08.19.11
Intelligent Nutrients—the certified organic health and beauty brand created by Aveda founder Horst Rechelbacher—recently received high marks in a brand assessment by Organic Monitor, for the brand’s high naturalness in their products.
Organic Monitor assessed more than 50 international brands of natural cosmetic products and ranked them in terms of their naturalness.
“Intelligent Nutrients scored the highest rating (9.5 out of a maximum 10) in a ranking of natural and organic cosmetic brands in North America by Organic Monitor,” said Judi Beerling, technical research manager at Organic Monitor. “The brand was close to maximum rating because its products use a high level of certified organic (mostly food grade) ingredients, and most are certified by recognized agencies.”
The brand assessment study, billed as s first of its kind by Organic Monitor, involved a chartered chemist examining the ingredient composition of cosmetic products and classifying formulations according to their ‘level of naturalness’. Certified organic cosmetics received the highest rating (9-10), pure natural cosmetics got 5-7 ratings, naturally inspired cosmetics got 2 rating, while conventional cosmetics got 1 rating.
A major finding is that the formulations of most natural brands are not meeting their marketing claims, said Organic Monitor. Many companies claiming to have ‘chemically-clean’ cosmetics actually are falling foul of having contentious synthetic ingredients. The research highlights the importance of certification in creating a ‘level playing field’ for formulators. Natural and organic standards have tight guidelines on permitted and prohibited ingredients and encourage green formulations.
“This recognition from Organic Monitor is tremendous,” said Rechelbacher. “Not only does it reinfornce the need for transparency in the organic beauty industry but it also affirms what we are trying to do as a brand, which is educate the consumer that everything we put in and on our bodies must be nutritious and safe.”
Other brands that received high naturalness were Green People and Living Nature.
New brands launched by large multinationals also scored high in terms of their natural and organic formulations—Garnier Bio Active (L’Oreal), Diadermine Bio Expertise (Henkel) and Johnson’s Natural (Johnson & Johnson).