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Ventura County Star

Aug. 2--Barbara Ann McCool remembers the first time she looked up the ingredients of the skin care products she was using.

Her sensitive skin made her want to avoid certain chemicals, but she was surprised by what the book had to say about some conventional ingredients.

"I was aware; I knew dyes weren't good for you," the Thousand Oaks resident said, but there were other questionable ingredients with complex names and potential hazards she didn't know about, "because, who knows what they mean? It's kind of scary." More and more consumers are starting to look for alternatives to conventional products, worried about chemicals or sensitive skin.

More are starting to walk beyond the health food aisles to check out soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and cosmetics that carry the "natural" label.

The natural personal care product market grew to an estimated $5 billion in sales in 2004, a 50 percent increase since 2000, according to a report from research publisher Packaged Facts. The prediction is the market will reach $7.9 billion by 2009.

The growing market means a booming business for some local entrepreneurs.

Adena Surabian has a background in sales and ran an Internet business for baby supplies and safety items before selling it in March. She didn't include formulating baby shampoos and lotions as part of her business.

It was her eldest daughter's allergic reaction to sunscreen and several trips to the dermatologist that led the Simi Valley mother to sit down at the computer and start running searches on ingredients.

"It was incredibly overwhelming," she said. "Half of them you couldn't pronounce." Searches turned up the words "irritant," "biohazardous" and "cancer." The nonprofit Environmental Working Groupreports that ingredients in cosmetics range from table salt and oatmeal to chemicals known to cause cancer in humans. In a review of products including lotions, shampoos and makeup, the organization found that one in every 120 products contains ingredients that are recognized by the government as known or probable human carcinogens.

After trying different natural products, Surabian decided to make her own. She interviewed and finally settled on a lab she liked. After a year and a half of testing, the first Nature's Baby shampoo was ready for market.

Since then, her market has been expanding as her product line has grown to include diaper pail deodorizers and lotions.

Her brand is now selling nationally at retail and health food stores and children's hair salons. Surabian's next step is setting up a national sales force.

Zorica Denton of Malibu started selling her own line of cleansers and creams about four years ago.

"During that time, I noticed more and more people became interested in more natural products," she said, attributing the increase to people being more aware of what they put on their bodies.

She started her Zorica of Malibu line because of her own allergies. She said she was surprised that some people were allergic to so many natural and synthetic ingredients. In response to customer feedback, she is now working on a line of unscented products.

Growing interest People are drawn to natural products for various reasons. Some are searching for products that don't have ingredients that trigger their allergies. Some made a transition through healthy food to supplements to personal care products at the health food store. Some just like the way a product smells or works.

West Los Angeles resident Betty Berdiansky developed dry skin and skin conditions in recent years that require her to wear cotton gloves at work to protect her hands from certain chemicals. She turned to natural products such as Nature's Baby out of necessity.

"I thought I was doing fine with all the ones you can get in Sav-On and everything else," Berdiansky said. She had no clue what products would trigger her allergies.

"I learned to go with things that have as few ingredients as possible, and if you can't pronounce them, don't buy them," she said.

More people are looking for natural products, said Ciara Simkins, cosmetics manager at the Thousand Oaks Lassen's natural food store.

"I know a few years ago, it wasn't like this," she said. She remembers people laughing about her father using natural products because it wasn't common when she was growing up.

Simkins carries both Nature's Baby and Zorica of Malibu products.

"There's certain things I look for before I bring anything in," she said. Simkins won't sell products with certain ingredients in them, such as parabens, preservatives often used in body products.

As demand grows for natural products, bottles are popping up on supermarket shelves with "natural" plastered on the label. However, products marketed as natural might not be as natural as companies would like people to believe.

"Some natural products, you can't trust entirely," Carolin E.A. Hill of Lake Sherwood said as she shopped at the Thousand Oaks Lassen's. Over-the-counter products caused her skin to break out, so she now shops at health food stores for personal care products.

Regulation and education There isn't much federal oversight for what goes into personal care products.

The Environmental Working Group reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cannot require a company to test its products before putting them on the market.

An industry safety committee handles voluntary testing of different ingredients for toxicity, the organization reports. Many ingredients go untested for safety.

A California Senate bill is currently in committee that would push for safer cosmetics. The bill would require companies that sell cosmetics or personal care products in California to provide the state with information on ingredients in the products that have been identified as causing cancer or harming reproduction.

The industry has criticized the bill, saying it would hurt those employed in the cosmetic industry. California cosmetic companies already have to comply with a long list of state and federal regulations, industry groups argue.

Because of such questions, those in the natural products business say much of their marketing involves educating stores and spas that carry their products, as well as customers using them.

"Personally, I go more toward health food industries and spas," Denton said of marketing her product.

"I feel that's where the market is and where people are looking for those kinds of products." Surabian said health stores attract an easy audience. In retail stores, however, some parents are aware of what goes into a natural product and some are not.

"You need to be able to lend support to the stores and talk about it and educate the stores and provide them with training," Surabian said.

"Not everybody knows about natural products." There are some consumers who won't buy natural products because they look different, cost more or even because they don't have preservatives in them.

Even as the market grows, Surabian doesn't see that changing.

"I still think you'll see the people who aren't (interested in natural products)," she said.

"Everybody has different philosophies."

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