What Does "Organic" Really Mean in Beauty?
Hi beauty gurus, it’s time for a quick teaching lesson. Today we’re deconstructing the word “organic”. Organic cosmetics, organic beauty, organic skincare, organic products, if the phrase includes the word ‘organic,’ we’re gonna talk about it. Why? Similar to how CBD products are often mislabeled, organic doesn’t mean what you might think. This organic beauty label for organic cosmetics and organic skincare is a myth we need to debunk, so let’s get started.
Breaking down “organic” in 3 parts
What is Organic?
First, let’s begin with the basic term of “organic” at its core. When people hear organic, they think that the organic cosmetic, organic skincare, or organic beauty product is completely natural, plant-based, and is super healthy for your body (speaking of natural, that word also means nothing). Unfortunately, organic only means the ingredients were grown from non-GMO seeds and were grown in a way that aligns with FDA organic guidelines.
Here’s a couple of other things organic beauty means:
Plants around the outside of fields to prevent soil erosion to prevent runoff
No pesticides on ground for 3 years
No pesticides on plant
2. Organic Beauty = No pesticides But...
The best thing about those bullet points? You don’t have to worry about pesticides. While those things are great to have in organic cosmetics and organic skincare, ‘organic’ is not a catch-all and it doesn’t automatically mean it’s better for you.
Organic beauty has official USDA guidelines that you can look up for more detail. In short, the organic cosmetics guidelines say that as long as the ingredients are organic and the facility they’re grown in has certifications (i.e. gone through USDA audit and proven they can keep organic and non-organic ingredients separate). Again, that’s all that organic cosmetics means.
Your best-case scenario is a product with no residual pesticides. For organic beauty, it sounds ideal, but a formula can be organic but can use the worst preservatives, pegs, silicones, or other harmful ingredients for the body and the environment.
What does this mean for organic beauty? Organic cosmetics could still have lipsticks with heavy metal, organic skincare could still have creams with bad preservatives, and organic beauty could be any brand that can adhere to vague guidelines.
3. Loopholes with the word “Organic”
To recap, you can still have an ‘organic’ formula with a bunch of awful ingredients. There’s another loophole with said ingredients and the organic facilities producing organic beauty products. Though it’s true organic ingredients and facilities need certifications, there are different levels and loopholes for people.
One example is people who make their product at home can call their cosmetic or skincare organic, even if it’s not. Another example is about the use of water. an organic beauty product must be 70% or more water by weight. Most beauty products ar already 70% more water by weight. It’s really easy and simple to have one ingredient mixed with water and be called organic.
What Can You do about organic beauty?
Now that you know about how problematic the term ‘organic’ is, you should not feel comfortable with the organic beauty industry. Instead of focusing on the term “organic” (beauty, cosmetics, skincare, etc.), we need to refocus our critical eye on the ingredients.
As a community, by focusing on the ingredients, we’ll become more knowledgeable about the ingredients we’re producing and how they affect the body and environment. It requires extra, but it’s important for all of us to do our own research.
“Organic” Cosmetics, Skincare, and Beauty at Genie Supply
More and more people are starting to use other terms to differentiate themselves now that everyone uses the words ‘organic’ and ‘natural’. One of those new words is ‘clean.’ With all the mislabeling and misrepresentations surrounding organic beauty, organic cosmetics, and organic skincare, we want to make sure you know exactly what we mean when we say clean beauty.
For starters, our Clean + Green catalog does not contain harmful ingredients such as petroleum, derivatives, and about 500 other things that DON’T belong in organic beauty products. We are a company that sometimes grows our own ingredients in a really small batch so that we can ensure handcrafted products are grown and processed organically.
If you’re looking for an animal friendly brand, we’re also vegan and cruelty-free by default! Our clean standards are like no other. To define those standards, we look to some big names for reference like Sephora, Whole Foods, and Credo.
We also offer tests and certifications to ensure your brand is *actually* clean.
Genie Supply means business (and honesty) when it comes to clean beauty.
Explore our samples to find all the clean (and organic) beauty you need.
