Understanding Organic Beauty Products Labels

Organic Beauty Products are certified by third party auditors to ensure compliance with the specific set of standards. Third-party organizations audit the companies regularly. Certified organic beauty products are manufactured using ingredients that are grown without the use of fertilizers, herbicides, synthetic pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). No harmful additives, such as artifical chemicals, petroleum waxes and fillers are used either.

Some companies use only a few herbal or plant-based extracts in the manufacture of their “organic” beauty products. In reality, these few herbal extracts are mixed in a synthetic soup which may include silicones, artificial colors, polymers (plastics), artificial fragrances, petroleum, petroleum derivatives or other potentially harmful substances. These substances are not only potentially harmful to humans but can be potentially harmful to the environment as well. Companies market these products to consumers without mentioning the “non-organic” ingredients; however, they emphasize the “organic” ingredients in their efforts to sell their products to consumers. Fortunately, consumers have become more sophisicated in their buying process and are recognizing hype from reality.

Educate yourself as a consumer by reading all labels, even those for food. Learn what the ingredients really are by researching what a 10-syllable word listed on the label really is. This can easily be done by using internet search engines, such as google.

Organic beauty products are certified according to a set of rules with the award of a specific certification given according to how the manufacturer meets those rules. These rules usually indicate:

• The percentage of organic content contained in the product
• The percentage of synthetic content that is acceptable, if any
• Ingredients that a product can/cannot be made from
• The processes used in the manufacture and/or processing of the ingredients
• The percentage of water contained in the product

100% ORGANIC – This logo on the packaging means all of the ingredients are organic.

USDA ORGANIC - Established in 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture seal designating a product organic requires a product to be 95% organic content in order to use the logo. This is the strictest of organic standards since it really is used to designate food as organic. The use of this logo allows no synthetic preservatives and almost no chemical processing of the ingredients used in the product.

MADE WITH ORGANIC INGREDIENTS – This logo means that 70% to 94% of the products is organic.

NSF – Established in 2009, the NSF logo is one of the first U.S. organic standards for cosmetic manufacturers since the USDA organic standard was actually designed for organic foods. In order to use the logo and the “made with organic” claim, a minimum of 70% of all ingredients with the exception of water must be organic. This standards allows for a broader range of preservatives and chemical processes that the USDA standard. The word “organic” can only be used on the ingredient panel.

ORGANIC OASIS – Established in 2008 by a number of U.S. beauty manufacturers, Oasis competes with the NSF standard. Although Oasis requires that 85% of all of the agricultural ingredients to be organic, it allows a broader range of chemical processes and preservatives than NSF.

There are a number of European standards used in organic beauty products that require anywhere from 70% to 95% of organic content. It is important that you read the labels before using any product made outside of the United States since they use different standards for ingredients and processing.