It was really exciting when the cosmetics industry started getting its own natural and organic standards. How things have changed! How many standards can the industry actually take? Organic Monitor describes it as proliferation but that seems generous. I think fatigue sounds nearer the mark.
The development of natural and organic standards all started for the best of reasons. There were, and still are, so many companies and products using the terms in a misleading way that the industry and consumers really did need a way of clarifying a product’s or ingredient’s credentials. The trouble is there are now so many standards out there people don’t know where to go? Maybe they’ll decide not to bother. Or maybe they’ll just stick with what they know.
Cosmos is finally underway and the first products using this are expected on the market later this year. But Cosmos has no label and, while there are in a way too many labels out there, consumers do kind of expect one... they do kind of help communication.
Interesting the majority of people were still talking about Ecocert rather than Cosmos at in-cosmetics this year. And that’s not really surprising. Despite Ecocert’s involvement with Cosmos Ecocert still has the best international recognition by some way.
And as for the natural wranglings in the US between NSF/NaTrue and the NPA... that comes across as anything but natural.