Organic is a term principally used in relation to food where it has a clear and well-understood definition - the growing and preparation of food products without the use of chemical fertilisers, GM ingredients and chemical additives such as preservatives, colourings etc.
Increasingly, however, organic is a term that is being applied to skincare products. Currently, its meaning in this context is rather vague.
On one hand, the definition of organic when applied to essential oils and vegetable oils used in skincare products is clear since it is similar to food products.
However, it is impossible to make skincare products using just essential oils and vegetable oils. It is in the area of the other ingredients necessary in skincare such as emulsifiers, stabilisers, preservatives and so on that the term “organic” is harder to sensibly define.
At REN Clean Skincare, we are concerned that a focus on the word “organic” is being used to distract consumers away from the more serious issues about the ingredients contained in the skincare products they are buying. For example, an “organic” sulphate (i.e. derived from organic coconut oil) is still as harsh a detergent as one that is derived from ordinary coconut oil. The real challenge is to create foaming products that use more gentle alternatives to sulphates.
REN Clean Skincare’s approach is to make 'clean' products. By 'clean' we mean: modern, sophisticated, effective, pleasurable to use products that are free from the skin-unfriendly ingredients routinely used in the skincare industry today. REN Clean Skincare do not use synthetic fragrance or colours, pore-blocking petrochemicals, silicones, sulphates, PEGs, TEA/DEA, parabens, urea or animal ingredients in their products.
