CosBeauty Magazine #93

Ar e y o u
b ei n g
gr e e n -
w a s h e d ?
A G R O WI N G N U M B E R O F
A U S T R A LI A N S A R E C H O O SI N G
S KI N C A R E P R O D U C T S T H A T
A LI G N WI T H T H EI R P E R S O N A L
V A L U E S. B U T H O W C A N
W E B E S U R E W H E R E T H E S E
P R O D U C T S C O M E F R O M
A N D I F T H E Y R E A L L Y A R E
‘ N A T U R A L’ ? W E A S K T W O
E X P E R T S T O W EI G H I N.
R O H A N WI D DIS O N
C E O, N E W L A B O R A T O RI E S
W he n it c o mes t o c os metics, s ki ncare a n d
pers o nal care pr o d ucts, a large n u m ber of
A ustralia ns p urc hase bea uty a n d s ki ncare pr o d ucts
t hat are i n li ne wit h t heir pers o nal val ues.
Pers o nal val ues, w he n it c o mes t o selecti ng o ur
bea uty pr o d ucts, ra nge fr o m ‘ nat ural i ngre die nts’,
orga nic a n d vega n pr o d ucts, bra n ds t hat d o n’t test
t heir pr o d ucts o n a ni mals, s ust ai na bility, et hically
s o urce d i ngre die nts a n d A ustralia n ma de.
W hilst as c o ns u mers we ca n tell if a pr o d uct
is A ustralia n ma de or o w ne d, beca use of t he
A ustralia n- ma de sy m b ol, h o w ca n we tell w here
o ur s ki ncare pr o d ucts c o me fr o m, if t hey’re
et hically s o urce d, a n d are i n fact orga nic?
E T HI C A L S O U R CI N G A N D
V E RI FI A B L E S U P P L Y C H AI N S
W he n it c o mes t o et hical s o urci ng, i n A ustralia
it is c urre ntly diffic ult f or c o ns u mers t o k n o w
if t heir fav o urite bra n ds are act ually et hically
s o urci ng t heir i ngre die nts. W hilst s o me bra n ds
have et hical s o urci ng or et hical b uyi ng p olicies o n
t heir we bsite, t here c urre ntly are n’t a ny A ustralia n
st a n dar ds, certificati o ns or accre dit ati o ns i n
verifyi ng et hical s u p ply c hai ns.
T he bea uty i n d ustr y, h o wever, is m ovi ng
t o war ds m ore tra ns pare ncy i n t heir s u p ply
c hai ns wit h m ore a n d m ore c o m pa nies usi ng
bl oc kc hai n, w hic h rec or ds eac h ste p i n t he s u p ply
c hai n. I n t he f ut ure we may als o see Q R c o des
o n pac k agi ng w hic h c o ns u mers ca n sca n s o t hey
ca n see w here t he i ngre die nts i n t he pr o d ucts are
s o urce d fr o m. At t his st age, t h o ug h, t he o nly way
we as c o ns u mers ca n tell if a c o m pa ny is et hically
w w w . c o s b e a u t y . c o m . a u 7 9