Wavellite Inc.
Wavellite works to increase consumer awareness, understanding, and knowledge of the harmful impacts of everyday shopping habits through partnering with sustainably conscious brands that share the same intrinsic values.
Sample blog post
What It Means to be Clean: Navigating Industry Standards
Clean, green, natural, organic, pure, simple, honest, as consumers, we hear these buzzwords across all platforms and media messages. At this point in technological development, it is inevitable that the world of retail and consumerism has no choice but to adapt to a greener and cleaner environment.
From packaging materials and package waste itself, to biodegradability of formula, the cosmetics industry is seeing a massive shift in consumer demand for sustainable business practices. As I’m writing this, I feel a bit biased. I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, in and around the Portland, Seattle, and Bellingham areas. The economic climate in these areas has allowed for opportunities within sustainable practices to thrive. My college town doesn’t provide plastic bags at grocery stores, but instead encourages consumers to bring their own reusable bags, or offers paper bags at an additional charge of .05 cents each. My college itself doesn’t sell plastic water bottles on campus, but rather provides watering refill stations throughout the university. In other words- I am very privilaged to live in an eco-friendly environment such as the PNW and therefore my perception of clean/green beauty might be a bit different than the average consumer.
At this time, the FDA doesn’t have any regulations for the use of words such as natural, organic, or clean in the concept of product packaging within beauty or personal care products. When researching for this information, the FDA reroutes users to the NOP (National Organic Program, a federal agency that governs organic foods and products) website. There, it is stated that, “USDA organic products have strict production and labeling requirements. Organic products must meet the following requirements:
Produced without excluded methods, (e.g., genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge)
Produced using allowed substances. View the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List).
Overseen by a USDA National Organic Program-authorized certifying agent, following all USDA organic regulations.”
Additionally, it is added that, “If you are not certified, you must not make any organic claim on the principal display panel or use the USDA organic seal anywhere on the package*. You may only, on the information panel, identify the certified organic ingredients as organic and the percentage of organic ingredients (USDA, 2019).”
Average consumers will not go to these lengths to differentiate what a brand means when they put words such as clean/green/organic on their products. Because of the ambiguity of the language used on product packaging, it is difficult for an average consumer to fully understand the claims in which they are buying into.
Global Cosmetics Industry Magazine adds their definition of Clean Beauty as, “Clean beauty is all about ingredient safety over source incorporating both synthetic and natural materials. While maybe a surprise to many not all natural ingredients are safe and not all synthetic ingredients are unsafe. With Clean Beauty, brands are focused on not using materials that are known to be harmful or irritating but instead ones that are safe and efficacious (GCI, 2019).”
Just because a product uses these trigger words in packaging or product names, that doesn’t mean that the ingredients are by any means “safe,” or that the brand believes in or implement sustainable business practices. There is nothing keeping brands accountable for the language used in communication with consumers in relation to the true safety or toxicity levels of products. However, there are plenty of resources available for concerned consumers to do their own research and discover the truth behind their personal care products. These resources will be discussed in detail in a later blog post.
For now, I will leave you with this- many people believe that marketing is focused around tactics used to manipulate consumers into purchasing products they might now need- which, for the most part, I would argue to be untrue. However, in this case, I do advise those interested in purchasing natural/organic beauty and personal care products (NOBPC) to be mindful of your shopping experiences, and to always ask questions. Be curious and don’t settle for the information provided on the product or product packaging- dig a little deeper and you might discover that your favorite everyday products could be potentially as toxic as (something that is rly toxic?? lol)
Sample blog post
Resources for Curious Consumers: A Masterlist of Fact-checking
EWG, or Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit organization that, “specializes in research and advocacy in the areas of agricultural subsidies, toxic chemicals, drinking water pollutants, and corporate accountability. In terms of beauty and personal care products, EWG has their Skin Deep database which allows consumers to search over 70,000 products and 9,000 ingredients to determine the toxicity level of their everyday products. Because of the lack of industry regulations of language used in labeling, EWG’s Skin Deep provides behind the scenes insight that brands might be trying to cover up. Link to database.
Similarly, is the app called Think Dirty. Think Dirty was developed with the same purpose in mind: to provide accurate and easy to understand information about the potential toxicity of beauty and personal care products. While EWG covers a larger majority of products, Think Dirty focuses on cosmetic and personal care products. While EWG is primarily focused to be used within a search engine, Think Dirty is its own app. Although you can use the app to search individual products or ingredients, the interface has been adapted to be even more consumer friendly. The user can scan the barcode of their product and within seconds get all the information necessary to make purchase decisions. When Think Dirty launched in the summer of 2013, there were about 68,000 products listed in their database. Today, Think Dirty claims to cover 4,200 brands, 1.1 million products, and 19.8 million unique scans. The service is constantly updating and adding new products and ingredients daily, making it an industry leader in providing consumers the information that otherwise might be difficult and time consuming to search for.
For makeup lovers in particular, in 2018, Sephora launched Clean at Sephora- a masterlist of all the certified “clean” products that they have to offer. Unlike EWG or Think Dirty, Sephora created its own seal of certification. This seal communicates to the consumer that, “the brand formulated without sulfates, parabens, formaldehydes, formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, mineral oil, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone, coal tar, hydroquinone, triclosan, and triclocarban. For a full list of excluded ingredients, check out the Clean at Sephora homepage. Personally, I think this method of information search is one of the most effective for the consumer. Not only does Sephora offer the online navigation of their “clean” products, but products that fall under these conditions are clearly labeled within retail locations as well. Although ultimately purchasing products through Sephora is probably not the most sustainable choice, Clean at Sephora at the very least starts to bridge the gap and inform consumers that this is something they should and need to be paying attention to.
Although EWG, Think Dirty, and Clean at Sephora might be the most popular information sources for consumers to research their products and their ingredients, Amazon remains one of the top retailers for all beauty and personal care products across the board. In response to recent allegations against Amazon for overlooking several ethical business practices throughout the company, they have released their Restricted Substance Listand have made claims of working towards providing a smoother shopping process by providing private-label consumer products to be available and easily accessible information about the ingredients of the products themselves. However, when I searched for an Amazon private label branded product, I failed to find a full ingredients list for the product. Not listed on the back of the bottle, nowhere on the product page of Amazon, and even after a Google search of, “Ingredients of Amazon Brand - Solimo Liquid Hand Soap Refill, Mango and Coconut Water, 56 Fluid Ounce,” the only search results that came up were rerouting links back to the product page. If Amazon is making it this difficult to find a full ingredients list of one of their own products, how is an everyday consumer supposed to be able to trust the brand to be truthful about their product safety claims?
The greenwashing of the beauty and personal care products industries has exploded within the last few years. As consumers are becoming increasingly more educated, the demand for eco-friendly and sustainable products as reflected those same trends. If you’re even slightly curious of the ingredients of your products, I can only encourage you to keep digging deeper and to never stop asking questions.
The summer before my senior year of college I was taught something I’ll never forget- vote with your wallet. Every time you make a purchase, you are endorsing the product, the brand, and the manufacturing process behind it. If you’re passionate about challenging unethical business practices, the best way to get your voice heard is to practice what you believe. Do your research and purchase from brands who are not only vocal about their sustainable business practices, but are continually adapting to change and adjusting their manufacturing and supply chain process.
Along with the resources mentioned in this post, here are a few more links to help you in your search of accurate information and safety of the products you use on a daily basis:
NPA Illustrative List
Whole Foods list
COSMOS Natural certifications
REACH SIN List
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Red list
BASF Ingredient Insider
Sample press release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wavellite Marketing
Wavellite Marketing Rinses Your Shopping Habits Clean
New local marketing firm adapts to the sustainability demands of culture in the Pacific Northwest.
Dig deep into the raw ingredients of your everyday products through multimedia messages that communicate the crucial information about the potential chemical toxicity of your self-care routines. The agency aims to drop their first client campaign this coming holiday season.
Wavellite Marketing works to increase consumer awareness of the harmful impacts of everyday shopping habits through partnering with sustainably conscious brands that share the same intrinsic values.