The review used the ISO standard criteria and calculating rules to confirm this information, and found that more than 250 of its personal care ingredients can be defined as natural or derived natural by the standard.
This means the rest of the company’s personal care portfolio does not meet this international standard for naturals.
How leafy is your ingredient?
BASF says it will continue using its Leaves Index to indicate the degree of any given product’s natural origin: the number of leaves, one to four, indicates how ‘natural’ each ingredient is.
It is calculated by the share of regenerative carbon atoms in relation to the total share of carbon in the ingredient, which BASF says corresponds to the a calculation method described in the ISO standard.
“From our calculations we can say that more than 250 of our personal care ingredients meet the ISO definition as natural or derived natural with a share of at least 50 percent natural carbon atoms,” explains Ute Griesbach.
What is the ISO for naturals?
The ISO 16128 standard of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) offers guidelines on definitions for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and offers a framework to determine the natural content of ingredients as well as formulations.
It was announced in November of last year, and comes as an addition to existing standards, including COSMOS (COSMetic Organic Standard) or NATRUE.
The definition was much-needed in the industry: a harmonized definition for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients increases transparency for manufacturers and consumers alike.
It helps the claims gain a science-based backing, reduces the potential for greenwashing, and is likely to encourage greater consumer trust as result.
“While COSMOS and NATRUE are the most important standards for natural and organic cosmetics today, the ISO 16128 norm is a new international standard,” says the company.
“BASF supports their customers with all necessary information and data for all three standards.”