For some time now, there has been a deep concern about sustainability and there is a growing trend towards creating sustainable, natural and even organic cosmetics. For many years now, there has been a preference in the market for greener, less synthetic ingredients, even leaving aside some ingredients that can alter the environment, harming our seas and oceans.
This trend is well known by brands, who know that today's consumer has changed, and brands are turning their formulations and even their packaging to achieve a more natural and sustainable product. A great deal of investment has been made in both the raw material and packaging industries, looking for greener alternatives to ingredients such as polymers whose origin came from plastic or recycled packaging; brands have also reinvented their formulas, incorporating the greenest innovations in the industry.
However, there are also brands that, taking advantage of this trend, are turning their image upside down by greenwashing.
Greenwashing
With this term we refer to a somewhat misleading tactic by brands to give an image of being more sustainable and containing natural formulas, so that the end consumer believes that the brand has also invested time and money in improving its sustainability, but this is not really the case at all.
That is why there are different greenwashing tactics in the industry that we want to show you so that consumers know where they have been "taken for a ride":
- Misused" claims: Unfortunately, in the legislation that applies to cosmetic products, there is no term that defines what is a natural cosmetic or an organic cosmetic. These definitions are clear in the regulations that accompany the certifiers. That is why many brands are aware of this legal loophole and add the term natural or organic to the packaging.
Another strategy is to add some natural ingredient, but only a minority in the formula, and on the packaging, in a very visible way, to show that it contains natural ingredients. The end consumer, who does not know how to read labelling, let alone ingredient lists, believes that the majority of the product contains these ingredients and thus appears to be more natural. - Packaging: another common strategy is to use packaging that visually suggests that the product is very natural, but the formula leaves much to be desired, containing unsustainable ingredients. For example, the use of plastic packaging, sometimes even non-recyclable, but adorned with bamboo or wooden caps, so that the consumer thinks that the whole product itself is natural.
- Labelling with misleading images: other brands even do a little more disguised greenwashing, putting images of plants, fruits or natural elements on the labelling because, perhaps, they are present in the final formulation. However, when we analyse the formulation more closely, we either do not find it or it is only present in a minority of cases.
Strategies to avoid being fooled by greenwashing
- If what you are really looking for is organic cosmetics, because you are really aware of the origin of the ingredients, it is best to opt for certified cosmetics, that is, a private company, which in its own regulations, if it has defined the terms natural or organic, verifies and therefore certifies that the cosmetic is natural and organic. The best known certifiers are those that follow the COSMOS, bioinspecta or ACENE standards.
- Option 1 is very valid, but unfortunately not all brands can afford to be certified because, as we have said, they are private companies and some of them have unattainable fees. That is why there are other standards, such as iso 16128 that allow the calculation of the % of ingredients of natural origin or natural ingredients in the formula. These are standardised standards, i.e. everyone has the same way of calculating these percentages. In addition, some will tell you that they have followed this ISO because it can be indicated on the packaging.
- If none of these options apply to the product you have in your hands, the third option is to be able to interpret the list of ingredients. Don't worry, you don't need to study for a master's degree to do this: if the list of ingredients includes ingredients such as silicones (you will see it with endings such as -methicone or -siloxane) or ingredients such as mineral oils (paraffinum or mineral oil). These are two ingredients that are absolutely not allowed in natural cosmetics.
Knowing what greenwashing is and knowing how to recognise it, aligns your cosmetic purchases with your lifestyle and your awareness of a more sustainable world and natural consumption.