I want to start searching for 100% Biological products that are not tested on animals. These are environmentally friendly products which are not harmful for our animals, oceans and nature. They are biological degradable and non toxic and thus safe to use anywhere without having to worry about it unintentionally ending up in nature.

Quality Mark and Certifications

Though these products do not have to be listed in Quality marks or Certifications, they will easily have at least one because of the nature of their products. Here are some of the Quality Marks that I know off: Peta (Cruelty-Free), Vegan, Halal, Look for the Zero (Plastics).

List of no-go ingredients

I have searched online and came up with a list of ingredients that we want our products to be free of to meet our qualifications. We want our products to be free of:

• Ingredients that are coming from animals
• Parabenes
• Silicones
• Plastics

Ingredients that are coming from animals

You would think that cosmetics are only using animals to test their products on. Sadly this doesn’t seem to be the case. Here are the names most common animal ingredients used in cosmetics: Lanilon, Shellac, Glycerin, Casein (sodium caseinate or caseinate), Squalene, Guanine, Oleic acid (oleyl stearate, oleyl oleate or tallow), Animal hair, Stearic Acid, Carmine (cochineal, natural red 4, E120, and C.I. 75470), Collagen, Elastin, Keratin and Beeswax.

I got this list from the article 14 Non-Vegan Ingredients To Look out for in Make-up and Beauty Products

Parabenes

Parabenes is a conservative. It’s an ingredient that allows the product to stay on a shelf for a long time without growing molds and bacteria. But it’s become apparent that parabenes enter our bodies through the skin and also can be found in animals because the parabenes enter the environment through being drained out of our homes through the sewer. Parabens are believed to disrupt hormone function by mimicking oestrogen. Too much oestrogen can trigger an increase in breast cell division and growth of tumours, which is why paraben use has been linked to breast cancer and reproductive issues. The most common parabenes are Butylparaben, Methylparaben and Propylparaben.

More about Parabenes can be read in the article: What are Parabens.

Silicones

Silicones create a barrier on top of your skin. This way it can trap dirt, sweat, bacteria, sebum, dead skin cells and other debris under it. Because of this you have an increased chance of breakouts, and eventually even Acne and Congestion. Silicones can also clog your pores and cause dullness or dryness of the skin eventually leading too dehydration. It makes it harder for your skin to shed dead skin cells and thus interferes with cell renewal. The barrier also blocks ingredients from absorbing and finally it’s also difficult to remove.

Words to look out for in the ingredient list that are most likely silicones are those that end with: cones, conols, silanes, siloxanes. There is an increasing trend toward using silicone “substitutes”—alternative film-forming ingredients that you might not immediately recognize: Acrylamides, Acrylates, Carbomers, Copolymers, Methacrylates, Polymers (most commonly polybutene and polyisobutene) and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP).

This is the articles where you can read about silicones in more depth: 7 Reasons to Avoid Silicones on Your Skin.

Plastics

Plastics, especially found in cosmetics are most commonly known as micro-beads. These are tiny beads of plastic that you can find in many products that will not be filtered out when they enter our sewer systems. This means they will find their way to the Ocean and they are very harmful for the environment. Many studies have shown that fish eat the micro-plastics and micro-beads thinking it’s food. The plastics therefore can be found in the fish their intestines and will eventually kill the fish directly or indirectly.

Plastics typically start with Poly: Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene Glycol (PEG), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA), Nylon (PA)

Polyethylene Glycol is most commonly followed by a number like PEG-40 or PEG 400.

More information about plastic in our products are be found on the beat the Microbead website.

Once I have found a product that meets my criteria I’m going to see if it is of sale on Amazon so I can link the product on the Eco Friendly products page on this website. If I get a chance I love to test the products out myself and make a review of them in the future.