Eco chic: our favourite organic indulgences - page 3

26 Apr 2008 01:09 AM | Posted by bh'sTracey

Sacrifice nothing. These organic beauty essentials skip the synthetics, without losing any of the luxury...


Sanctum Body Polish, $29.95
Certified organic by the Organic Food Chain (OFC), this completely vegan and cruelty-free scrub buffs your bod and boosts circulation with crushed macadamia nut, sea salt and Byron Bay-grown coffee arabica. Extracts of vanilla bean leave you smelling edible.

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Getting the real organic deal

Not all 'organics' are created equal. Bh asked the experts how to be sure of the best buys…

Look for certification logos

• Akiko Nicholls, certification manager at Australian Certified Organic (ACO), says that to be stamped certified organic in Australia, a product must be at least 95% organic in content and meet the food-grade standards enforced by certifying bodies (there is currently no grading for cosmetics). Products containing 70-95% organic contents are ‘allowed’ and carry a ‘made with organic ingredients’ logo. In either case, artificial ingredients may not be included in formulas.

• Sharon McGlinchey, the founder of MV Organic Skincare, warns that, unaccompanied by endorsement from a certifying association, the word 'organic' in brand names or on packaging might mean little. Due to a lack of regulation, products calling themselves ‘organic’ may contain negligible amounts of organic matter mixed in with synthetics.

• McGlinchey adds that, because of the strict certification guidelines, many “serious” all-natural, though less than 70% organic, cosmetics cannot be endorsed by certifiers.

Read labels

• McGlinchey advises that inspecting ingredient lists is the best way to sort partly organic naturals from the mostly synthetic. The top third of the list should account for 90% of the formula, the second third for up to 8% and the last third approximately 2%. Organic ingredients should be listed at the top and highlighted with a symbol, such as an asterisk.

• Check also that your products are free from genetically modified ingredients, mineral oil, propylene glycol, animal and petroleum derivatives, solvents, sodium lauryl sulfates and ammonium lauryl sulfates.