TUCSON, Ariz. — Thousands of people rub makeup on their face everyday, but few know what is actually in it.

With enough ingredients on the back of an average blush compact or mascara tube to confuse a biochemistry major, many consumers turn a blind eye to the wonder-gunk, deciding that what they don't know can't hurt them.

But for others, the growing list of un-pronounceable ingredients has served as an incentive to seek an alternative.

“I really never looked at the back; I didn’t want to know,” said Jane Griffis, a Tucson homemaker. “That’s why I started coming in here for my stuff.”

"Here" would be the Origins store inside the Tucson Mall, 4500 N. Oracle Road, located on the first level.

Created in 1990, the store has been a Tucson Mall standard, but only recently has it started to see a surge in customers due to the eco-friendly and organic craze.

“While we do have an organic line, not everything we carry is completely organic. However, what is not organic is completely plant-based,” said assistant store manager Christina Hampton.

With even their aromas derived from plants and seeds, lotions, cosmetics, body washes, and makeup are just some of these non-organic, but natural, items--the difference between the two being how ingredients are grown.

“To be organic, it has got to get passed (by the United States Department of Agriculture)," said Hampton. "All our plant-based products are made with essential oils, not preservatives,”

The company's newest line, inspired and created by famous author, vitamin and healthy living expert, and professor at the University of Arizona Dr. Andrew Weil, is in its second year with Origins.

not the only eco-friendly store in the mall, Origins is joined by another Earth-conscious skin protector, The Body Shop. Here, the focus is on the benefit of the Earth.

“Fifty percent of what we buy is community made. We get wood from Russia, we go to South America for aloe,” said store manager Amy Reed.

"We’re a multi-national company. We set a fair price for the products we buy to make sure these farmers can continue to grow instead of giving up and being forced to move off their land.”

The amount of preservatives used in products is minimal said Reed, only enough to ensure it will not spoil on the shelves in the store. Another Earth-friendly practice at The Body Shop comes not from what you buy, but what it comes in.

“We use recycled products for all of our packaging, but we also try to use as minimal packaging as possible,” Reed said. "No extra boxes or containers or anything."

So where is the benefit for the consumer?

“A lot of people use our natural lotions to avoid irritation,” said Hampton at Origins, a consumer benefit that Reed echoed.

“We are the inventors of the Body Butter, which our founder Anita Roddick made a number of years ago," she added. It's been one of our signature products,” she said.

“My skin feels so much better now,” Griffis said. “It’s nice to know everything is natural here (Origins), but really because it works.”

While there may not be an increased interest from boyfriends and husbands nationwide in what goes into their significant others’ foundation, what’s good for the Earth is good for your skin.