ASK AUDREY:

Do you carry organic shampoo?

This was a question that I heard from a customer in one of the stores. Organic shampoo? I’m aware of what organic means at the grocery store, or at least I think I am, but I had no idea what it meant in a shampoo or beauty product. So, I did some research. Here is what I found out.

The term “organic” as it applies to food is regulated by the US Department of Agriculture, which has a set of standards that are uniform for all foods with the label “Certified Organic”. Cosmetics and other beauty supplies (shampoo) are regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. Currently, USDA standards for organic are much more lenient. This means that an “organic” beauty product may have water infused with organic plants, but still has the same synthetic ingredients and preservatives as non-organic products. For more information, visit Organic Consumers Associates.

We as consumers really want gentle products for ourselves, gentle farming practices, environmentally sustainable products, or something along those lines. So, I’ve put together some information that focuses on different aspects of sustainability. I challenge you to ask yourself what it is that is really important to you, as a consumer, when you are shopping for beauty products. Is it organic ingredients? Animal testing practices? Packaging or carbon footprint? Below are some options for these and more concerns.

No Animal Testing
Privately Held Corp* Made in USA Eco-Friendly Packaging
MOP
KMS
Kenra
Original Sprout
Joico
Bare Minerals
Dermalogica
Paul Mitchell
Crome
Enjoy
AG
Deva Curl
Colure
Abba
Kenra
Original Sprout
Enjoy
AG
Too Faced
KMS
Paul Mitchell
Moroccan Oil
Colure
Dermalogica
Dermalogica
Original Sprout
Joico
Alterna
Deva Curl
Mailibu Hair Care
Enjoy
Abba
KMS
Kenra
Pureology
Original Sprout
Joico
Colure
Dermalogica
Sulfate Free
Vegan Organic Ingredients Toxic Aware*
Crome
Colure
Kenra
Pureology
Original Sprout
Deva Curl
Enjoy
Pureology
Original Sprout
ABBA
Deva Curl
Colure
MOP
Pureology
Alterna
Original Sprout
Colure
Original Sprout
Colure
AG
Deva Curl

*Toxic Aware means that ingredients are picked for health reasons, not just performance.

*Privately Held Corp means that the original owners are still steering the company and not stockholders.

Here are some other interesting facts I learned about some of these companies. Paul Mitchell was the first company to oppose animal testing in our industry. They also fund the planting of trees to offset the carbon emissions of their Tea Tree brand. They have their own Awapuhi farm in Hawaii that is sustainably farmed and solar powered.

Enjoy is still a privately held company. However, 30% of the company stock is employee owned through their Employee Stock Ownership Program.

Since 2008, AG has built a school each year for girls in Africa. Moroccan Oil also promotes education in Morocco, is fair trade, and practices sustainable harvesting of the Argan forest.

Joico installed two wind turbines at its Geneva, NY facility making it the only professional hair care line that is generating its own power on-site. They also have a program where they offset their other carbon footprinting.

This is by no means a perfect list, or a complete list. Some of this information was harder to find than you might think. I may have left out an aspect that you would find really important. This is a start, however, to conscious shopping in the beauty industry. As it turns out, our industry does have a soul.

Let me know if there is something important to you not mentioned here. Hopefully, we can grow this list and add more companies as they become more aware. As always, thank you for shopping with us.

Ask Audrey

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Audrey

This newsletter is a compilation of many voices and is not necessarily a single person. We have done our best to represent the subject matter as thoroughly as possible, but we make no guarantees. Please use this newsletter as only one of several sources, as it contains both facts and opinions.