What is Greenwashing and Why Should You Care?
If you are a sucker for a green leafy, flowery label on a beauty product claiming to be “natural”, “organic” or “botanical,” you’ve probably been a victim of Greenwashing – a manipulative practice in which companies mislead their customers into thinking they are “green” when in fact they are not. “Green” in this case can mean they aren’t using use chemical or synthetic ingredients, their ingredients or packaging are environmentally friendly, they stick to environmentally sustainable business practices, their products are certified organic, etc.
Unfortunately greenwashing is common in the beauty industry with companies using convincing packaging and labeling on their products to make us feel we’re supporting eco-friendly practices, or that these products are better for us than their conventional synthetic alternatives. They’re assuming we aren’t going to turn the bottle around and read the label, and perhaps even go the extra step to look up the ingredients listed and that we may discover that these so-called “green” products aren’t friendly to your body or the environment at all.
Tata explains some of the beauty industry’s most common greenwashing habits and her opinions about it (should the government be involved to protect consumers?) in her next EPIPHANY interview from @radical.media Plus she discusses how far natural technology has come since she began developing the line 5 years ago, especially in the realm of natural anti-aging science.
Watch below!
Tata’s EPIPHANY Interview, Pt. 1!
Tata was recently featured on EPIPHANY, a daily interview series that “invites impassioned thought leaders across all disciplines to reveal the innovative, the improbable, and the unexpected of their worlds” by @radical.media on their THNKR media channel – we love the goal of the series and are thrilled to be involved! Tata’s interview is a 5 part series, and part 1 was released this weekend. In the interview Tata discusses the reasons she felt she needed to create her own line, her passion for being 100% natural and really following through on this promise, and her reasons for creating her own vertically integrated manufacturing process for her lab!
This interview is Tata at her most natural – talking about the products she loves, the hard work that goes into them, and her commitment to honesty and quality. Watch the interview below and check back soon for parts 2, 3, 4 and 5!
Hey Look! We’re on NBC’s Today Show!
The 4th of July! We all love this holiday: an excuse to wear cheesy red white & blue hats, eat hodogs and strawberry shortcake with abandon, and never leave the backyard where the bowl of fruit salad is. At Tata Harper we had an extra-special Independence Day because Lilliana Vasquez of NBC’s TODAY SHOW picked us to be featured on their “The Best of American-Made Beauty Brands” – a special patriotic segment of their show focusing on beauty companies that make their products exclusively in the US. There’s a lot of businesses out there that outsource their manufacturing to wherever it’s cheapest, so Lilliana did the research and picked brands she loves that do it all here in the good old u-s-of-a.
Watch the clip below! Our Aromatic Bedtime Treatment is featured, which we are thrilled about because this amazing stuff doesn’t get nearly as much press and attention as it deserves – roll it onto your pulse points just before bed or rub it into your palms and inhale – instant relaxation, bringing sleep that much closer for those of us whose minds are still running full speed way past bed time.
Amazing Documentary Alert: HOME
This film is simply amazing and I highly recommend that you seek out an hour and a half over the weekend to put your feet up and engage – it is one of the most fascinating, visually stunning, thoughtfully produced documentaries I’ve seen in a long time. It tells the extraordinary story of the history of life on earth and of the delicate balance in which all living things have existed for milennia, until, of course! Humans showed up and threw the whole world off kilter with agriculture, domestication of animals, and, of course, exploitation of fossil fuels, the biggest catalyst of planetary change of all.
Above all it’s a story of linkage, reminding us that all systems on earth, whether they be ecosystems, economies or water systems, are inextricably connected. As they say in the film, nothing is self sufficient – on a global scale, sharing is everything.
Watch the film HERE!
Did you know that it has taken our planet 4 billion years to make trees? A beautiful quote from the film: “they are the only natural element in perpetual movement towards the sky” – a lovely thought. And yet, how many times a day do we use commodities made from wood without giving a thought to what an amazing work of nature and evolution a single tree is? 4 billion years is no small matter!
This film is not meant to make you depressed about your lifestyle which, if you are anything like me, involves a lot of thoughtless consumption of resources within an unsustainable economy and culture. It is to open your eyes and to engage in some thoughtful reflection, and to consider daily actions you can take to become a conscientious member of this living global ecosystem. That, and it is gorgeous – the entire film is eye candy, full of sweeping shots of landscapes I never even knew existed and in general really makes you want to take a helicopter tour of the whole world where you can lean out the window and gawk. But for every beautiful landscape shot, there is a scary countershot – fields of monocrops, water pollution, concentrated feedlots, exploding cities.
Tata sent this film around to all of us at THS because it’s so full of important information and perspective, and I hope you all share it with your friends and family!
The Story of Cosmetics
We hope most of you have seen Annie Leonard’s wonderfully engaging and informative short film about the Cosmetic Industry, The Story of Cosmetics (part of the larger The Story of Stuff video project) – but if not, we thought we would share it again just in case.
This little film is something we at Tata Harper Skincare love to share with our friends and fans because it does a great job of succinctly, creatively explaining how the Cosmetic Industry works – how unregulated it is, and how many creepy scary toxins and chemicals are allowed into our personal care products (even in products like baby shampoo!). It also discusses the long-term implications this has for individuals’ and our society’s health, as well as the political climate in which this issue exists. PLUS, it outlines the ways we can all make positive changes in our daily lives, be safer and educate each other, and work to make sure some political action is taken to protect us all.
Check out the video below, and share with your friends and family!
Tata Harper Skincare was founded on the idea that women should not have to sacrifice their health for beauty, and that powerfully effective, world-class products can be made without using any synthetic or chemical ingredients. Let’s work together to change the industry, and bring safe skin care options to women worldwide!
Leave your comments on the Story of Cosmetics video below!
