LWM Guide: Personal Care Marketing Claims

🐰 “Vegan”

No animal products or byproducts are utilized in the product. This can vary product to product, as only some companies are vegan at large. Vegan does NOT mean toxin-free.

🐶 “Cruelty Free”

*This claim MUST be certified by a valid party like Leaping Bunny or PETA to mean anything.
Product MAY include animal products/byproducts, but they’ve proven that there is no harm done to the animal. Beeswax is a great example of this… if it’s in a product it can’t be “vegan” but it CAN be cruelty free.

🌱 “Natural”

There is NO governing body regulating this marketing claim. One naturally derived ingredient in a very toxic formula can still utilize this term.

✖️ “Non Toxic”

This one means that 49% of test subjects did not have a fatal reaction to the ingredient in question. So, 48% could have died and it could STILL be deemed “Non-Toxic”…alarming, right?!

🚫 “Paraben Free”

The group of known carcinogens and endocrine disrupting preservatives, parabens, got a bad reputation when a study showed that 99% of breast cancer tissue had parabens in it. This created a huge demand in a quick and easy preservative swap and lead to other toxic ingredients entering products. While it’s great that it doesn’t contain parabens, it does NOT in any way make it a guaranteed safe product.

🚨 “Hypoallergenic”

There is no governing body regulating this term. It often indicated that no core allergens are in use, but often still boasts a very toxic ingredient list.

❕ “Non-comedogenic”

The term is not regulated or standardized, and it is controversial in its use as well. Conventional skincare/cosmetics typically use low quality filler oils, and this type of “bad oil” is what has lead to the marketing term “non-comedogenic” being popular in its use. Sadly, it hold no validity.

❌ “Preservative Free”

Preservatives as a whole got a bad reputation in personal care after the paraben study. However they are VERY necessary in products containing water. Microbial and bacterial growth in personal care products are very dangerous, and it’s vital to have SAFE preservative systems in place. I am always verrrrrrrrry leary of this claim.

❗️“Chemical Free”

Heaven help me… EVERYTHING (even water) is classified as a “chemical”, unless we’re talking about light or electricity. So to make this marketing claim is not only wholly inaccurate, it also just makes brands look incompetent in my opinion.

🥴 “Free of Harmful Chemicals”

Sadly, with no governing body regulating what is classified as “harmful”… I have seen this marketing claim on very toxic products.

✅ “Toxin Free”

There is also no governing body regulating the use of this term. To Crunchi, it means that due to the most recent safety data and research available, NONE of the ingredients used are known to cause harm or health hazard when absorbed through the skin.

🔅 Certified Organic Ingredients

One or more ingredients in the full formula has been certified organic.

Am I missing any clever claims? Let me know and I’ll add them to this list for you! ⬇️
To snag my shopable masterlist of truly clean products: http://eepurl.com/g8Ml81
To shop clean beauty and skincare: http://LivingWellMama.com
To cruise through the Amazon shop: https://Amazon.com/shop/alivingwelllife