The Great Pretenders

It can be hard to spot truly natural products among all the impostors and label lies going on in the store aisles. Outright claims to be “Natural” or even “Organic” are easy to recognize, but some brands try to be much more sly. They market their products with subtle hints like adding some green leaves to the label or stating something vague like “Only Pure Ingredients” (oh so you only use pure parabens?). It all kind of makes you feel like it’s natural. Even after I switched over to nontoxic products, I still had a few holdouts that just seemed to be more on the natural side (I’m looking at you Origins face lotion), and then I really looked at what was in the ingredients. It’s no wonder that I get asked about a few mainstream brands over and over again to see if they’re truly safe! It’s time to look into this a little deeper, so I’ve rounded up the most commonly asked about wannabe natural brands and I’m offering some safer swaps. And before we start- have you heard of ThinkDirty? That’s the app I used to dissect most these brands and tell you what’s really in them. You should definitely download it before your next shopping trip. It makes weeding through which products are safe super easy!

Lush.. Where do I even start with this one? I’ve actually seen other professed green beauty aficionados sharing photos of their Lush bath bombs. I’m not getting judgy (I promise), but it does tick me off that Lush has so successfully positioned itself to be perceived as natural. Lush throws around a lot of natural beauty buzzwords like Fresh, Handmade, Cruelty-Free, Ethical Trading. What they don’t tell you is that amongst all those fresh ingredients many of their products contain synthetic fragrance (which houses many evils), parabens, and even more unhealthy ingredients. This is definitely a brand to kick to the curb, especially since there are so many better options out there for your handmade soaps and lotions! I would swap it for Jacq’s Organics or Osmia Organics. Both have beautiful handmade soaps, body washes, moisturizers, skincare items and more. Jacq’s Organics is bringing on bath bombs this fall and they look incredible. 

Aveda– So many people ask about this brand. Their slogan is: “The art and science of pure flower and plant essences”, but something tells me they’re adding in a little more than flowers into their products. While they like to throw around marketing lines like “Fight Frizz Naturally“, they are a far cry from their natural beginnings. Aveda was originally founded by Horst M. Rechelbacher, a known environmentalist, who strived for change in the beauty industry. His original line did base itself on pure plant essences, but sadly, when he sold the company to Estee Lauder they added in all the nasties he worked to keep out of the products (but kept the natural marketing). Luckily for us, he went on to create a line called Intelligent Nutrients which is the perfect swap for Aveda. It has the same herbal, yet fresh type of scent, but is completely natural. 

Origins– While this brand may not be as off the charts bad as some of the others, it still has plenty of ingredients I’d like to avoid. If you’re not accustomed to ThinkDirty, products rate from 0-10 (clean to dirtiest). Ideally you want you products to rate 3 or below. A few of origins products rate as such, but the majority rate above what I’d consider acceptable to keep in my cabinet. This is a brand that I’d proceed with caution with. Be sure to double check the ingredients and maybe scan the product through an app like the one above or SkinDeep. I’d swap it for 100% Pure. Their wide range of products cover all the same bases that Origins does but with much healthier ingredients. 

Aveeno– This brand likes to cozy up to natural lines on the store shelves, especially on the baby aisle. I’m not sure who they pay off to get that spot, but walk down to the natural section at Target and I guarantee you’ll see them there. That alone is enough to fool some unsuspecting people, but add on their slogan: Active Naturals and the sprinkling of green leaves and oats on their bottles and most people you ask would think they’re a great natural option. The truth is, they’re full of synthetic fragrances, petro-chemicals and known carcinogens like quarterium-15. Take a look at the screen shot above. Please note that the first product is baby wash. Nothing gets me more fired up than a baby product pretending to be natural. If you want a natural product with Target prices, then Acure Organics is definitely a great swap for this brand. They have bath wash, lotions, skincare, haircare and more that all perform very well. They also just launched a brand new baby line! 

Have any of these brands above fooled you? Hopefully if you’ve been reading the blog for a while these impostors are getting easier to spot! Be sure to download one of the apps mentioned above. It makes product shopping a piece of cake!