Eselle

SOIL ASSOCIATION

The Soil Association is a not for profit organisation that develops standards for organic products. Their standards for organic beauty products are based on the following principles:

Organic purity - if an ingredient is available organically it must be used;
Holistic health for you and the environment - ingredients that are damaging to human health or the environment are banned, So no parabens, Phthaletes, synthetic fragrences or anything else you may be worried about;
Safety - their precautionary principle means that if there is any doubt about an ingredient it is banned.

If a product carries their symbol it means that they have checked that it meets Soil Association standards.

Organic Products
You may be surprised to discover that not all beauty products that say they are organic would be able to carry the Soil Association symbol. That's because there is no law governing what you can and can't put in a beauty product that says it is organic. Products that don't carry the Soil Association symbol, may not be as organic as you would like them to be.

Giving You The Choice
If you want to use organic beauty products, then the Soil Association want you want to make sure you know that your product is truly organic. Look for the symbol on your organic beauty products because:

You are choosing organic purity - a beauty product packed with as many organic ingredients as possible;
You are choosing a beauty product that doesn't contain any ingredients that can be damaging to your health or the environment;
You can be confident that the product has been checked and meets the strictest standards for organic purity and organic integrity.

Beauty products labelled as organic and carry the Soil Association symbol must contain a minimum of 95% organic ingredients (not including water). Beauty products labelled as 'made with organic ingredients' and carry the soil Association symbol must contain a minimum of 70% organic ingredients (not including water). The remainder of the ingredients come from a very restricted list of preservatives or ingredients, including some functional ingredients, that aren't yet available as organic. These ingredients have all been checked against strict toxicity and biodegradability criteria to ensure that they are safe for you and the environment. Of course, as soon as these ingredients are available organically they must be used.

For more information about what is allowed in Soil Association organic beauty products and which products carry the Soil Association symbol then please call them on 0117 314 5000 or visit their web site www.soilassociation.org and visit the health and beauty section.