This has meant that the sector has been left wide open to interpretation, so some products that companies choose to label as organic contain as little as 1% organic ingredients, while the other 99% might not comply with the ingredients permitted by the standards.
Given that there is often some confusion over the term, the campaign also invited consumers to join to campaign and fight for a better understanding of organic and what it all actually means.
The Soil Association believes that certification with an accredited organisation is the only way to ensure beauty products are truly organic and more sustainable for the communities that grow the ingredients.
‘Gold Standard’
“The Soil Association’s organic symbol is known as the gold standard in organic beauty,” Trade Relations Manager Emma Reinhold tells CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com.
“When you see a certifiers’ marque on a product, you know that it has had to comply and meet with stringent standards in order to use that particular logo.”
Reinhold also makes the point that the only way to avoid creating confusion is to have some consistency in the language that is used.
With consumers already baffled by the language used in the beauty industry, the ‘green’ message needs to be harmonised so that there are not several out there, which Emma tells us was a driving influence behind the Soil Association’s initiative, calling on the industry to clean up its act around greenwashing and be clearer when it comes labelling organic.
Organic Beauty Week
This set the scene for the Organic Beauty Week which was celebrated last week by over 60 brands and 20 retailers aiming to engage with consumers from all groups.
The Soil Association’s Campaign for Clarity was launched as part of the week, which focuses on all things organic in beauty, looking to increase the awareness of organic health and beauty products and their benefits, across all consumer platforms.
“We believe that organic beauty should mean just that: beauty products that comply to strict standards and a certification stamp that gives consumers the confidence to know that what they are buying is truly organic, from the beautiful plants and herbs used in the formulas to the nonorganic ingredients that are left out...” says Reinhold.
“We believe that organic is the future and this year we’re going to campaign for brands to be better and for consumers to understand more. It’s time to reclaim organic and stand up for the consumers who deserve to know what they’re buying.”