DECODING ORGANIC SKINCARE June 2018
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“Made with 100% Natural Ingredients!”
“Made with 100% Natural Ingredients!” can be a deceiving phrase. To decode it, we have created this helpful guide for you.
What does Organic Certification Mean? The base ingredients of any skincare product with a “certified organic” certification must have grown under strict guidelines. Any manufacturer of products must be inspected by a USDA NOP (National Organic Program) certification agency.
Benefits of Organic Certification With organic certified ingredients, you will know that the ingredients were not contaminated by pesticides or genetically modified organisms (GMO). Also, you will know the ingredients are wholesome and are as close to undisturbed growing of the ingredient as possible. With the USDA Organic seal or with a certification agency seal, you will also know that the skincare product followed strict protocols to be developed and sold to you. You will have the satisfaction that behind the scenes of manufacturing of an organic glycerin soap bar or organic facial cream there were hundreds to thousands of people making sure the product is safe, healthy, and has high standards.
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100% Organic Certification A skincare product can only be “100% Organic Certified” if: 1. Only has 100% organic ingredients. 2. Only organic processing equipment and tools are used. No equipment used in the manufacture or any tools used in processing can ever touch non-organic ingredients to manufacture an organic product.
3. All plant-based products that are used in the manufacture and ingredient listing of the skincare product must be from a non-GMO plants. The label must list the skincare product’s certification agency and has the option of using the USDA Organic seal.
95% Organic Certification A skincare product can be labeled “Organic” if: 1. At least 95% of the ingredients used are 100% organic certified. 2. The remaining 5% of the ingredients that are not 100% organic certified be “allowed” ingredients (such as vitamins, baking powders, citric acid, sodium hydroxide (lye), or non-GMO dyes). 3. All agricultural ingredients are certified organic.
70% Organic - Made with Organic Ingredients
The label must list the skincare product’s certification agency and has the option of using the USDA Organic seal.
The last category is “Made with Organic Ingredients.” This is a very popular category for skincare products to fall into because many skincare products, such as lye soap, cannot be 100% certified organic due to the ingredients. For this certification, a skincare product must:
1. At least 70% certified organic products must be used. 2. Remaining 30% ingredients can be non-organic certified that are “allowed ingredients” or non-organic agricultural ingredients (such as vitamins, baking powders, citric acid, sodium hydroxide (lye), or non-GMO dyes).
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Reading Ingredients on a Skincare Label There are many types of ingredients to look for when searching a label of your favorite soap, body wash, face cream, etc. Parabens, sodium lauryl sulfates (SLS), silicon dioxides, etc. are not eligible for organic certified ingredients. These are sometimes labeled as “natural”, but ANY chemical/ingredient could be labeled as “natural” because there is no certifying agency involved in “natural”. These ingredients are NOT organic unless you see an ingredient on the label that has the word “organic” in front of the main ingredient.
For example, if a shampoo label reads, “Made with AllNatural Ingredients”, chances are the shampoo is not organic. ANY ingredient can be natural! You must look at the ingredients to see if there are any organic ingredients such as “organic olive oil”, “organic grapeseed oil”, “organic lavender”, etc.
There are also no major certifications for “local” or “sustainable.” There are products sold in Florida that were manufactured in California and are labeled “Local” and “Sustainable.” These skincare products could include toxic pesticides, GMO’s, or other synthetic chemicals/ substances that are banned under the organic certification.
Also, be careful with words such as “No Spray”, “Residue Free”, or “Pesticide Free” as this does not show that the skincare product is organic certified. With these statements, a product can still be used with insecticides, fungicides, or other synthetic chemicals.
From top: eos lip balm label; Fivesso soap label
Sweet Essentials anti-aging serum
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Guidelines to Classify an Organic Ingredient: 1. Any agricultural based product or plant-based ingredients must be non-GMO (genetically modified organism) and cannot be genetically modified in any way. 2. All agricultural based products or plant-based ingredients cannot be treated with any kind of pesticides that are not 100% organic certified. 3. During growing and/or manufacturing of the skincare product, anything that physically touches the product’s ingredients can NEVER be contaminated with non-organic ingredients or be used with non-organic ingredients. An example of this is that a facility that makes organic certified essential oils must make sure that all equipment used in processing these oils – from extraction from the flower/fruit/plant to measuring the oils to filling the essential oil bottles must only touch organic certified ingredients. No contamination must occur from a non-organic certified ingredient or mixture.
Sources FAQ’S: www.ccof.org/faqs What is Organic? www.ccof.org/organic If you are interested in further reading, you can find the organic labeling regulations in sections 205.303, 205.304, 205.307, and 205.311 of the USDA Organic Standards. All skincare labels must be approved by a certifying agency.
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