Beauty Brands' Organic Marketing Claims Fall Short

August 25, 2011

A new study from the London-based Organic Monitor reports that the formulations of most natural cosmetic brands are not meeting their marketing claims. The research, which included a chemist who examined ingredients, found that many companies claiming to have 'chemically-clean' cosmetics, which may even contain truly organic ingredients, also contained troublesome synthetic ingredients. As a result, some organic cosmetic brands received low 'naturalness' ratings.

Intelligent Nutrients, a Minneapolis-based company formed by Aveda founder Horst M. Rechelbacher, received the highest scores of all North American brands. Some new brands launched by large multinationals also scored high in terms of both their natural and organic formulations, including Garnier Bio Active (L'Oreal), Diadermine Bio Expertise (Henkel) and Johnson's Natural (Johnson & Johnson).