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I've been a true loyalist to Origins, Aveda and The Body Shop for
the better part of ten to fifteen years. I admit, I walk into a store
and I fall hook, line and sinker for the scents they pump through their
stores. The Body Shop was one of the first companies that tauted no
testing on animals. And being the animal lover that I am, this
appealed to me greatly. Whether it be a mouse or a dog, if it has fur
and four legs, I'm pretty much in love. Aveda was one of the first
shampoos that I bought that went beyond the cheapo brands. And well,
Origins has had an image of being pure and natural from the get-go.
Let's chalk up all of this to great brand imaging and strategy: If you
have ever come face to face with these companies' marketing campaigns
you can't help but conjur up thoughts and images of nature, fresh,
organic, healthy products that are going to make you look and feel
great...naturally.
After working with Shelly Ballestero on our recent article of 'The Detriments of Cosmetics',
I started to tune in and do some homework around these products I've
come to love. When I checked up on these three manufacturers 
on 'Skin Deep,' a Cosmetic Safety Database,
I was left somewhat surprised and disappointed: All three of them have
a good number (the majority) of products that are poorly ranked when it
comes to the level of hazardous ingredients they include. Not so
natural or fresh...is it?
Luckily, awareness is growing. A coalition of public health,
educational, environmental, and consumer groups, amongst others, make
up The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which works directly with cosmetic
manufacturers to encourage reformulations and safer ingredients. Over
500 companies have voluntarily signed a pledge called the campaign's
"Compact for Safe Cosmetics," a pledge to formulate products that do
not use ingredients that are known or suspected to cause certain health
harms within three years of signing. Get this...only The Body Shop
(owned by L'Oreal) has signed this pledge. Aveda and Origins (both
owned by Estee Lauder) have not.
Although each of these three companies have safe products, they also
have a wealth of unsafe products. So what do you do? Just like
reading nutritional labels is crucial to understanding what makes up
the food you eat, understanding the ingredients in a personal care
product can keep you from using toxic, carcinogenic and allergenic
products that could be hazardous to your health. It is good to know
that awareness is growing around this topic...as many of us have been
misled to believe claims that products are natural and good for you,
when they very well aren't. I'm also glad to know that The Body Shop
is moving their company into safer waters...because I still am a
diehard for their products. Companies like The Body Shop need to forge
ahead and make other manufacturers follow suit...and fast. I look
forward to the day that consumers don't have to do the dirty work of
investigation into the products they choose.
Click here for a list of companies who have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics.
