We all know about deceptive marketing. Unreal ads with stunningly beautiful people and/or celebrities, hawking age defying lotions and creams, shampoos for impossibly radiant hair, all suggesting that you too can be and stay this beautiful. Most of us are smart enough to know that it's just an ad. But many see or hear the word "natural" or "organic" and think that it applies to the product as a whole. More often than not it's pure bullshit.
We are fortunate that great diarists like nyceve, Jill Richardson and Meteor Blades, take the time to educate and inform us on healthcare, food safety and the environment. Our own personal care choices touch our health and well being, and the environment.
I was completely stunned a couple of years ago when the lovely Sheryl Crow did this ad:
Stunned because she had just been treated for breast cancer. What the hell was she doing putting those harsh chemicals on her very porous scalp for her already compromised body to absorb? She also had just done this ad:
Really? The environment? Where does she think the chemicals in the hair color go. If you color your hair with anything from Revlon, L'Oreal, Clairol... you are polluting your body and the environment. I don't mean to pick on Sheryl Crow, I'm a fan of her music and I believe she means well, but this is a big part of the problem. The disconnect is huge.
So what's a consumer to do? If you are not a biochemist, reading labels can be quite a challenge. And for the FDA, the agency in charge of our personal care products, truth in labeling is simply not a priority. (I'm not sure how much of a priority food or drugs are either).
There is more awareness now of some of the really nasty ingredients, like the paraben family of preservatives, which are all petro-chemically derived. And not all ingredients that are harmful are synthetic. Sodium lauryl sulfate, a surfactant, or sudsing agent, found in toothpastes, shampoos, bubble baths, etc. is derived from coconuts but it is very harsh to your gum tissues and other sensitive skin. And please don't let that b.s. label "cruelty free" fool you. Many manufacturers use ingredients that were tested on animals, but maybe not by them, the raw ingredient guys did it. So hey, they're not guilty! Right.
It would be nice if we had an agency who did the label reading and testing for us, like the Europeans have.
German natural product manufacturers got together and formed an agency to police their industry called BDIH. The BDIH seal is now on products from many European countries. From their website:
Natural cosmetics have become a major trend in recent years. There is a growing awareness that we are responsible for the world in which we live, and an increasing concern for our own health. We appreciate the delicate balance of the natural world and strive to maintain this harmony by using environmentally-friendly products that are nurturing to us and as harmless as possible to the earth.
~snip~
Only products that meet the strict standards of the guidelines are able to display the BDIH "Certified Natural Cosmetics" seal. Both the criteria and those manufacturers who have submitted their products for certification are listed here.
The above mentioned trend toward "natural" personal care, whether it be toothpaste, shampoos and hair colors, or makeup, has made many corporations want a piece of this market. Stretching the truth and outright lying about their products, like Proctor & Gamble's product line Herbal Essence use of the tag line, "A totally organic experience", is not only utter b.s. but sadly commonplace.
Another trend for big corporations is to buy a known brand, like Tom's of Maine Colgate-Palmolive Company or Burts Clorox's Bees, put their money and muscle behind them, create more products, buy more shelf space in stores, and push their competitors out. And of course now you see these products at Wal-Mart and other big chains. The cost here is not only to quality natural personal care products, but to locally owned natural food stores and co-ops as well.
I sure as heck don't have all the answers here, I just muddle my way through these choices. And I'm torn. I use a German line of personal care products that is all BDIH, but it comes from a long ways away. It would be great to have a domestic line that was this good.