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New website aims to clear up confusion over natural cosmetics

By Simon Pitman, 05-Mar-2009

Related topics: Products & Markets

A consumer-orientated website has been launched to address confusion over natural and organic personal care product ranges.

Established by Emelyn Rogdriguez, the online boutique www.bellafloria.com has been created by the former journalist and practicing attorney, who is also an expert in the field of natural and organic certification.

A plethora of standards for organic and natural personal care products combined with seemingly conflicting manufacturer claims has made it difficult to determine which products are genuinely natural or organic.

Focusing in on the ingredients

Rodriguez says she has set the bar high for the products that retail on the website because she has asked manufacturers for a full ingredients listing if she is to consider retailing any of their products.

She then sets about personally testing each product and reviews each ingredient according to an established and recognized cosmetics ingredients safety database.

Rodriguez describes Bella Floria as “a consumer-oriented site that goes beyond marketing and labels and does research that the average consumer may find too difficult or time-consuming”.

Avoiding harsh chemicals is the crux

Rodriguez said the idea for the website came after she developed a skin allergy to many conventional personal care products and set out on a quest to find products that steered away from harsher synthetic chemicals.

Her detailed research project aimed to determine the ingredients that go into products that claim to be ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ and in the process she realized that few consumers have the resources to go into such depth.

The result of her quest is a website that sells a number of personal care brands that are guaranteed to contain the recommended levels of natural and organic ingredients while avoiding chemicals such as phthalates, parabens and petrochemicals.

Tapping into market growth and confusion

Bella Floria is tapping into huge growth in the market for natural and organic personal care products that has been accompanied by wide spread consumer confusion on the subject.

Indeed, a magazine was launched in the US at the start of this year that also taps into this phenomenon.

Organic Beauty is a bimonthly magazine that is aimed at the ever increasing number of beauty consumers interested in organic and natural cosmetics.

Published by Sovereign/Homestead, the magazine aims to inform women about the green alternatives that are available to them on personal care and cosmetic shelves.

Naturals market should ride the downturn

A recent study by the Kline Group suggests that the natural personal care market is well positioned for continued growth despite the economic gloom.

Last year was a mixed bag for the personal care industry, with fortunes tailing off markedly in the last six months, even for some of the biggest and most dominant players, such as P&G and L’Oreal.

However, Kline said the natural personal care segment grew by 19 percent in 2008 to reach an estimated $2bn in sales and is well placed to continue on a healthy growth path.