The 411 on Organic Makeup
Now that the organic trend has reached the cosmetics and personal product industry, it can be more confusing than ever to make educated choices when buying makeup. Here, we help decode the organic makeup market and provide some brand names with a good reputation.
What is “Natural” and “Organic”?
The marketing and advertising industry exists to persuade consumer decision making—and they are very good at it. In a nutshell, you can’t believe everything you see. For example, terms such as “natural” or “organic” are not regulated in the beauty industry which means a company can put these words on their products whether it is truly organic or not. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not even have a definition for the term organic. The National Organic Program (NOP), overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), certifies organic products as those which include agricultural ingredients which have been produced under certain conditions.
But to understand it in layman’s terms, basically when a product is natural its ingredients are taken from natural sources rather than synthetic materials. An organic product is similarly derived from natural sources, but only those which are plant-based.
Myths and Facts
The organic makeup and personal product industry sells products by fueling consumer fear of “dangerous” ingredients. But while some research may support evidence pointing to the existence of chemicals or substances that are detrimental to health, not every synthetic or non-organic substance is.
The FDA maintains that an ingredient’s source does not determine its safety. They point to the fact that many plants contain substances that may be toxic or allergenic, regardless of whether they are organically grown or not. Furthermore, natural or organic products are also found not to be more effective than non-organic products.
With all that being said, many organizations uphold the position that various chemicals used to produce cosmetics should be used with caution. If you want to make healthier choices for your makeup and personal care products, here is a list of chemicals that according to organicfacts.net you may want to avoid:
- Coal tar
- Diethanolamine (DEA)
- Formaldehyde
- Glycol Ethers
- Lead
- Mercury
- Glucocorticoids
- Parabens
- Benzyldimethylstearylammonium chloride
- Phthalates
- Propylene glycol
- Lanolin
- Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) Copolymer
- Triethanolamine (TEA)
- Synthetic colors
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
- Imidazolidinyl and Diazolidinyl urea
- Cocamidopropyl betaine
- Fragrance
- Mineral oil
Organic Makeup Brands
If you feel that you’d like to use organic makeup, here is a list of some popular brands. Most beauty editors differ on what they consider to be the best brands, however this list should give you a good start:
Physicians Formula
Ecco Bella
Pure and True
Bare Minerals
Sephora
Origins
RMS Beauty
Seventh Generation
Ava Anderson