How do you look beyond the marketing and beyond the labels? Here are some suggestions that you can use when choosing a company. These suggestions are not exhaustive by any means, but they are a step in the right direction.
1. Choose a company that has a SOLID foundation in integrity and honesty. You want a company that has been around for a while and has built a significant following. Their customers seem happy and their level of customer service speaks for itself. When issues arise, the company approaches them honestly and takes responsibility for them. The company takes pride in publishing not only positive reviews, but will leave negative reviews up as well. There will always be customers who are not happy with a company's service. In the world of statistics, these are called outliers. You can look beyond them because the majority of customers are indeed satisfied.
2. Look for a company that is aligned with your views. I'm not talking politics or religion here, but what you feel is necessary in a product. Do you need it to be handmade? Made in the USA? "Certified Organic"? Do you prefer a small company or a larger one? Are the products easily accessible? What is important to YOU?
3. Take a look at the company's history. Are the company's products constantly being reformulated? Has the company "left out" ingredients on their labels? Do they place blame on others when things go wrong? Does the company dismiss legitimate concerns about their products' formulations? Have your questions been addressed or ignored? Does the company "walk the walk" or just "talk the talk"?
4. Does the company's leader know what he/she is doing? It is important that if a product is not being made on the premises (which most products are not), the owner of the company understands how products are made or at least has someone working for them that does. Can they spot when ingredients do not add up in a product? Are they knowledgeable about the processes necessary to create the products they are having manufactured? If the answer is "no", then how could they possibly ensure quality control of those products? Which leads me to my next suggestion.
5. Is there quality control? Who is overseeing quality control? Who is making sure you as the customer is getting what you are supposed to get? What happens when a product doesn't seem right? Are you offered a refund or exchange?
6. Compare the labels to other products of similarity. You read the labels, but that does not always work out because companies are notorious for leaving ingredients out. So, what do you do? Take a simple body wash and compare those ingredients to another body wash. Take a lotion and compare those ingredients to another lotion. Every body wash needs to be saponified, otherwise, it will not be soapy. Every lotion needs an emulsifier to mix the oils/butters and water together, otherwise all you have is oil and water and we all know oil and water do not mix! If the ingredients appear to be too good to be true, they usually are! Give yourself permission to immediately walk away from anything that gives you bad vibes. There is no need to explain or make sense of it. Just trust what you feel.
7. When in doubt, go with a company who is USDA Certified Organic under the NOP program. Chances are, not ALL their products will be certified; however, by choosing a company with this status, you can trust that a 3rd party certifier is keeping track of their every move. This means NO ingredients can be left out! If you do not know what is takes to become certified, you should read my blog link below. It is VERY informative. Even though at Poofy Organics, we do have products that are not certified, most people don't know that our certifier Baystate Organic Certifiers, keeps tabs on THOSE products as well. They know absolutely everything that happens and every single ingredient that comes in our manufacturing facility whether it pertains to a certified organic product or not!
http://poofyorganics.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-rules-of-being-usda-certified.html
As a customer of Poofy Organics, you can always feel safe buying from us. We do NOT hide anything, and would never endanger our customers by using harmful toxic chemicals. We know you have a choice to make and we, as a small business, truly appreciate that you have chosen us! Read all about us!
POOFY ORGANICS was founded in 2006 after a family member was diagnosed with breast cancer. Our family was determined to stop using products laden with toxic chemicals. With no suitable alternatives to turn to, we made it our mission to find the safest and most effective ingredients for our products.
Commercial products are often filled with harmful chemicals, additives and fragrances despite producing irreversible harmful effects on the body and the environment. Our products are safe for our world, children, pets and expectant mothers.
Commercial products are often filled with harmful chemicals, additives and fragrances despite producing irreversible harmful effects on the body and the environment. Our products are safe for our world, children, pets and expectant mothers.
We are a small family-run business and proud of our accomplishments. Products are made fresh, by hand, on our premises in small batches and fragranced only with essential oils and extracts that have long been used for therapeutic properties. When we say ORGANIC, we mean it! With USDA organic certification, you can trust that you're getting the purest products possible!
At POOFY ORGANICS, our goal is to have a minimal impact on the environment. We practice being "GREEN" by only using two kinds of packing peanuts. Either we recycle ones that we have received in packages when ordering supplies or we use ones made from cornstarch. The ones made from cornstarch decompose in water leaving no toxic waste. The peanuts are static-free and made from organic starch. In addition, using organic ingredients is "green" within itself. That means we're keeping pesticides, herbicides and GMOs out of our environment. We do not carry samples. Offering only larger product sizes reduces plastic consumption.
