The word "chemical" definitely has a stigma when it comes to beauty products.
According to BenchMarking Company's Pink Report, 45% of women out of 1,800 surveyed in the US choose natural or organic beauty products because of their fear of chemicals in traditionally-made beauty brands.
Many major beauty manufacturers have launched organic beauty product lines last year and were said to be successful sales-wise despite their premium price.
A recent article from the Wall Street Journal tell Estee Lauder's 3-year global hunt for organic ingredients for its Origins Organics product line. Organic palm oil was found in Brazil, clove in Indonesia, coconut oil in the Philippines, olive oil in Greece, thyme in Spain and lavender in Bulgaria. The last was organic soy lecithin in the US for use as an emulsifier.
Many chemical companies deal with this greening beauty products trend by offering natural, semi-natural, natural-infused and even organic ingredients to their cosmetic customers.
I guess it is natural (no pun intended) for consumers to be wary of chemicals in their skin care products especially with environmental activists continuing their "scare-the-consumers-about-the-evils-of-chemicals" tactics. However, maybe the chemical industry should also become more proactive about teaching consumers the benefits of chemical ingredients to their beauty regimen. They have to start by making the word chemical beautiful again.
You are right - there is a lot of confusion amongst beauty product consumers, who assume that "natural" is good for you and "chemical" bad, disregarding the fact that many chemicals are naturally occurring, and many natural products are bad for you.