Demystifying the Organic Skin Care Myth?

Here at Sanctum we have followed the rise of Organic skin and body care with interest over the last 4 years and only now have decided to take this direction. We did not want to just jump on the bandwagon and be seen as another organic player in the market with some products organic and some not. Nor did we want to risk jeopardizing the standards of the products we produce as we have found that some organic products currently in the market place, do not feel, smell and look like main stream skin and body care products. Some companies have one organic certified product and declare their whole range to be organic. We believe that only certified organic companies can truly call themselves NATURAL as the certification process and random manufacturing audits separates the truly natural companies from the rest.

Yes it would have been easy for us to follow others down this path and have products on the shelf that fall apart and smell "funny" after a few short months. However, it was important to us that the integrity of our product was NOT to be compromised under any condition. It is also important to us that there is TRUTH WITHIN LABELLING as many of our competitors state they are natural, organic or have organic ingredients and after carefully scrutinizing their ingredient list they are not!

You may ask why has it taken us 4 years when some of our competitors have been organic for just as long. The reason is quite simple, as the demand increased for more organic food the market of supplies and growers of organic raw materials also augmented. A few years ago what you could purchase organically for skin and body care was extremely limited, now there are many more natural and organic ingredients available which allows us NOT to sacrifice the quality of our products for organics.

We have scanned the world for organic ingredients and now buy from Asia, South America, South Africa, Australia, Europe, etc, and where possible purchase from FAIR TRADE producers in underdeveloped communities. It has not simply been a matter for us to go organic as each product had to have its ingredients carefully assessed for a change from non organic to organic. For example our Hy C Serum can be fully certified (95% plus) organic however we would need to reduce some of the active ingredients (vitamin C) to do this so we have chosen not to, our conscious decision is to achieve as much organic content in each product as possible without the reduction of quality.
Did you know there are in fact 3 classes of organic products recognised around the world?
These are as follows, for products that are:

1. Under 70% organic content are to be described as non organics
2. Over 70% is described as containing certified organic ingredients
3. Over 95% organic content can be termed certified organic

The balance of the formula, not including water and minerals, MUST be of natural origin and therefore can not include ingredients such as normal preservatives eg. Parabens, Potassium sorbate, Sodium benzoate, etc. nor should the preservatives be hidden in terms like Parfum.
In the method of calculation water and minerals are not included (this is why you can get certified lip stick and mascara). All Sanctum products are now over 70% with many over the 95% threshold. We have not sacrificed any quality in achieving this, just time and careful formulation work. We chose organic raw materials carefully and have still maintained medicinal levels of active properties selected for functionality in our products.

As the labelling standards in Australia are open to all sorts of interpretation some of the label claims on products on the shelf here reflect anything but what is in them. You can just about call everything "organic" and get away with it except if you wish to export. This is where there are rules and laws which are policed by AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service) to help protect Australia's good name in overseas markets. To export any products and claim it to be organic you must be a certified organic processor/grower and have your manufacturing facility and your formulations approved by an AQIS approved certifying body. There are numerous certifying bodies in Australia which can audit manufacturing facilities and approve products. All these organisations come under the control of AQIS a Federal Government Department which sets the Government legislation that everyone must abide by. There is no national standard for skin care or cosmetics so classification must be under the "National Food Standard for Organic and Bio-dynamic Produce". Sanctum has certification through the Organic Food Chain Pty Ltd and proudly bears their logo on all our products which gives you the confidence that you are buying a product that is truly organic by nature.

It's what's inside that counts.