11/06/07 Organic Cosmetics

Organic and natural cosmetics like the organic product category in general are booming. Sales of personal care products increased over $68 million since 2005 all because&. to put it bluntly, Americans are an easy sell. Oh we eagerly lap up "natural" cosmetics like Burt Bee's who by the way was just sold to Clorox, (do you still want that on your lips) simply because we have been told that organic and natural plant based products are better. Product managers love this naivety and have labeled it the "perceived" health benefit. The truth is most environmentalists , cosmetic industry representatives and the regulating arm of the beauty industry, the Food and Drug Administration contend that there is no published scientific proof that plant based cosmetics are healthier or work better. Be careful, just because something is derived from a plant doesn't guarantee it is safer; think hemlock, poison oak and tobacco. Most exotic plants rarely receive adequate testing, and because there are no FDA standards , terms like herbal, botanical , natural or pure can't be measured other than by their success as a marketing term.