Earthly Beauty

Have you ever wondered what the symbols on the packaging of cosmetic products actually mean? This post will explain what they mean and why they're important for you to know. Period after Opening (PAO) What it looks like: A jar with floating lid with a number and letter 'M' What it means: The open jar symbol tells you how long the product will stay good after it's been opened. The number inside the jar indicates the specific number of months. "Best Before the End of" Date  What it looks like: Little hour glass What it means: Product lifespan is less than 30 months and will have a "best before" date. The EU requires either the PAO or BBE . The US only requires expiration dates on OTC products like sunscreen. The "e" Mark or Estimated Sign What it looks like: Small lowercase "e" What it means: Symbol required by the EU for products for products produced or sold in Europe. If you see this symbol, it mea...

The US FDA requires that ingredients of cosmetics must be listed in descending order of predominance or concentration.  This means that the ingredient with the largest concentration is listed first, then the next largest, and so forth.  The first ingredient is usually the vehicle, which is responsible to carry the other ingredients, creating the actual suspension. However, there are a few exceptions to this requirement. 1.  Active drug ingredient(s) If the cosmetic is also a drug, the active drug ingredient(s) must be declared before declaration of the cosmetics ingredients. Some think that any ingredient in a cosmetic product noteworthy for its ability to improve skin is an “active” ingredient.  However, this is actually not true since there are very specific rules around what ingredients are deemed “active” in cosmetics products. Sec. 509 of the FD&C Act recognised that the product categories “drug” and “cosmetic” are not mutually ...

/kerkano With consumers becoming more and more conscious of the ingredients they're consuming and what they can do to your body and to the earth, it is only fitting that the beauty industry embraces the demand for natural and organic beauty products. The terms "organic" and "natural" are often used interchangeably in spite of their differences which can mislead consumers into buying beauty products that aren't what they were expecting. A product is considered natural when it is not made of synthetic ingredients, which are developed in laboratories and are not found in nature. Generally, these products contain a high concentration of natural extracts and botanicals while avoiding controversial chemicals, artificial dyes and synthetic fragrance. The main distinction between natural and organic beauty products is that organic products are formulated using organically farmed ingredients. According to the  USDA , the goal of organic farming is to ...