Safer cosmetics
We’d all like to see safety as the number one ingredient in hair and beauty products. We’d also like consumers to be more aware of what goes into the products they use, and how to use them sensibly and safely.
Now an organisation based in Belgium is campaigning for exactly these principles. They’ve launched an online marketplace for natural products in order to help consumers use cosmetics more responsibly.
They’re called the Slow Cosmétique movement, and they’re an international, non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting more responsible ways for cosmetics products to be produced and used.
Above all, they want to raise awareness amongst consumers about what they call ‘cosmetic brainwashing’. And they want to convince consumers and corporations that cosmetic products can be better and safer.
Slow Cosmétique has four ‘essential values’:
- Cosmetics should be more intelligent, meaning they should only be formulated with active and healthy ingredients that really take care of the skin
- Cosmetics should be more ecological, meaning they promote 100% natural formulae which are better for the skin and the environment.
- Cosmetics should be more sensible, meaning they don’t like marketing methods or advertising that can be misleading or unfair to consumers. Consumers shouldn’t feel depressed or guilty about their skin or hair after watching a product commercial.
- Cosmetics should be more respectful, meaning they are against cosmetic products that are harmful to humans, animals and plants.
Slow Cosmétique is completely independent, so brands and professional organisations cannot become members. But they do make annual awards to brands that are committed to cleaner product formulae and more honest marketing policies. They’re the ‘Mention Slow Cosmétique’ awards, and 66 brands have been recognised so far. As part of the award, the winners are able to market their products through the Slow Cosmétique online marketplace.
Membership of Slow Cosmétique is free, and if you’d like to know more about them, you can contact them via their website. (At time of writing, the website is mostly French language, but this link points to an English-language contact page).
