Organic Beauty Not Yet Mainstream: The Green, the Eco and the Utterly Confusing

This article from CosmeticDesign, hit a nerve for me. For the (almost) three years I've been writing the OBE, the issue of the efficacy of natural products has been a point of contention. How do you justify the cost of a product when we, as the consumer, aren't quite sure whether it's going to work. Yes it may be natural, yes, the ingredients may be organic, but when it comes time to go in my purse and pay my hard-earned dough, I need results. Right? So this may be more of a rant, but it's been on my mind and I didn't want to move forward until I made this point. Additionally, here's your choices for natural products: choose from eco, green, natural, handmade, organic, eco-friendly, biodynamic, fair trade and carbon-friendly. Really? While I don't agree with legislating the verbiage of beauty, it is quite understandable that "organic skin care products had a purchase rate of 5 percent and organic hair care purchase rates were even lower at 4 percent." How is the regular consumer to understand the difference among those choices? How do they know what they're getting in the product? More to the point, why should they bother to decipher? What are the tangible benefits of "going green"? So you might say, well, Andrea, why the hell do you write the blog if that's the way you feel? I'll tell you. It is to offer some understanding, a different view point. When I read a lot of the green blogs, there's this cloud of guilt and shame attached to a majority of what's written. Has anyone else noticed this? Or statement like, "while they made improvements, it's still not fully organic." Christ! You can never catch a break! Better, I read, during the inauguration on the CNN/Facebook interface, "Michelle's dress is stunning." "Too bad it's not eco!" Really? It's this kind of annoying greener than thou attitude that even turns me away. Understand that most people don't so much care about the earth if it means they have to pay more and may not see a tangible difference. Understand that we have enough guilt and shame in our life, we don't need it attached to our food, clothes and beauty products. And lastly, understand that if it's not green, eco, natural, organic et al, it doesn't mean the end of the world. I choose organic because I want to, when it fits my budget, my lifestyle and my needs. It's not about saving the earth, decreasing the carbon footprint or saving a small child in India from slave labor. These things are marketing tools, but do not, in general, push consumers to buy. So no, most people don't get the organic push and while companies continue to push the "shame, guilt and other intangibles" while charging high prices, especially in this economy, they will, in my opinion, see a lag in the majority of consumers going organic. So again, Andrea, the blog? Well, I am under no illusion that I service a niche audience. Either those who always go green, green a few things or have some interest in going green. I also don't let price tags get in the way of reviews, unless it's truly ridiculous, then I'll attempt to justify why I believe that to be the case. I know some people can afford it, others can't. That's life. There is a big interest in this category of beauty, but "not knowing much about them and high price tags were found to be the two biggest deterrents." So many of my posts will be about green beauty, food, fashion and lifestyle. Other posts will focus on wellness (more musings on the passion I live, massage). But regardless the topic, the voice is always the same. Opiniated, strong and eager to hear your side of the discussion.