---
title: "Organic Cheater Brands: Watch Out for Toxic Skin Care Products"
date: 2010-01-26T21:13:47Z
modified: 2010-01-26T21:13:47Z
permalink: "https://elizabethyarnell.com/organic-cheater-brands-watch-out-for-toxic-skin-care-products/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 1346
categories:
  - Living Naturally
  - Nutrition in the News
  - Recommended Products
tags:
  - Environmental Working Group
  - fake organics
  - organic consumers association
  - organic skin care products
  - petrochemicals in skin care products
  - petroleum products
  - safe skincare
  - skin deep database
  - toxic skincare products
  - USDA National Organic Program NOP
author: Elizabeth
---

I don’t know about you, but I’m always personally disappointed when brands I thought I could trust turn out to contain ingredients that are hazardous to my health. It makes me feel disgusted with big companies and the way they play fast and loose with our health, especially _when they know better_.

The [Organic Consumers Association (OCA)](http://www.organicconsumers.org/ "organic consumers organization") has prepared [a spreadsheet summarizing “Organic Cheater brand” products ](http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tilffYceF9_7vHToVFQii1Q&output=html "organic cheater brands spreadsheet")and their Hazard Rankings according to the [Environmental Working Group’s “Skin Deep” Cosmetic Safety Database](http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php "Skin Deep cosmetics safety database").

![](file:///Users/elizabeth/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot.jpg)

The tabs at the top of the [spreadsheet](http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tilffYceF9_7vHToVFQii1Q&output=html "organic cheater brands spreadsheet") list various brands horizontally: click each tab to view that brand’s product scores from the Skin De![](http://www.organicconsumers.org/images/bytes/nop.jpg "NOP")

ep” database. By far _the majority of fake organic products score in the “Moderate Hazard” category_.

Conversely, Dr. Bronner’s Skin Deep product scores show that the vast majority of true NOP-certified ([USDA’s National Organic Program](http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/NOP "USDA National Organic Program")) organic personal care score in the safest “Low Hazard” category.

A couple of brands, **_Jason “Pure, Natural & Organic”_** and **_Nature’s Gate “Organics”_**, even had some of their fake organic products score in the unsafest “High Hazard” category.

Perhaps even more disturbing, two of the “organic cheater” brands who are the subject of OCA’s Complaint to USDA NOP, have reneged on their signed promise to provide product and ingredient information to Skin Deep so that their products’ safety can be assessed. Those brands are _**Eminence “Organic” Skin Care**_ and **_Head “Organics”_**.

Another two brands, while they have not reneged on any promises, have also decided to not submit product and ingredient information to Skin Deep: _**Ilike “Organic” Skin Care**_ and **_Surya Sapien “Organic”_**.

As noted in the Complaint, all these brands utilize _surfactants made in part or entirely from petrochemicals as primary cleansing ingredients_, which contain no organic agricultural material whatsoever. Eminence in particular deceptively claims that Alpha Olefin Sulfonate, the primary cleanser in its “Organic Stone Crop Bodywash”, is from a “plant source,” when in fact this cleanser is commercially available only in pure petrochemical form.

Both Nature’s Gate and Eminence do produce a few true USDA NOP certified organic products under their respective brands. However, the vast majority of their product lines are not certified under the USDA’s National Organic Program, because their main clean![](http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/simplegetfile?dID=89416&dDocName=STELDEV3001856&url=/stelprdc5/groups/internet/@amspw/@nop/documents/web_content/steldev3001856.jpg&sGroup=Internet&dType=WEB_CONTENT&wf= "USDA NOP")

sing and moisturizing ingredients are generally based on conventional or petrochemical, rather than organic agricultural, material.

**As a general rule** when shopping for organic personal care, check for the USDA seal to be sure you’re buying true organic personal care rather than fake organic products.

[VIEW THE ORGANIC SKINCARE PRODUCTS SPREADSHEET](http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tilffYceF9_7vHToVFQii1Q&output=html "organic cheater brands spreadsheet")