How Do You Know You’re Buying Organic Beauty Products?

Reader Contribution by Staff

I came into the world of organics via food. Once I became more familiar with the USDA’s organic food certification system, it just made sense to foray into organic beauty products; everything that you put on your skin is directly absorbed into your bloodstream and bypasses the kidneys and liver, which filter toxins from your body.

Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to decipher all the labels and terminology applied to beauty products. So many different eco-certifications and claims line the beauty aisles; which ones should you trust?

To me, it makes the most sense to keep the USDA organic seal as the gold standard for anything you put in or on your body. In accordance with the USDA’s food certification standards, no product can be deemed “organic” unless it has 95-100 percent organic ingredients; products that are 70 percent organic can bear the phrase “made with organic ingredients.”

Since 2005, the USDA has been certifying beauty and personal-care products, but it has no control over the production and labeling of cosmetics and personal-care products–which is the exact problem the Organic Consumers Association wants to remedy with its “Coming Clean” campaign.

The Organic Consumers Association, along with personal-care companies Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, Intelligent Nutrients and Organic Essence, filed a formal complaint to the USDA this year and named 13 companies that mislabel their products as “organic” in violation of the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) standards. The OCA and companies are pushing the USDA to take greater responsibility in policing personal-care companies’ “organic” claims.

Currently, the USDA only strictly regulates the term “organic” as it applies to agricultural products–not personal-care products. Though personal-care products can bear the USDA organic symbol if they meet the National Organic Program’s (NOP) standards, the USDA’s regulations do not explicitly include “cosmetics” and allow for the term “organic” to be used on products that may not meet USDA standards.

This has to change. Voice your opinion on the Coming Clean campaign’s website. Continue to support these forward-thinking companies (who have all been featured in Natural Home before!) who stand by their green mission and certify their organic beauty products with the USDA.

• Aromafloria: USDA organic oils and bath salts

• Badger: USDA organic balms and moisturizers

• Dr. Bronner’s: USDA organic soaps, lip balms, body balms, lotions and shaving gels

• EO: USDA organic hand sanitizer and bath salts

• Intelligent Nutrients: USDA organic hair carebody care and skin care

• John Masters Organics: USDA organic hair careskin care, and body care

• Juice Beauty: USDA organic skin care and lip balm

• Nourish: USDA organic cleansersmoisturizers and deodorants

• Organic Essence: USDA organic lip balmscreamssoaps and lotions

• Terressentials: USDA organic face carehair carebody carebaby care and bath care

For more USDA organic beauty products, check out the Organic Consumers Association’s list of body care companies with one or more products meeting USDA organic standards; please note that this list is continually updated!

  • Published on Apr 22, 2010
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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