The certification jungle

Find your way through the certification jungle!
In this blog post, we want to highlight different types of certifications and explain in an easy-to-understand way how they can help you make informed choices when buying hair care. The point of certifications is that a product or service is reviewed by an independent party who, through a certification/symbol, tells the consumer what they can be sure of. But then you first have to know what the certification stands for.

Today, organic hair care is a hot topic, most brands have some type of sustainability strategy that explains how they contribute to a better world. It can be anything from the packaging being made from renewable materials, the factory where the products are made getting its energy from the sun or the product containing a particularly effective ingredient that is also organic. A producer simply chooses which details they want to highlight and communicate to the customer. In order to truly make a conscious and sustainable choice when buying hair care, you need to be well-read to understand and be able to review the products' ingredients, and quite honestly, it's not easy. But stay tuned, we'll help you sort it out and hopefully make it a little easier for you the next time you're in a store or about to buy something.

What is greenwash - what traps are there?
There are some rules from the Swedish Medical Products Agency to follow when it comes to how to market a product. However, creativity is great and many times the word organic or green is communicated without being reflected in the content at all. If you examine the ingredient list, you will not infrequently find chemicals that are known to be environmentally and/or harmful to health. A not entirely uncommon phenomenon is also that when the product is marketed as vegan, many draw parallels to the fact that it means that it is organic and/or does not contain harmful chemicals, which is not the case at all, but only means that the product does not contain animal ingredients. A vegan label therefore has nothing to do with eco or environmental labels. Another gray area is also the big brands' own certifications, they hopefully have a good purpose and are credible, but they are not reviewed by an independent third party. Often they have a product in their series that is, for example, "the most organic", which can of course be both tempting and misleading. That said, independent certifications are generally more reliable.

New certified products!
If you don't understand what all the names in an ingredient list mean, independent certifications are an easier way to find good products. At Green Heads, we only work with and sell what is permitted through the Green Salon certification, but it has often also been reviewed by one or two other organizations.

Different types of certifications
Back to the certifications, here we have listed some of the most common certifications when it comes to natural and organic hair care. We have broken them down so you can see what their goals are and how they go about it.

GREEN SALON
Green Salon is an organization that certifies salons and professional products in the hairdressing industry. The aim is to create a better working environment for hairdressers. Where hairdressers can work with organic and environmentally friendly hair care, where colors and products are free from harmful chemicals. It is a healthy choice for hairdressers, customers and the environment. Salons must be free from substances that can be allergenic, endocrine disrupting, carcinogenic and environmentally harmful. Green Salon works according to the motto fight the worst first, and excludes the most problematic substances.

What does Green Salon control:
The certification has a list of banned chemicals and synthetic substances that are not allowed in a green salon and the salons are inspected annually. The salons must also comply with a number of points regarding salon operations that are good from a general environmental perspective, such as only serving organic food, using eco-labeled electricity, making loops in paper instead of aluminum, etc.

ECOCERT
Ecocert certifies cosmetic products worldwide, examining content, raw materials, production and packaging. The aim is to help organic and natural cosmetic products be commercialized worldwide so that consumers can make informed choices more easily.

Ecocert Cosmos Organic is Ecocert's strictest label in cosmetics and requires that at least 95% of the content comes from natural ingredients and that at least 10% of the content is organic. The possible 5% that is not of natural origin comes from a strictly reviewed list of approved synthetic ingredients and synthetic fragrances, parabens, silicones, PEG substances and synthetic dyes are some of the ingredients that do not occur in products that are ecocertified.

FAIRTRADE
Fairtrade is an international certification that works to improve the working and living conditions of some of the world's poorest farmers and workers in the third world, and environmental considerations are also an important part of the certification. Fairtrade examines production and raw materials based on specific criteria for working conditions. The aim is to promote democracy, the right to organize and environmental considerations in production and to combat child labor and discrimination.

When you as a consumer choose Fairtrade-labeled products, you contribute to improving the economic conditions of farmers and employees, through criteria for higher wages and a minimum price that exceeds the cost of production. This, together with long-term trade agreements, provides security for all those who do not have such large margins to live on. Fairtrade also contributes to developing local communities socially and economically, for example through a new school, new housing and healthcare, or to investments in agriculture.

THE SWAN
The Nordic Swan Ecolabel examines the environmental impact of goods and services throughout their entire life cycle, from raw materials to waste, and sets requirements for function and quality. The requirements apply to energy and water consumption, air pollution, waste production, sustainable forestry, and noise and soil pollution. The Swan label does not control the amount of natural or organic ingredients in products.

A Nordic Ecolabelled product must not contain substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic to reproduction or allergenic. It must also not contain substances suspected of being endocrine disruptors or microplastics. Certification also does not allow perfume in children's and baby products.

NATRUE
Natrue is a European organization that offers 3 certifications that strive for as natural and organic content as possible. The organization's purpose is to help consumers become more aware of natural ingredients.

Natrue's lightest certification requires a content that is 90% natural, but it does not have to be organic. The intermediate certification requires 90% natural content, of which 70% must be organic. Their toughest certification requires 100% natural content, of which 95% must be organic.

GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL CHOICE
Good Environmental Choice is the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation's own eco-label. They label products and services in many different areas of activity, but also cosmetics. Their aim is to help consumers make sustainable and environmentally friendly choices.

For a product to be labeled with Bra Miljöval, the ingredients must have low toxicity and be easy to break down. Children's products must be completely perfume-free. Substances suspected of causing cancer, causing reproductive harm, being hormone disruptors or allergenic preservatives are not permitted. The certification also places high demands on the packaging to have minimal environmental impact.

Summary
There are several certifications for hair care products and they all have different criteria. In conclusion, we would like to say that the cost of certifying a product or service can be relatively high. Therefore, many small producers choose not to prioritize it. This does not mean that they offer inferior goods, but that you as a consumer must take greater responsibility to ensure that you make a good and conscious choice when purchasing hair care products. Knowledge is power!