled is by manipulating them into a strong reaction when that reaction isn't warranted.

Here's an example. Let's say we are explaining sodium chloride (NaCl) to a consumer. If we want to alarm the reader, we would state that sodium chloride is derived from sodium, which is a harmful metal, and chlorine, which is a poisonous gas. Yikes! Sounds pretty dangerous! Factually, our statement is true. But it implies that the sodium chloride is terribly harmful, maybe even poisonous. It is not. Remember, we are talking about table salt here, and we eat it all the time in small doses. In fact, our bodies need some salt. The properties the elements have before the chemical reaction aren't necessarily the properties the compound has after the reaction. This is why it is a chemical reaction.

If we really wanted to alarm you, we could tell you that sodium chloride could be found in antifreeze. It is true that salt lowers the freezing point of a liquid. So it is an antifreeze. Again, we associate antifreeze with poison, so referring to antifreeze triggers a negative response. We often saw a reference to antifreeze when we were researching propylene glycol, a common ingredient we discussed in hand sanitizer (and apparently in anti-freeze and e-cigarettes as well). Again, that doesn't inherently make it bad. It might just lower the freezing point or absorb vapor! However, we shouldn't summarily dismiss any concerns either. For us, information like that causes us to look a little deeper into a product or ingredient to try and get a better understanding.

It's never our intention to scare our audience into purchasing our products. We like to educate in a balanced and reasonable way. We love how natural and nourishing our products are, and we are glad we are finding an audience who values that too. We are constantly learning, and we hope you are too. 

Warmly,
Ben and Polly Gorringe