The labels of shampoos, shower gels and creams that are written with natural symbols may make you think that you are doing something significant for the environment, but don't be fooled.
Attractive images do not necessarily mean a real commitment to the environment, but may simply play on associations to direct the product to your shopping basket.
"It is very popular to advertise cosmetic packaging with images of plants and leaves, flowers and fruits," says Kerstin Effers, an environmental and health officer at the Consumer Advisory Center in the German city of Düsseldorf.
According to Effers, you should take a closer look if a product's packaging states that it contains a certain percentage of natural ingredients that seems too good to be true, such as 98%. This is because, according to EU regulations, this information can also include the water content of the product.
"If you buy shampoo or shower gel, for example, it can easily be 80% water, then you'll get to the stated 98% really quickly," says the consumer advocate. "However, if you calculate it without the water, not only 2% but 10% will not be of natural origin."
Even if the manufacturer claims that the product "does not contain" a certain ingredient, this does not tell you anything about the rest of its composition. The claim "without microplastics" does not exclude the possibility that other poorly degradable soluble plastics were used.
And if certain ingredients are advertised, you should at least look at their position in the ingredient list.
"It is often the case that cosmetic products are advertised as containing plant-based ingredients that are often only present in very small amounts, while the main ingredients are synthetic chemical ingredients," says Effers.
Unlike food products, it is not mandatory to indicate the percentage content of an ingredient declared in the title of the cosmetic product. However, ingredients should be listed in descending order of quantity.
"And then you might be buying an aloe vera cream, for example, and the aloe vera is still listed after the preservative in the ingredients," says Effers.
It's also good to know that if the keyword "upcycling" is used for a beauty or skin care product, it may mean that parts of plants that would otherwise not be used, such as nuts or fruits, have been used in the product shells. However, there are no legal requirements for the use of this term in products sold in the EU.
However, under legislation passed in January, manufacturers will eventually no longer be able to emblazon labels with the promise of "environmentally friendly," "climate neutral" or "biodegradable" without solid proof.
EU member states still have to approve the law adopted by the European Parliament and will then have two years to transpose the directive into their national legislation./BGNES
The hidden truth behind the marketing of "natural" cosmetics
