Quick tips to avoid “green-washing” – How to choose organic and natural products

What is greenwashing? When a company claims their products are all-natural, when in fact they aren’t. A lot of greenwashing can happen also if a product is re-packaged into a more natural looking bottle (think burlap-colored plastic), or if a product magically has a green leaf on it.

Don’t fall for it!

Quick tips

Here are some über-quick tips for you busy ladies and gents who are looking to switch to natural personal products but don’t know where to start:

Don’t be fooled by the green leaf or the word “natural” on the front. Just because a company slaps a green leaf or the word “natural” on the product doesn’t mean it’s natural. You’ll be surprised how many companies are jumping on the natural bandwagon as a great marketing scheme. Be your own detective, and…
Read the ingredients! Some dead giveaways are these and their derivatives: parabens, phthalates (reads as “fragrance”), talc, benzoyl peroxide, DEA/MEA/TEA, sodium lauryl sulfate, propylene glycol, cocamide … the list goes on and on. When in doubt, google an ingredient.
If you can’t find the list of ingredients easily, it’s a bad sign. Companies that sell actually natural and organic products will be very transparent with their ingredients, how their company uses environmentally friendly practices, don’t test on animals, etc. If the ingredients list isn’t on the packaging or on the website’s product page, it can’t be good.
Look for the real Certified Organic symbol. This is a quick, foolproof way to ensure you’re getting a product without all of the nasty lab-created chemicals.Something important to note in terms of the level of “organic” (yes, from Wikipedia):

Products made entirely with certified organic ingredients and methods can be labeled “100% organic”. Products with at least 95% organic ingredients can use the word “organic”. Both of these categories may also display the USDA organic seal. A third category, containing a minimum of 70% organic ingredients, can be labeled “made with organic ingredients”. In addition, products may also display the logo of the certification body that approved them. Products made with less than 70% organic ingredients can not advertise this information to consumers and can only mention this fact in the product’s ingredient statement. Similar percentages and labels apply in the EU.
…But, keep in mind that smaller companies may not yet be able to afford the Organic Certification. Same goes for the cruelty-free certification. It’s an expensive certification to achieve, that requires an annual fee and inspection.

The bottom line: read the ingredients and do your research.

Resources

Here are some of my favorite and most trustworthy resources thus far:

GoddessHuntress
No More Dirty Looks (dot com and the published book)
EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database
… and intelligent Googling!

Natural and Organic Beauty Product Sites

Finally, here are some awesome all-natural online beauty retailers:

That’s all I got for now. So, tell me, what are your best tips for choosing natural/organic beauty products? What are your favorite all-natural brands or stores?

PS Some of these awesome tips I’m reporting from the Natural Beauty panel at the Beautylish Beauty Social!

Jenn