by Philipp Roth

Greenwashing care products: how much nature is in my face cream?

Great development that there are more and more natural cosmetics, o...
Greenwashing bei Pflegeprodukten: Wie viel Natur steckt in meiner Gesichtscreme?

Great development that there are more and more natural cosmetics, or not quite. Because natural cosmetics are not a protected term and may also be used on questionable face creams. That's why it's important that you take a close look and read this post about sham packaging..

Which tricks of the manufacturer have you already fallen for??

One thing is clear: a cosmetic product does not have to be certified ecological to be good for your skin. But the more the company reveals about the origin of the ingredients, the more honest it is with you and the more quality you can expect. It should therefore also be part of the moral duty of companies not to make products greener than they actually are.d.

Unfortunately, the truth is that not all companies see it the way we do. Therefore, you should pay attention to what you buy.

Green names, little behind them

Just because it says organic doesn't mean that these are real natural cosmetics. During our research, for example, we became aware of the manufacturer bionura: The name promises sustainability, but the homepage only contains self-made seals for marketing purposes and no further information. Another case is the similar-sounding brand biocura: In some products it even uses very questionable ingredients such as the potent allergen butylphenyl methylpropional.ein.

The Annemarie Börlind brand shows us how confusing the term natural cosmetics is with regard to sustainability: The company places the claim Natural Care below its own logo and makes us believe that we are in harmony with nature. An example: The intensive care cream for men is unfortunately anything but in harmony: Overr Code check we can see that palm oil is used for the product, which only scores 8 out of 20 points in the WWF scorecard.

Green packed and very questionable

The packaging design also leaves an impression on us! Some manufacturers consciously set green accents and work with earth tones in order to appear more ecological and sustainable. Pay attention to it!

For example, we noticed the packaging of the Hydra Sensitive Moisturizer from LOreal Paris Men Expert: It advertises birch sap on the front label and uses a dark green tone for accentuation. Overall, the care product looks clean, tidy and natural, after all, it contains birch sap! The Check via code check shows, however: This moisturizing cream uses some questionable to very questionable ingredients that we do not want to add to our skin.

What to look for when buying creams

Basically there is nothing wrong with ecological products: The renouncement of artificial elements in the value chain, a natural selection of raw materials and careful production are to be fundamentally advocated. We also assume that such products are healthier for our body, if only because of the lack of artificial additives.

The problem with organic in cosmetics, however, is that the termNatural cosmetics is not protected. Seals do existwhich are spread differently and different promises do, but there is no really binding label for natural cosmetics.

In general, the following seals are considered trustworthy:

  • the BDIH seal for minimum criteria in natural cosmetics from the Federal Association of Industry and Trading Companies for Drugs, Health Products, Dietary Supplements and Cosmetics e.V.
  • the Natrue seal, created in Belgium in 2008 on the initiative of the industry
  • the Ecocert seal from France, which is hardly widespread in Germany

What you should always pay attention to

It doesn't necessarily have to be organic, especially since there are no absolute standards for sustainable and ecological products in cosmetics. First of all, more important than the organic seal is that you pay attention to the ingredients and whether you can tolerate them.

Basically: Avoid using products that contain one of the substances:

  • Parabens
  • Silicones
  • Mineral oils
  • Alcohols, with the exception of fatty and wax alcohols
  • PEG or PEG derivatives

We have a detailed explanation of their modes of action and under which names they are still used in our article aboutQuestionable ingredients in skin creams to you.

Ingredients at sober?

As you may know, we put on theHydra Defense Cream only use those ingredients that are important for an effective face cream and whose fate on the skin has been clarified. We have a list of the active ingredientshere for you compiled and of course we look forward to hearing from you if you have any questions!

Don't be fooled by green packaging and as always: #staysoberber

 Philip

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