Why Good Regulatory Policies Will Help Small, Independent Businesses
Three words come to mind: Clairol Herbal Essences. Aimed at “generation Y” women who want to use environmentally sound and natural products, this is the number-two shampoo, with sales topping 42 million and six percent of market share – more than all the shampoos made by the natural products sector combined.
Yet how natural and “herbal” is it really? Herbal Essences Body Envy shampoo, which ranks a five (moderate hazard) on Skin Deep, contains at least 15 synthetic chemicals, including several linked to allergies and skin toxicity; a synthetic fragrance made of who-knows-what; and at least one carcinogenic contaminant not listed on the label. (On that topic, read the big recent announcement from parent company Procter & Gamble).
The point is: the product is certainly not natural or herbal, but it has an extremely effective marketing campaign. The brand even shows up on sit coms.
To have a free and fair market, we’d need to have full transparency and full information available to consumers about what they’re really buying, so they can make the best choices.
But in a market like this, when the true toxicity of products and even the ingredients are hidden from consumers, the advantage goes to the company that spends the most money on market research and ad campaigns to convince people they’re buying something that will enhance their sense of well being, even if it’s just a dressed-up bottle of the same old synthetic chemicals.
Polices that require full disclosure of product ingredients (including fragrance chemicals and contaminants) and limit the hazardous chemicals allowed in products will not only protect people’s health, they will serve as a tool to educate consumers and help them make smarter choices. They will give an advantage to companies that are already doing the right thing and making safer products.
The true innovation in the beauty industry is happening right now in the natural products sector, where many small, independent, values-driven companies are solving the toxicity problems of the past and figuring out how to make truly great, non-toxic products – products that actually do enhance well-being.
If only we could put that story on a sit com. Until then, policies that increase transparency and open up the information flow are the best bet for leveling the playing field for the independent business community.
Stacy Malkan, 3/11/10
Read more about how P&G revived the Herbal Essences brand by putting lots of effort into the curvy new bottle (and apparently not much thought into the chemicals in it).
March 12th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
>putting lots of effort into the curvy new bottle (and apparently not much thought into the chemicals in it).
Well…since that article was written the brand and 18 others are being changed, for the better!
ANAHEIM, CA – On Friday March 12, 2010, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), …announced the details of an agreement from Procter and Gamble (P&G) to reformulate 18 products from its top-selling Herbal Essences brand to reduce levels of the carcinogenic petrochemical 1,4-dioxane.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/index.cfm
I understand your focus seems to be directed toward small, independent businesses in order to mend fences between the “pro-Colorado Safe Cosmetics Bill” folks and the fans and followers of the “anti-Colorado Safe Cosmetics Bill,” led by Donna Maria, president of the Indie Beauty Network.
I applaud that..there are an awful lot of folks out there who know nothing more than what they learn though a barrage of twitter tweets and Facebook wall posts…and honestly 140 characters of “opinions” are doing far more harm than good. So thank you for having this Blog and for allowing comments!
Some of us care more about the ingredients in the products, than the size of the business selling them. And if P&G can eliminate 1,4-dioxane in their products, and the small, independent businesses want to retain or gain their customers…they’d better stop fighting for their “right” to keep using these toxic ingredients and find a way to eliminate them, too.
If a small business is going to create hazardous products I don’t really care if they are making the products in their kitchens and their lifestyle depends on “business as usual”…as long as the priority is money instead of safety, we all lose.
March 15th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
First of all I’d like to say, great article! I’ve got a big question nagging me, I really like the theme of your website and tried to install the same theme on my WP site. Anyhow, there is some kind of strange php error in the footer. Do you have any tips, which version are you using? Please PM me on Twitter @HealthNSweets or via e-mail.
March 19th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Hello again Stacy,
Please read this excellent Powerpoint presentation from friend and colleague Tony Burfield at Cropwatch. http://bit.ly/9fSs4e You will find other good blogposts at http://www.aromaconnection.org as well that will provide information you are not familiar with regarding the natural aromatics industry.
Thank you.
Marcia Elston
Samara Botane/Nature Intelligence