We all have been hearing the word “green” a lot lately.  Even when it comes to beauty, green products are all the talk.  So what exactly makes a product green?  With a term so loosely thrown around, it is hard to know what exactly this term is referring to, what it means.  In general, green seems to be used in conjunction with a product that is either earth friendly, organic, chemical free, cruelty free, and any combination of the four.  Two terms that get thrown around a lot under the green umbrella are vegan and organic, but the two are non synonymous and a product may be organic without being vegan and visa versa.

A vegan product is a product that is completely cruelty free, tested on animals in no way, and contains no animal products or byproducts in any form.  An organic product, while usually cruelty free, is simply a product that contains ingredients grown in a chemical free environment and therefore usually contains no or few synthetic ingredients.  A green beauty product will usually use recyclable containers and packaging made from recycled materials.  Often times the packaging will be designed to be less wasteful than that of the product’s non-green counterpart.

The green and organic beauty market used to be mainly wrapped up in the specialty brand, but recently we have seen larger cosmetic and beauty product companies jumping on the band wagon.  But since industry is always quicker than government, terms like green, ecofriendly, and organic were thrown around without much backing to provide meaning for the consumer.  Because of this consumers were, and still are, misled by companies using unregulated terms.  Luckily, organic certification has become much more common, and many countries, such as the U.S., have government certification in order to boost consumer confidence.  When dealing with an organic product, the percentage of organic ingredients is often listed on the packaging.  Despite this, companies are still throwing around allowable buzz words to draw in the consumer, so be sure to read the fine print and find a brand that you know and trust.

Green and organic products generally look to avoid synthetic ingredients, which tends to raise gross cost, narrowing profit margins, and forcing the company to charge a higher price for such a product.  When shopping for synthetic-chemical-free beauty, the first thing to check for on the label is sulfates.  These are cheap cleansing agents that create the foaming and bubbling effect in many detergents, shampoos, and soaps.  On the ingredient list, sulfates will look something like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and Sodum Myreth Sulfate.  Some research suggests that these cleansers may be harmful to long term health, and other research simply puts them at safe irritants, but no matter where you stand on the issue, it is agreed upon that they are not organic chemicals.  The next group of ingredients that green products avoid is petrochemicals.  These chemicals such as petrolatum, mineral oil, and paraffin, are generally derived from petrolium and are not absorbed into the skin which is thought to cause blocked pores and dead follicles.

Preservatives such as parabens and DMDM Hydantoin are usually shunned from green beauty products as well.  Some research suggests that paraben mimics the hormone estrogen, leading to breast and other cancers.  DMDM Hydantoin is a preservative in beauty products that works by releasing formaldehyde to prevent bacterial and mold growth.  While there is not enough research to prove these preservatives to be definitively harmful, green beauty generally prefers to go the natural route and avoid these preservatives.

While sunscreens are key in natural, organic, green products, chemical sunscreens such as oxybenzone, avobenzone, and octinoxate are normally avoided due to research showing that these chemicals may possibly damage skin cells by generating free radicals and interfering with hormones or DNA.  Instead, green products often use zinc oxide or titanium oxide which instead work as a reflective barrier against the sun’s harmful rays.  Moisturizing agents are also carefully selected in most green or organic products to avoid propylene glycol, butylene glycol, and polyisobutene which are known to be dangerous irritants in large doses, but approved by the FDA for use in small doses in cosmetic and beauty products.

Whether you are a serious organic product junky, simply curious about the green movement, interested in ecofriendly products to protect and preserve our environment, or just a complete skeptic about all of the hype, it helps to know some of the buzz words and topics riding around with the term “green”.  The ingredients listed throughout the article have not been found to be harmful in small doses by government research, and therefore are still legal for use in the cosmedic and beauty industry.  Some swear that they are perfectly safe while others demand that they are killing us all, but in general they are at least known to be synthetic and therefore avoided in the green and organic product movements.  When shopping for organic products, make sure the items you have chosen are backed up with actual fact rather than simple buzz words and gimmicks.  And enjoy going green!