Fabulous! I am so pleased to see such a post. So many people just don't get it, and are still being sucked in by all the marketing hype. What you've done takes a LOT of work. Kudos to you. Believe I know more than you realize - or that I want to get into here.
I wish you would spend more time researching the excessive abuse of certifications by businesses - all the games that are being played. I get so frustrated with companies making fraudulent claims. Many are real pros and they know exactly how to tap dance around these issues. Others are just plain ignorant or could care less. What consumers don't understand is that it is so easy to simply slap a certification on a product label or web page, and it simply is not true at all! In the meantime, companies use certs to gain credibility, bolster sales and profits. IF EVER challenged (very rare if ever outside of food products), they may pull it. They may get a warning letter or slap on the wrist. What a joke. You can trust so little these days. There is a serious lack of any real enforcement and hash penalties for such abuse - particularly in the US. The liars and crooks are having a field day. It's no wonder this country is where it is.
But I never give up hope. Because of people like you, and others like Stacy Malkan, people are learning more all the time. Thank God for the Internet and Information Age. Even though the Internet has allowed for deception to become even easier, in time knowledge will prevail and those bad seeds will eventually be exposed.
No, I definitely don't agree with all your choices - but who cares. So be it. There is a mega-ton to research here. I feel as if you are being too lenient. I'd would pull quite a few more out of your lists of "Not Fakies." Surely we have just studied different or contradictory information and data. Contradiction is so common. I truly believe that the deceivers lie SO much that they can't even keep track of them all anymore. Also, I am very skeptical of "organic" - period. I could go on and on about this issue, but not tonight. Personally, I think it is nearly all hype once you get outside of food products. I read an excellent paper recently that distilled "organic" to being essentially nothing more than an elaborate marketing scheme - demonstrating that actual proof is virtually impossible to determine. It was good - very well thought out and argued.
I wish you would have taken a look at NaturOli. I was disappointed not to see them mentioned. I'm a major fan. NaturOli is an awesome, result-oriented skin care products formulator - and their integrity and service level is literally off the chart. Their customer service staff is the most knowledgeable and best trained I've ever experienced.
Get this: What company refers to their products as some being 99% natural and others 100% natural??? Huh? NaturOli does. That's a first! They have expanded into other areas (handmade soap bars, soap nuts / saponin natural detergents, household cleaners and more - very innovative, yet take a minimalistic approach by not overly line extending - I'm referring to selling 10 variations of the same darn thing). They are a small company compared to an Aubrey, but are growing at an incredible rate. They continue to win award after award. Please don't axe them for use of phenoxyethanol in a few products. I have knowledge that they are changing to lauric arginate due to its equivalent effectiveness and better safety rating. They never stop improving. What is actually most special about them is this: NaturOli and honesty are like hand-in-glove. To know and understand them is to love them. I bet you'll agree.
Again, great job - keep it up!
