If it’s a plant or animal based ingredient, you probably can. This generally means things like oils, butters, essential oils, herbal extracts, herbs, starches, honey (though a bit dubious as who is following the bees and monitoring their diet?!), beef tallow, etc. When I say “organic” here I’m talking about a version of the plant/animal that has been raised from non-GMO seeds without the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, or antibiotics.
If it’s one of these things, you definitely cannot:
- Clay
- Mica
- Oxide
- Salt
- Epsom salts
- Baking soda
- Titanium dioxide
- Zinc oxide
- Water
- Sodium hydroxide
- Potassium hydroxide
- Etc.
These are all inorganic compounds. Chemistry-wise this means these compounds contain no carbon, which means they are not of an organic origin—”organic” here having nothing to do with how the plant or animal was raised, but being a classification of matter that is unchangeable. All plants and animals are organic in this sense.
Because compounds like salt are naturally occurring, inorganic compounds, there is no such thing as an organic version. Salt isn’t raised using pesticides, but it’s still inherently inorganic.
Posted in: Ingredients
