Organic Skin Care and who defines it?

Over the years we have presented our handcrafted luxury bath & body products at many different types of venues.  Some events that we have participated in include farmers markets, wine festivals, art shows, craft markets and many more. We get asked a lot of questions relating to the ingredients in our products. A frequent question we are asked is "are your products organic?" This lead us to ask our own questions. What is organic? How is it defined? How does organic relate to the bath & body industry? There are tons of organic raw materials on the market. Some certified and some not. 

Here are some the facts:  According to the FDA organic does not have a designated definition. As a matter of fact the FDA does not define organic at all. "The Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees theNational Organic Program (NOP). The NOP regulations include a definition of “organic” and provide for certification that agricultural ingredients have been produced under conditions that would meet the definition. They also include labeling standards based on the percentage of organic ingredients in a product, including cosmetic products."

"The USDA requirements for the use of the term “organic” are separate from the laws and regulations that FDA enforces for cosmetics. Cosmetic products labeled with organic claims must comply with both USDA regulations for the organic claim and FDA regulations for labeling and safety requirements for cosmetics. Information on FDA’s regulation of cosmetics is available on our Cosmetics Web site."

"Are cosmetics made with “organic” ingredients safer for consumers than those made with ingredients from other sources?"

"No. An ingredient’s source does not determine its safety. For example, many plants, whether or not they are organically grown, contain substances that may be toxic or allergenic. For more on this subject, see FDA Poisonous Plant Database. Under the FD&C Act, all cosmetic products and ingredients are subject to the same safety requirement: They must be safe for consumers under labeled or customary conditions of use (FD&C Act, section 601(a). Companies and individuals who market cosmetics have a legal responsibility to ensure that their products and ingredients are safe for the intended use."

This information is an excerpt from the USDA Organic Skincare website. Our objective here is to help inform our consumers and to arm them with the facts as it relates to the bath & body products industry. Please feel free to send us your comments.



Theresa & Timothy Minor

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