I’m part of a professional group and there was an interesting discussion about transparency and ingredient sourcing in a skin care product formulating. I would like to share some thoughts with you on this subject because I believe it is an important one.
In general there are very few companies in the skin care industry that are truly honest about their ingredients. Period! First it was (and still is) game playing with the word ‘organic’. Many used one organic ingredient in their formula but made it sound as if their whole formula was such… Some did not use any organic ingredients and still managed to sneak the word ‘organic’ into their packaging and advertising. Now I can smell the same thing happening in regards to ingredient sourcing…. So watch out! The industry is going to entertain you with words like ‘transparency’, ‘sourcing’ and such for the next little while.
To tell the truth, I don’t spend much time any more on trying to figure out who speaks the truth and who does not. I don’t even consider myself part of the industry to be honest. I do my small thing in my small way and I am content with it. My products are truly a micro-batch creation and when I call it ‘artisan’ and ‘handcrafted’ it is because these are proper and honest words to describe what I do. Tim Hortons has an ‘artisan’ sandwich and a ‘handcrafted’ latte on their menu now. You could think we work in similar ways lol.
I feel like I am part of something much more beautiful than the INDUSTRY can ever be or offer. I am part of a still small, but very potent movement which is built around TRUST and RELATIONSHIPS and HONESTY and COMMUNITY and a simple belief in surrounding yourself with decent, solid human beings whose intentions and integrity you don’t have to question.
I thought about my sourcing practices and I must say they are not very complicated at all. I happen to know the people who grow herbs for my product. One of them is a dear friend, the other came to me as a client a long time before I bought any herbs from her. We know and understand each other’s values and beliefs. That’s what keeps us together:) They have my full confidence. I know how much love and care goes into their growing practices and I’d like to think that they trust I will put their hard work of growing herbs to good use. When I purchase other ingredients which come from far away places (which I had no chance to visit personally yet) I do so through people who have developed relationships with small producers around the world, similar to the one I have with the herb growers. TRUST is a common theme.
I understand, that the bigger the company the more tricky it gets to have this kind of connection. The beautiful values of HONESTY, TRUST, RELATIONSHIPS, COMMUNITY, which I cherish are lost and abandoned in mass-produced product and profit driven industry. Isn’t it ironic that we call it BEAUTY INDUSTRY. Where did the BEAUTY go?
Magdalena xo