Kaldary’s question…Are there any eco friendly beauty products that exist? And I guess by eco friendly I mean biodegradablity, packaging, production, and farming. I tried to do a Google search on this and I got a ton of fear mongering about how all man made products are going to kill me. (I roll my eyes when I see “chemical free” claims) I wasn’t able to find the info that I was looking for. So, do eco friendly beauty products exist or is it pointless to look for such things? Is there an eco friendly company out there or is it all just fraud? I don’t care if the materials are natural or synthetic.
The Beauty Brains response:
This is one of those unanswerable questions because not everyone can agree on what is really eco safe (aka green/natural/organic/etc. really means.)
Green or greenwashed
It’s difficult to weed out the green from the greenwashing when it comes to cosmetic formulations. Here are a few examples to explain what we mean.
On one hand, you may think you’re doing a good thing for your body by not using paraben-containing products (even though the scientific data to date says parabens are safe.) But on the other hand you may be opening yourself to infection from products that become contaminated because they’re preservative system isn’t adequately robust.
Then there’s the issue of where a company gets its power. Companies like Aveda use a certain percentage of wind sourced power rather than using “dirty coal” or oil. That’s good. But their shampoos contain ingredients like lauramidopropyl betaine, cocamidopropylamine oxide, steramidopropyl dimethylamine, and polyquartenium-4. Those sound more like synthetic chemicals than eco-safe ingredients, don’t they? Maybe that’s not good, depending on your definition.
What about packaging? Companies like Cargo that focus on eco-safe packaging. They use bottles made from plastic that is corn derived instead of petroleum derived. Plus, at one time and I’m not sure if they still do this, but they used to sell lipsticks and packaging with plant seeds embedded in it. The idea being I guess that as these packages made their way back could be biodegrade it and would sprout flowers. Is eco-safe packaging more important that what goes inside the bottles?
Use the GRI report
So as you can see, determining what’s really ec0-safe can be tough because it depends to some degree on the eye of the beholder. As you’re deciding which eco-safe parameters are important to YOU, I suggest you take a look at the green ratings that we discussed in this post on “How to tell if a beauty company is really green.” It provides a multidimensional look at the ecological footprints of cosmetic companies including details on Raw Materials, Water sources (including amount recycled), Biodiversity (how well they protect the ecosystem), Greenhouse gas emission (CO2 and ozone depleting substances), and Chemical waste (total amount as well as initiatives to mitigate environmental effects).
You could read through the hundreds of pages of this report to try and find an assessment of your favorites cosmetic company (at least the ones who filed this report) and then decide who you’d like to purchase products from. Sadly most people won’t go true all this trouble.
Image credit: http://pixabay.com/
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not sure theres much to hope for beyond greenwashing.
YES! Don’t get discouraged. I know its like a minefield of hype, grey areas and unsubstantiated claims out there…. Just look for products that are certified to the standards of organic food USDA organic. The package will bear the same seal as organic food. This certification eliminates “chemical free” and organic greenwashing because that product has been 3rd party tested to have produced all ingredients to the standards of organic food.
So…. from the agricultural practices (not only no chemical herbicides/pesticides/fertilizers, but non-GMO seed, crop rotation, water conservation, biodiversity ALL required), to extraction of the ingredients, to processing, manufacturing, preservation, emulsification, bottling…. even labeling practices are all approved by the USDA organic program.
If you seek out products that are supporting the health of the air, water, soil and humans…… seek out certified organic to food grade. Easy to spot with that seal! I am a representative with the first company in the world to attain organic food certification on skincare, which is Miessence. I also love Intelligent Nutrients who has a very extensive line (created by the former founder of Aveda), as does Dr. Mercola skincare/bodycare. There are only a few… but they are worth seeking out! I have an entire consumer tips section on my website http://www.organicglow.com if you would like to read further.
Good luck and spend your dollars wisely!
@Allison: We agree that products which meet the organic food standards are less likely to be greenwashed. But it’s also important to understand that these products don’t work as well as “regular” cosmetics. See our previous post on Miessence for examples: http://thebeautybrains.com/2012/05/22/can-miessence-really-make-food-grade-cosmetics/
Brains…. in the post you referenced above, your opinion was that the two Miessence haircare products should deliver the results as promised. Isn’t that a good thing? I’m confused.
On the flipside you go on to say consumers must be prepared that certified organic products might not feel, smell, act exactly the same as their synthetic products. In all fairness that may be true, but I think that has a lot more to do with what consumers have been conditioned to accept as “normal” (cleansers should be sudsy and heavily perfumed, or shave gel should be foamy) and less to do with their performance. Of course if you want a very stiff, hard hold for your hair, then a medium hold certified organic Shape Gel is not what you want anyhow! But it says that in plain language on the bottle, so expectations should be met just fine.
Of course not every product works best for everyone, but the same can be said of “regular” cosmetics. I believe the true strength of certified organic products is skincare. (I can specifically speak to the Miessence products because I have worked with their customers for nearly four years). You don’t get caught in the over cleansing/stripping/then over moisturizing/coating vicious cycle of many synthetic products. As far as documented benefits, Miessence did a little testing on the organic aloe they use as the base ingredient in their skincare and the skin regenerating effect showed to be very effective in several tests with a couple of different labs. There are some details at the bottom of the page here: http://organicglow.com/about/our-ingredients/exceptional-organic-aloe-vera/
Miessence must be doing something right as they have continued to grow and thrive worldwide for over 10 years. If people are interested in reviews from bloggers or customers who have actually used the products, just Google Miessence reviews….
In the end, people just have to try for themselves, which is why Miessence offers a 30 day satisfaction guarantee.
And don’t forget – a company could be doing everything right as far as using sustainably-harvested, organically-grown natural ingredients mixed in an energy-efficient way using no animal testing or child labor… but if that company is making their product on the other side of the world or even the other side of the country, then buying their non-local product means that fossil fuel was burned and resources expended to ship the product to wherever you live. A slightly less perfect but locally produced product might have a better net effect on the environment.
@Allison: You always prompt some thought-provoking discussion and we appreciate that. I guess what we were really trying to say (as an example) is that no food grade cosmetic will hold hair as well as a synthetic styling polymer.
@Sarah – That is a very good point. Although its not safe to just assume local is best. You really do have to examine each company’s environmental policies (local, regional or international). For example, with Miessence, they have earned Carbon Negative status from the worlds most respected 3rd party certifiers. This means Miessence does not stop at carbon neutral, but they actually remove MORE carbon than they emit. So each order actually removes access carbon from the environment that is produced by less conscious companies. This is in addition to a long list of other valued Miessence environmental initiatives outlined here.
http://organicglow.com/about/product-philosophies/environmental-initiatives/
For skincare/bodycare/superfood nutritionals I do not have any local options who source certified organic ingredients, produce product or transport their products (even a short distance) with carbon negative business practices…. so buying from a company in Australia that uses organic farming practices, uses carbon negative transport to get those ingredients to their facility, has a wind powered manufacturing facility, no distribution channels (ships direct from the manufacturing facility to customer) and MORE than offsets those shipping emissions by planting trees is the most sustainable way for me to buy my skincare/bodycare/nutritionals.
the GRI report link doesn’t work….and I couldn’t find another link to it on the GRI website either. Can you help?
@Scientist: It looks like the GRI changed their website. Now you can search for reports by specific companies with this link: http://database.globalreporting.org/search
Scroll down on the left and you can search by specific companies or select the category of Household and Personal Care Products and then go from there.
Natural skin care products are best for treating skin as they do not have any synthetic compound and the chances of getting a negative effects is very very rare. I always prefer and suggest others to use natural products.
I am a hair stylist who works with AVEDA products and can vouch that the difference Aveda products have is where they source their ingredients. It would be awesome if you guys did a post on the ways they use exotic ingredients as active ingredients instead of filler. If you would need any more indepth info, I’m sure I could help provide it.
Robert Boyler
Thanks for the offer Robert. Do you have any examples of which “exotic” ingredients Aveda uses instead of those normally added by the cosmetic industry? If you can provide some examples, and link to a formula with an ingredient list, we’d by happy to blog about it. Thanks!