I am always on the lookout for skincare that can keep my skin in tip-top shape, but being aware of the dangers of chemicals such as parabens and SLS, I'm also concerned that my skincare should not become a ticking health timebomb in the years to come.

Organic skincare started out as a quirky trend that was something for the uber-health conscious. But it has since gainedmainstream acceptance when word got out that a lot of things that we apply on our skin can do more harm than good to us in the long run.

Of course, I wanted to decrease any potential incidences I may have of getting cancers or tumours, so going organic was a choice that I have been toying with.

However, it's not just the prices that I find inhibiting, but going by anecdotal evidence which I have been hearing from beauty insiders and those in the skincare business, it seems that the idea of going organic may have been a little oversold. The organic market is also still rather limited, if you compare it to the variety of choices in skincare that tout themselves as natural or botanical.

Here is also a little something else I learnt about adopting a truly organic lifestyle.

To be truly organic, all the ingredients in your skincare product must be absolutely free of chemical additives, right down to the beginning stage when they were being grown. So, if you really think about it, even the fertilisers that were added to soil which was used to grow the plants, from which, say, the aloe that went into making your face moisturiser, should be certified free of chemicals in order for your skincare to be called organic.

In this sense, it is rather difficult to ascertain if you do have a truly organic product on your hands.

Kati Kasza, founder and managing director of evolu, a New Zealand-based skincare line which carries skincare with pure botanical ingredients, shared this insights: "True 'organic' needs to be certified. The word 'organic' can be misleading and true 'organic' needs to be certified.

"Once a skincare product starts to have a more involved formula, not just the one ingredient, it can be more difficult to make this claim as it gets more challenging to trace the origins of the ingredients and the practices of the manufacturers.

"Consistency in product quality is another issue which means that organic does not necessarily mean high quality."

But looking for more natural alternatives to looking good does not have to be costly, nor do you need to curb your choices. The growing demand for naturally-derived skincare as consumers become more aware of the need to steer clear of chemicals that have been proven to be harmful to health in the long-run has led to producers providing a lot more choices.

And as always, if you are concerned about what you are putting on your face and body, read the ingredients label first. Find out what ingredients to steer clear of here. After that, make sure the product is suitable for you by ticking off these five boxes:

- Touch,
- Feel
- Fragrance,
- Performance, and
- Price.

Natural products may not always be the best answer either, as certain botanicals may be unsuitable if you have a particular skin condition, such as acne or sensitive skin. Ms Kasza recommends to try out a sample size first when you are thinking of buying a new product. Find out Kati's natural recommendations  for these four common skin types.

Recommendations are helpful, but only from those who know what type of skin you have.  If you have very sensitive skin, that is, your skin gets red, inflamed or irritated easily, it will also do you good to try a product on the inside of your arm just below your elbow, as this part of the skin can be a good indicator for sensitivities.

So my conclusion here is, yes, you can still play it safe by opting for products that are more natural than synthetic, but you cannot be 100 per cent sure that what you use is free of chemicals, unless you grow your own ingredients and live off the land.

Perhaps the ideal thing is to be aware of your choices, and arm yourself with sufficient knowledge to adopt a healthful lifestyle and make smart choices when it comes to beauty instead.