|  |  Common Sense FarmYou have probably seen the same labels yourselves, "70% Organic" or "80% Organic". Expecting to find products with greater integrity than those in the mass market, consumers and store owners alike have welcomed these new products. Jumping through a legal loophole in labeling laws, several companies have succeeded in watering down the true meaning of organic, and once again, giving more reasons for professionals in the field to shake their heads at the practices of the natural products market - the marketplace that claims to sell products of the highest quality.
It’s sad that organic skincare has got off to such a bad start. Some companies have taken advantage of consumer ignorance and the fact that the personal care industry remains largely ungregulated. As the importance of eating organic food gains greater acceptance, skincare marketers take advantage of trusting consumers looking for wholesome products.
As many have attempted to point out, most products being sold as "organic" are actually "aqueous" products, meaning they contain a high degree of water in these formulas. The most common of these products are lotions, liquid soaps, shampoos, and conditioners. The formulas for these products often contain 70% to 80% water. That in itself isn’t bad. It's also common that formulations of this nature are made with an "herbal infusion" (similar to herbal tea). Rather than containing 70% or 80% plain water in the formula, they instead contain a light herbal tea, which lends a little bit of the attributes of the herbs to the product. This in itself isn’t bad either. One of the common ways to make an infusion is to use stable plant distillates. These distillates give formulators greater success in preserving, as opposed to normal herbal tea which is very difficult to preserve. However, when the claims of "70% or 80% organic" are made, they are in fact claiming mostly water as "organic" - thus the concern that organic standards are being "watered" down.
Sure, it may be legal according to the undefined laws in this area, but it isn’t legal to a healthy conscience. It’s unfortunate that it may take greater legislation to get natural product manufactures to be legitimate. It would seem that these manufacturers would be more apt to listen to "natural" law in the voice of their conscience. Manufacturers of products lining the shelves of Wal Mart, CVS and Brooks Drugs appear to have more integrity than some of the most successful "natural" skincare companies.
The Common Sense Farm is a 112-acre organic farm where no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides are used. We believe in "organic". However, we do not believe in what’s being claimed as "organic" in the natural skincare marketplace. As organic raw materials become available, we will consider them for use in our products - especially for "leave-on" products that are designed to penetrate the skin. However, we aren’t so sure how far to go with some issues. For instance, in the case of whether it’s necessary to use "organic" oils when making soap.
A good analogy that relates to this question is whether we would use goat’s milk in soap. We also raise goats here at the Common Sense Farm, however, we don’t use that milk in soap - nor do we have plans to do so in the future. To us, it’s a waste of good goats milk. Sure it might sell more soap, as people have been trained to think that it’s good to put goats milk in soap. However, it has better use nutritionally, than putting it in soap and subjecting it to heat and the harsh alkali solution that’s required to process soap. The reason goats milk is known for use in soap, is because many people raise goats for pets or as a hobby, and those same people often don’t know what to do with all their goats milk. Consequentially, an additional soap-making hobby is learned in order to do something with their goats’ milk.
As a result of false "organic" claims, there is a backlash being promoted by other soap and skincare manufacturers in the form of consumer advocacy groups. Some of their concerns seem right. However, we aren’t so sure, for instance, that it's common sense to use "organic" oils to make soap, as they seem to imply and thus communicate that non-organic soap is bad. In the soap making process, oils are subjected to heat and the caustic altering process known as "saponification". In addition, soap is designed to lift things off the skin - not stay on the skin. A finished product may command a higher price as "organic" but we aren’t so sure there was anything wrong with using non-organic oils in the first place.
Anxiety and fear are destructive to good health - maybe even worse than eating less-than-perfect food. We don’t want to be lax about legitimate concerns, nor do we want to share in the guilt of promoting misguided information regarding the presumed dangers from all "non-organic" ingredients. There is application today for the ancient caution ... " the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil". We just want to use common sense. We hope this helps to hear a little of our perspective .....
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