STEP TWO: LEARN ABOUT LABELS
THE LABELS on beauty and personal care products do NOT have the same regulations and FDA accountability as the food industry. Words that are regulated for food, like “organic,” are not regulated for personal care products. Understanding the loose labeling laws for this industry will help you avoid toxic products and make safer purchasing choices.
GREENWASHING is the practice of portraying a company or products as being environmentally friendly when they are not. Greenwashing is also used in the beauty industry to market products using green-concept wording and packing design to elicit sales from green-conscious consumers.
Consumers looking for safer products need to be aware of and vigilant against greenwashing techniques. These products can be easily mistaken as being safer and healthy.
What do words like “natural,” “organic,” and “non-toxic” mean when it comes to cosmetics?
Legally, nothing. There are no legally defined or regulated definitions of these terms for beauty products. A company can call their product “natural” or “organic” etc. without accountability as there is no legal definition or formula testing. Maybe it means one of their ingredients is sourced naturally, but all the others aren’t. It could mean that 1% of the formula is made with organic components, but the remaining 99% is made from GMO or conventional ingredients. Basically, the words on the labels of your personal care products are meaningless and unregulated in this industry.
Are natural ingredients safer than synthetic chemicals?
Natural ingredients are not necessarily safer the synthetics. For example, poison ivy is natural but you wouldn’t want a body lotion made of poison ivy. Heavy metals are natural and so is petroleum. There are many natural ingredients we don’t want to apply to our skin! We’ve been “educated” to desire natural products but they may not be the best choice. There are many synthetic or “artificial” substances that have proven to be safe for use.
Can I trust the ingredient list?
Most product labels do not include a complete list of the ingredients. There are several reasons why:
“Fragrance” is an umbrella term that the FDA allows companies to use instead of listing individual scent ingredients. This means that any product listing “fragrance,” “parfum,” or even “natural fragrance” in the ingredients contains an unknown blend of ingredients. Fragrance manufacturers use concoctions that have never been tracked or regulated. So even if they wanted to, there is no way for companies to know what is in the blends they sell. Tests have found fragrance ingredients to include components like phthalates which are hormone disruptors, as well as chemicals that are allergens and neurotoxins.
Some products end up containing unlisted substances like results of chemical reactions that were not part of the formula but are byproducts of the manufacturing, bottling, shipping etc. process. An example is leeching of hormone disruptors from plastic bottles.
Bulk-stored ingredients sometimes have preservatives added to prevent mold or decay during storage. Those preservatives are not included in a product ingredient list as they are not considered to be part of the formula or manufacturing process.
Proprietary ingredients are any component a company withholds as a trade secret.
If you want to know more about “Greenwashing” click HERE.