Is organic certification proof that a cosmetic company is "good" or "no good"?

So many companies jump on the bandwagon of organic certification nowadays. Paul Penders, a pioneer in natural cruelty free cosmetics and a socially responsible company provides the highest quality natural herbal cosmetics using natural and organic ingredients – and has done so for over 45 years. Anyone can make a judgement by looking at our website as to what we are and what we represent.

One point to make our case here could be considered: we have never wanted to become a “Big Business” over all these years. Yes, we have received several offers to sell our company (including from Revlon and few other large corporations). They offered large sums of money. So why didn't we do it?

Just think about your local bakery. Or the person who lives in your community and serves as the health care provider for your family. Think about ‘what if…?’ What if they were bought out by a conglomerate or a chain? Would your community really be better off if there was just one more of the same 5,000 bakeries or of the hundreds of clinics offering the same old things?

Isn’t something lost when Big Business steps in? What about the personal touch? What about variety or specialized care tailored to the specific needs and interests of local consumers?

What would become of our company if we stopped searching for our ingredients ourselves in Europe and other places in the world? Has anyone ever seen Mr. Pearlman, the CEO of Revlon, go out into the wilderness looking for pegaga? He probably perceives “Paul Penders” as just another BRAND - an object that needs to make money, period.

Mr. Pearlman and other CEO's of the large companies need certification to prove they are "good".

Sure, the Mr. Pearlmans of the world need Ecocert. And Ecocert needs them. Signing up all these big companies has made Ecocert very rich.

So what does it mean when Mr. Pearlman demands that Ecocert must certify our products? Yes, if we pay money and a commission, we could put the logo of Ecocert on our products. And that would make our products better, right?

Well.... Here is the other side of the story…We do not need “organic certification.”

Certainly not from Ecocert and these other so-called organic certification bodies. We believe that consumers do not need to pay more just because of an approval by an outside business organization.

Consider that many trusted quality brands produce wonderful natural organic cosmetics without certification as well.

We do have two certifications that we are very proud of. These are what I call EMOTIONAL CERTIFICATIONS.

Recently, we were globally certified by the AVA (American Vegetarian Association) for use by both vegetarians and vegans -- something only a very few companies get. For certification, AVA looks behind the products and considers the ethical values of a company. They are less interested in the new kids on the market, but look to the ones having established a long-time consistent commitment -- to the environment, to charity, and of course, to the use of natural ingredients that are not derived from animal sources in the first place.

We also are certified halal by the government of Malaysia; the strictest halal certification one can get. No animal ingredients nor slaughterhouse products are used in our products - guaranteed!

The last thing I always like to say is that "certified organic ingredients" do not make better products; they do not work better. And often the ingredients that are certified as being organic are not really natural but are made from inorganic chemicals mixed up in a lab!

There is no chemist in the world who is able to verify or quantify what is a ‘natural organic’ or ‘non-natural organic’ chemical.

So please use your own judgment on the products you buy. Do your own research and look to the long-time history of a company. Ask questions of them and see how they answer you.

This is why for Paul Penders natural herbal cosmetics you will not see any so-called "certified organic" logos, simply because we are already producing wonderful cosmetics made from natural and organic materials.

And we started making them long before Ecocert even existed -- and Mr. Pearlman showed up with his fat checkbook.

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