Sunday, May 18, 2008

Dr. Bonners suing big companies like Estee Lauder

THIS recent article is very interesting....

We knew before that the requirements for labeling cosmetics and beauty products are loosely defined - to say the least. Well now someone is doing something about it! You may have seen Dr. Bonner soaps at your local health food store...... They are suing several large companies for basically distorting the term "organic" just like they have done with "natural".

The FDA requires food to be 95% organic to be labeled organic. There are no such requirements for healthy and beauty products. Some companies like Aubrey Organics (my fav!) and Dr. Bonners take the responsibility seriously and set requirements for themselves - Dr Bonner's uses the same 95% rule for their products. But other products use no standards at all.

In that article I learned that Aveno is owned by Estee Lauder - one of the companies getting sued. Aveno does have some natural ingredients and is seen by most as a healthier brand of lotions - BUT their products do contain many of the same chemicals as mainstream brands do. Its largely a marketing scam.

*Hopefully* this lawsuit will result in some firm standards for these big companies to prevent them from cashing in on the growing trend of being more "green" and seeking out safer products. They are ripping off the public and making tons of money on it and it needs to stop (remember my post on Johnson&Johnson's "natural" line?)

4 comments:

Alli said...

Interesting. I'm glad there is some company out there trying to do the right thing....even if it is in their own interest.

Rachel said...

Id imagine that the organic standards are very important to them by principle since they've been doing this so long and holding themselves to a standard that they didnt have to. It will benefit them in the end but rightly so.

Green Republican said...

I love Dr. Bronner's products. We use their lavender bar soap in the shower and the liquid soap in our kitchen and bathroom soap dispensers. I buy it in bulk at PCC.

I even took a bar of it with us on our trip to the midwest... I handwashed everything in our suitcase one afternoon and it does a great job getting "smoke smell" out of clothes. :)

I know, I know... not really relevant to your post, but I love this company's soaps. LOL I think it's fantastic that they're taking on Estee Lauder.

The Fiskeaux Family said...

It's kind of a similar feeling I get when I watch various cosmetics/skin care commercials and seeing some of their claims. When MK came out with the Mineral Powder Foundation, the company included this in the consultant's info: "No ingredient used in mineral makeup is 'all natural.' That’s because minerals undergo extensive purification and processing before they are incorporated into a cosmetic product. Even the water used in cosmetics is treated! While Mary Kay Mineral Powder Foundation contains natural ingredients, we don’t say it is 'all natural' because that’s inaccurate." It makes me feel more confident to know that my parent company is striving to be honest and forthcoming, even when it goes against trend!