Garnier’s certified range is great news for organic

Georgia Barnes, beauty and wellbeing business development manager at Soil Association Certification, speaks about Garnier’s new organic range.

We are excited that L’Oréal Garnier is launching a new organic range that is certified with Soil Association Certification.

The organic beauty market is one of the fastest growing markets in the UK and our latest organic beauty and wellbeing market report shows a 14% increase year on year. Conscious consumerism is on the rise – people care about what they put on their skin and the potential effect this has on their health and the environment, but we know it can still be confusing for shoppers to make a choice when confronted with so many organic and natural claims.

This new Garnier range is a hugely positive step in our campaign against greenwashing and our vision for certified organic to become the norm

The terms natural and organic beauty aren’t regulated like food and drink products, meaning brands can use as little as 1% organic ingredients and claim that it is organic – otherwise known as greenwashing. That’s why we launched our Come Clean about Organic Beauty campaign in 2017.

All brands that achieve organic certification on their beauty products go through a rigorous inspection process. Soil Association COSMOS – the globally harmonized standard for organic and natural cosmetics – does not allow the use of certain ingredients in products due to their impact on human health. But some of these, such as parabens, you may find in non-organic beauty products.

Following ten years of thorough product development, this new Garnier range is a hugely positive step in our campaign against greenwashing and our vision for certified organic to become the norm. If all producers, big and small, feel it is important to highlight the traceability of their ingredients, that really puts the organic certification process at centre stage. It shows how valuable the certified organic mark is while helping people to differentiate between claims and understand that they need to look for the Soil Association COSMOS logos.

If all producers, big and small, feel it is important to highlight the traceability of their ingredients, that really puts the organic certification process at centre stage

While the demand for certified organic products is hugely on the rise and the market is in its eighth consecutive year of growth, we still have a long way to go in making it truly accessible to everyone. With 50% more wildlife on organic farms and the highest levels of animal welfare, organic means working with nature. The more we see brands going organic, then the more we see organic ingredients in demand – and that means more organic farms and a healthier world.

Consumer demand has the power to bring about real change and when you buy even just one certified organic product, you are choosing products that promote a better way of living. This move by a well-known brand helps us to spread this value and proves that organic is not a fad or a niche – it’s here to stay.

Read about Garnier’s new organic range here.