Brand: Skin & Bones

Attributes: Non-Toxic, Organic

Description: This is an all-in-one face + body cleanser made of natural and organic ingredients with special blends of essential oils. The cleanser contains no artificial ingredients, chemicals and preservatives, and it cleanses your skin without leaving it dry. Contains black jojoba beads for exfoliating.

Ingredients: Saponified organic coconut, olive oil, jojoba oil, organic guar extract, organic aloe vera, rosemary extract, eucalyptus essential oil, Skin & Bones Proprietary Blend, organic jojoba beads, Canaga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) flower oil, Aniba rosaeodara (Rosewood) wood oil, Citrus medica limonum (Lemon) peel oil, Botswellia carterii (Frankincense) oil, Commiphora Myrrha (Myrrh) oil, Santalum Album (Sandalwood) oil, Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) oil, Citrus Grandis (Graphefruit) peel oil,Cedrus Atlantica (Cedarwood) bark oil.

Skin & Bones offers a range of luxurious and artisan skin products with its special blend of natural ingredients and essential oils, and creates multi-use and unisex products that are safe to both humans and the environment.

Skin & Bones products are distributed by POPPIBLEU, and you can buy the product by visiting their website.

The product is awarded a Green Rating of 2 stars based on 4 points in the following 2 criteria (updated on 28 Oct 2012):

Materials and Waste

14. Is the product biodegradable or acceptable for recycling after use?

The product is made of all natural ingredients and therefore is biodegradable.

19. Has the company taken steps to reduce the material and packaging used for the product, or to reduce the waste generated in the production of the product or service?

The company produces multi-use and unisex products that are suitable for everyone and every skin type, and hence reduce the necessity to have different types of products for different purposes.

Chemicals and Health

23. Does the product or service use natural ingredients or use no harmful chemicals?

This product uses all natural ingredients and essential oils without any addition of petrochemicals.

25. Has the company taken steps to reduce the chemicals used in the product or service?

Skin & Bones uses only natural and organic ingredients in making its skin products and no petrochemicals are used.

“Although I don’t praise it as high as the moisturizer, this product is a pretty good facial cleanser. Mostly made of oils, I was actually surprised that it foamed. The biggest problem for me would be the scrub beads, as I had to very carefully keep them away from my eye areas. I would use this to replace my regular facial cleanser/soap; I still needed to use cleansing milk/oil before as this product did not thoroughly remove my make up. It did, however, leave my face soft and moisturized after cleansing.”

- Isabela Clarissa

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Brand: suki

Attributes: No Animal Testing, Non-Toxic

Description: suki Creamy Foaming Cleanser is suitable for all skin types, especially dry and mature skin. It contains anthocyanins and polyphenols (acai oil), gentle alpha anthocyanins and polyphenols (acai oil), and gentle alpha hydroxy acid (apple juice), which neutralizes free radicals, minimizes pore size, removes dirt, dullness and impurities.

Ingredients: Water (aqua), olea europaea (olive) oil, glycerin (vegetable), cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, cyamopsis tetragonoloba (guar) gum, butyrospermum parkii (shea) seed butter, euterpe oleracea (acai) fruit oil, chamomilla recutita (matricaria) flower powder, vitis vinifera (grape) seed extract, cocos nucifera (coconut) milk, tocopherols mixed (vitamin e), malus domestica/pyrus malus (apple) fruit extract, aroma fragrance, limonene and linalool.

suki provides natural skin care solutions that suits everyone and all skin types, from babies to pregnant moms as well as men.

suki’s products are distributed by Pure Tincture Boutique. You can buy from their online store or visit their boutique.

The product is awarded a Green Rating of 4 stars based on 8 points in the following 5 criteria (updated on 19 Apr 2012):

Business Sustainability

2. Does the company have a sustainability policy or publish a sustainability report?

suki has an environmental policy and includes their commitment to ingredients, safety, manufacturing, packing and shipping.

4. Has the company taken steps to implement green practices in the office or reduce the environmental impacts from its offices?

suki has various initiatives to reduce their impact on manufacturing, packing and shipping.

Energy and Climate Change

11. Has the company taken steps towards reducing its energy consumption, carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions?

suki’s manufacturing ensures there is virtually no carbon output from their processing.

suki also source local whenever possible, always considering the fuel emissions and travel distances.

Materials and Waste

19. Has the company taken steps to reduce the material and packaging used for the product, or to reduce the waste generated in the production of the product or service?

suki uses as little plastics as possible and uses primarily glass for its products.

Chemicals and Health

23. Does the product or service use natural ingredients or use no harmful chemicals?

All suki products are 100% natural and free of any synthetic ingredients, parabens, coal tar colors, preservatives, genetically modified organisms, and nano-particles. suki source for organic and biodynamic ingredients whenever possible.

25. Has the company taken steps to reduce the chemicals used in the product or service?

suki has their own Innovation Lab that utilises the latest clinically-proven actives from natural resources instead of conventional synthetics that cause topical damage and long term disease.

suki also has a long list of synthetic ingredients which they will never use in their products.

Social and Ethical

27. Does the company have a corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy?

suki has various environmental initiatives to reduce their impact, and also source for fair trade and local ingredients whenever possible.

28. Is the company against animal testing on its product or service?

All suki ingredients are never tested on animals. They also ensure that every supplier adheres to their core philosophy of do no harm. Even the only animal product they use, which is 100% natural beeswax, is bought from farms that do not harm bees or burn hives.

“This cleanser has the ‘zing’ that you get from a freshly peeled lemon, with a light and naturally fruity scent. It’s easy to use, but do read the instructions, you have to lather up between your palms – I had tried to rub it directly on my face, and it didn’t foam up. Compared to drugstore-type cleansers, where I usually have a nagging suspicion that there’s some residual cleanser left on my face, the feeling after washing is truly squeaky clean. After two weeks of regular use, my skin feels cleaner and brighter, and I feel better that I’m not using synthetic chemicals on my face.”

- Joelle Chen

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Brand: MADARA

Attributes: No Animal Testing, Non-Toxic, Organic

Description: MADARA Face Deep Purifying Foam is suitable for all skin types. It removes dirt, gently purifies the skin, and cleanses without drying the skin.

Ingredients: Aqua, Rosa Damascena Rose Distillate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Alcohol, Glycerin, Surcose Cocoate, Achillea Millefolium Yarrow Extract, Hypericum Perforatum St. John’s Wort Extract, Calendula Officinalis Calendula Extract, and Chamomilla Recutita Camomile Extract.

MADARA is a company from Latvia that produces an entirely natural and organic range of cosmetics, which is certified according to the international ECOCERT standard.

MADARA’s products are distributed by Pure Tincture Boutique. You can buy from their online store or visit their boutique.

The product is awarded a Green Rating of 4 stars based on 9 points in the following 5 criteria (updated on 12 Apr 2012):

Business Sustainability

4. Has the company taken steps to implement green practices in the office or reduce the environmental impacts from its offices?

The substances and methods used in MADARA’s production unit are environmentally friendly.

5. Has the company, product or service won any environmental or sustainability awards?

The company won the ‘Latvia’s Greenest Company’ award in 2009 and a certificate of recognition from the European Commission in 2010 for their contribution to the development of environmentally friendly business practice.

Energy and Climate Change

11. Has the company taken steps towards reducing its energy consumption, carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions?

The company uses energy efficient production equipment.

Materials and Waste

19. Has the company taken steps to reduce the material and packaging used for the product, or to reduce the waste generated in the production of the product or service?

MADARA’s packaging can be recycled. ECOCERT also strongly defines packaging requirements – it should be recyclable and environmentally friendly.

Chemicals and Health

23. Does the product or service use natural ingredients or use no harmful chemicals?

MADARA cosmetics contain organically certified natural extracts from plants growing in the Baltic region. The ingredients in MADARA cosmetics come from certified organic farms and approved suppliers.

24. Is the product or service certified organic and have a credible third party certification or label?

MADARA’s products are entirely natural and ecological cosmetics certified according to the international ECOCERT standard. It is a volunteer standard that certifies cosmetic products confirming that at least 95% of ingredients comes from natural origin. The remaining 5% of ingredients are strictly regulated and stand for minerals, organic acids and other substance. ECOCERT prohibits the use of synthetic perfumes, synthetic preservatives like parabens, mineral oil, propylene glycol and other synthetic ingredients. Please find more information here.

25. Has the company taken steps to reduce the chemicals used in the product or service?

Yes, the company has taken steps to reduce the chemicals used in their products. By following the ECOCERT standards, this also means they are permitted to using only five different preservatives in their products and their amount must not exceed 5% of all the ingredients in the product. Please find more information here.

Social and Ethical

28. Is the company against animal testing on its product or service?

Yes the company is against animal testing on its products.

30. Are the company employees involved in community activities or volunteering their time to help the community or the environment?

The company organised the Festival of Good Thoughts and Sensations for the community where visitors can engage in soap making workshops, go to the eco market and take part in the natural fashion show.

“I used the MADARA Face Deep Purifying Foam together with the Deep Clarifying Toner and the Deep Moisturising Gel. In my opinion, this is one of the simplest face product I have used so far. A few pumps, foam comes out, massage onto face and rinse it off. It’s lightweight and cleans the dirt off my face pretty well. I have been using this regularly in the morning and in the evening and I have to say it does help keep my face feel refreshed all the time!”

- Nor Lastrina Hamid

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