organic skincare Choosing organic


As Tracy pointed out, choosing to offer organic or natural products to your clients can bring your salon or Spa to the forefront and ahead of the competition, especially if you are the only salon or Spa in your area offeringmuch sought after natural products.


Butwhatmakes a product natural or organic? Tracy explains: “Organic products’ ingredients have been grown in organic conditions – thismeanswithout the use of pesticides or artificial fertilisers.”


This then poses the next question – how canwe tell if a beauty product is organic?


One of the easiestways to tell at a glance is to look out for an organic certification body logo splashed across the packaging, for example, The SoilAssociation, ECOCERT orUSDA(United States Department ofAgriculture).


For a product to be deemed as organic by these certification bodies the product must complywith their strict requirements and rigorous tests, for example, for The SoilAssociation to award a productwith their logo and be labelled as organic, itmust contain 95% organic ingredients.


The SoilAssociation is the organic certification body for theUKand launched its standards for health and beauty products in 2002. They now certify awide range of companies and products.


There are, however,many other certifying bodies across theworld, all offering the assurance that the product you have chosen is organic. Look out for the CosmeticsOrganic Standard, or COSMOS – standard,which is an initiative by Europe’s leading health and beauty standards organisations, including The SoilAssociation, to harmonise organic standards globally.


However, it’s also your responsibility to knowwhat a natural product should and shouldn’t contain so that you can identify one easily just by looking at the list of ingredients. If a product calls itself ‘natural’or ‘organic’, but doesn’t carry


the logo of a certified body, do not dismiss it! Some companies still pride themselves on their organic products, but choose not to take the route of becoming organically certified.


Recent research has actually shown that it’s not all about the certification on organic and natural products, people tend to trust the brands that they knowand trust, according to industry expert Burkhard Schaer, founder of Ecozept.He believes that the absence of an organic certification does not hinder success.


He has found that it is trust building that is the key element towinning over consumers to brands. The trigger is to first hear about the brand and then discover a point of sale associatedwith the natural and organic product.


Underlining the trend is the fact that several key brands in Europe have invested in the brands and communicating their natural, organic and ethical commitments, rather than pouring resources into certification.


He does howevermake the point that natural and organic certification bodies can still have an important part to play in European cosmetics.


So in an idealworld, you should be able to differentiate between natural and other products,whether they are certified or not. “What is important is that the business owner/therapist considers the composition of the products, the provenance of the ingredients, the percent of the active ingredients (as these deliver the results), and the depth and breadth of the range. Beware of those products that contain just a tiny percentage of organic ingredients!” points out Tracy.


As Tracy says, you have towatch out for those products that call themselves organic, but only contain a small amount of organic product. Believe it or not, EU lawon organic food does not extend to none food products. Therefore, a company can label or describe a company as organic, even if they only contain tiny amounts of organic ingredients and even if they contain other non-organic ingredients linked to health concerns and prohibited under organic standards.


Generally, it is said the fewer the ingredients and themore familiar they are to you, themore likely they are to be natural. Products that list endless chemicals names, even those that say they are derived fromnatural substances, should be checked thoroughly. Botanical ingredients should make up the bulk of the ingredients and should be listed at the start of the ingredients list,with any preservatives listed at the end.


Taking on a brand


Sowe’ve establishedwhatwe should be looking for in a product tomake it organic, but it’s easy to get caught up in the ingredients and jump in headfirstwithout considering any other aspect of the product.


The key is to choose in the sameway that youwould dowhen choosing any other product to implement into your salon. Shirley advises: “When looking for a new organic range, rather than look for a range that simply contains no chemistry at all, the same criteria still applies as to any product – do I like the smell,would I buy and use this product, is the packaging appealing tomy clients and does it have shelf appeal, is this company just scare mongering, does the range have a concept to sell, are there professional aswell as retail lines, are the professional products different strengths to the retail encouraging clients to come back for treatments on a regular basis, does it contain active ingredients,willmy clients see results?


“Also, it’s important to consider the commercial aspect – howmany treatments are available froma pot of product and also howhealthy is the profitmargin on retail items?” says Tracy.


Look out for a brand that can be implemented either as a stand-alone product range, or can stand alongside your existing products and ranges.


For information about choosing an organic skin care brand, see our listings on page 155


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