So you’re a label-reader! Welcome to the club!

You know that many toxins and chemicals are sneaking their way into our American products and store shelves. You’ve been slowly but surely getting rid of the chemicals in your environment and your food and are looking at the various 3rd party certifications that brands can use to “prove” their green-ness. 

We want you to be confident in what you’re putting in and on your body! Let's walk through our favorite clean beauty product verifications and why we chose MADE SAFE® to represent our line of skincare. 

Recognizing Real Clean Beauty Products

It’s unfortunate, but when you start looking at the ingredients, you soon discover that greenwashing is a thing.

As you start uncovering toxic chemicals and creating natural living standards — the last thing you want is to be misled! But companies can and have been capitalizing on a few natural ingredients to call the entire bottle “organic” or “all-natural.”

That’s where verifications come in.

Many home product and beauty companies have seen these practices and are standing up for their products! By aligning ourselves with the proper certification programs, we are proving that our products are safe, sustainable, and simply better for you. 

If you’re new to researching your home and body products — or you’re looking to broaden your researching skills — these are great organizations that are clearing up misconceptions about products and give you a stepping stone to weeding out the worst product offenders.

Certified USDA Organic

Certified Organic products go through testing each year to prove that they do not contain any prohibited substances and that their growing methods fall in line with the criteria governed by an ethics board. When you’re looking for meat and produce, you can trust that the seeds, soil, crops, weeds and pest management, water, contamination, and records are thoroughly checked and held up to the USDA standard. 

Note: Some elements that are not organic are allowed to keep livestock healthy — such as vaccines and some non-toxic ways to keep pests out. 

EWG Verified 

If you’re looking for environmental advocates and in-depth analysis and reporting on what’s happening in the natural world on a legal level, this is your place! From water sourcing and the environment to farming and household products, they cover every area of our lives impacted by harmful chemicals. 

Their non-profit scientists, lawyers, and more all work to help our country prioritize our environment and personal health. It’s a fantastic resource to understand what’s happening and what products can help you and your family stay well. 

ECOCERT Certification

Founded in France, this organization certifies food, cosmetics, cleaning agents, perfumes, and more, worldwide. They offer 150+ standards that can help products stand apart and use audits and lab analysis to back their claims. 

A big plus is that they check their beauty products for sustainable sourcing, biodegradable or recyclable packaging, and containing 95% natural ingredients. 

NSF/ANSI 305

This company reviews personal care products and cosmetics with an accredited certifying organization to verify organic ingredients and requires that the formulas contain at least 70% organic material. 

COSMOS Certification

Created by ECOCERT, COSMOS stands for “ COSMetic Organic and natural Standard” — and it backs natural and organic cosmetics in Europe. This certification is the closest to our favorite, MADE SAFE! They require their beauty products to be 95%+ organic plant-based and at least 20% organic ingredients in the complete formula. Most of their products are 99% of natural origin!

MADE SAFEⓇ Certification

The MADE SAFE® (Made With Safe Ingredients) seal means that a product is made with safe ingredients. 

MADE SAFE® screens ingredients against their Ingredient Database of known harmful chemicals, which is made up of thousands of chemicals found on scientifically authoritative lists from organizations and agencies worldwide. They then go above and beyond to examine ingredients for bioaccumulation, persistence, and general and aquatic toxicity.

MADE SAFE® certified products have passed ingredient screening for known:

• Behavioral toxins
• Carcinogens
• Developmental toxins
• Endocrine disruptors
• Fire retardants
• Heavy metals
• Neurotoxins
• High-risk pesticides
• Reproductive toxins
• Toxic solvents
• Harmful VOCs

Protecting human health and offering individuals clean beauty that they can trust is the foundation of Freegirl Skincare (Besides giving back!). 

I chose MADE SAFE® because it was the ONLY certification that was extreme in its screening process to protect against human health. We wanted to have this coveted backing so that our customers would know we were honest through every step of our journey. 

The rigorous process was essential because I knew MADE SAFE® was examining every ingredient at the highest level. Their scientists research breaks down the harmful effects that components can have on the human body — even any harmful natural ingredients!

To learn more about how our ingredients go above and beyond most skincare companies, check out our ingredients glossary as well as our info on all things natural!

Additional Certifications of Note: 

We didn’t want to leave this article without mentioning these additional two certification programs that are helping our world become a better place!

Certified B Corporations

This organization oversees labeling companies as businesses that operate with the highest of social and environmental standards!

With an independent council, they are able to provide an irrefutable certification system. You can trust that these companies, while not non-profit in nature, are helping our communities and our world flourish for a brighter tomorrow. 

Leaping Bunny Certified

This organization exists to provide your cruelty-free options and reassure animal-cruelty-aware consumers that the products they are using have never been tested on animals.