The Redhead's Green Thumb

Xiane rambles about eco-issues, gardening, crafts, and life.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

 

First U.S. Organic Standard for Beauty & Personal Care. Right.

Sustainable Is Good reports that "representatives from a number of the leading companies in the industry have come together to create OASIS, the first U.S. industry standard for certifying organic cosmetic products.

OASIS (Organic and sustainable industry standards) is a collaborative effort between a number of companies including Estee Lauder, Aveda, L'Oreal, Private Label Select, Oh Oh Organics, Hain Celestial Group and others. The organization is a registered 501c 6 Mutual Benefit Trade Association designed to represent the concerns and goals of companies that make sustainable and organic products for the beauty and personal care industry. The organization has 30 founding member companies which include both product and ingredient manufacturers as well as distributors.

Fueled by the lack of U.S. industry standards and the increased harmonization efforts of similar policies and standards in the EU, OASIS is aimed at providing clear industry standards. "We (US beauty industry) needed to have a voice in this discussion," said Tim Kapsner a Senior Research Scientist with Aveda. "

Now, the irony of this makes me want to VOMIT.
Why, do you ask? Well, I don't know - maybe it's that
neither Estée Lauder nor L'Oreal will sign the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, which calls for the removal of toxins and potential carcinogens from personal care products. Both companies use nanoparticles in their cosmetics, which are potentially very dangerous. [look for a future post about this.] In June 2004, Estee Lauder was named one of the liable parties in two lawsuits involving hazardous waste in two of New York's landfills. * Some of the companies that L'Oreal owns are big producers of very questionable cosmetics, and L'Oreal tests on animals. I know that Estee Lauder owns Aveda, and L'Oreal has The Body Shop, so they've got a vested interest in this either way... but c'mon. How am I supposed to take this seriously?

* http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/rs/profile.cfm?id=220&MajorSub=1&CompanyName=Aveda

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Comments:
Having been a former Body Shop at Home rep, I know this was a big concern for a lot of people when L'Oreal bought TBS. Supposedly, L'Oreal assured Anita Roddick (as she said at the time) that the integrity of the BS product was not going to change, that it's just be a subsidiary and it would continue to do what's it's always done. Now that she's gone (and she was so cool, got to meet her!), I would really question how things are run now. I still like BS products, but I would still question whether the L'Oreal way of doing things would start to creep in, now that Anita wouldn't be around to tell them to F$&# OFF if they messed with things. (And that's exactly the wording she'd use. She had a potty mouth on her!)
 
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