Launch of OASIS - The First U.S. Organic standard for the beauty and personal care industry

Milpitas, CA (March 2008) — Today, OASIS, the first organic standard for the US beauty and personal care market, will bring clarity to consumer confusion around organic product claims. The only “industry consensus” standard, it has the support of 30 founding members.

According to Nutrition Business Journal, the organic beauty and personal care industry has been growing rapidly, at 15% for the past 15 years. At the end of 2007, US sales of organic personal care products approached $9 billion representing approximately 15% of the personal care market.

As more and more products claim to be ‘organic’, the potential for consumer confusion also rises. This is compounded by the existence of disparate regulatory seals in the marketplace.

Organic And Sustainable Industry Standards – OASIS - was therefore formed by a group of concerned trade professionals representing the beauty and personal care industry supply chain. It is the first US organic standard for the beauty and personal care industry.

“The beauty of OASIS is that as an industry consensus standard its members range from large, global brands such as Estee Lauder Companies and L’Oreal to third party and private label manufactures to smaller, specialist brands such as Perfect Organics and Juice Beauty,” says, Gay Timmons, Chairperson of OASIS and Founder, Oh, Oh Organics.

“Along with many of the founding members of Oasis I have had been working for the past 10 years to certify organic products in this fragmented market,“ says Tim Kapsner, Founding Member of OASIS and Senior Research Scientist for Aveda. “Until today, the US has not had a dedicated organic standard for the beauty and personal care industry. In absence of a true industry standard, companies applied the USDA Organic food standard for beauty and personal care ingredients and products. But the USDA’s food standards were never designed for this industry, and its strict guidelines limit even certain types of “green chemistry” and pose significant challenges for those seeking to create certified organic products,” Kapsner continued.

OASIS is the result of a deeply committed group of people – suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, etc. – working to set standards and clarity in the dynamic and fast-growing field of organic beauty and personal care products.

Specifically created for the beauty and personal care industry, ECOCERT is the current prevailing European standard and certification is predicated on a minimum of 10% certified organic content. At launch time, OASIS will require 85% certified organic content - which will likely increase as “green chemistry” continues to evolve.

OASIS has benefited from their experience with ECOCERT and USDA-NOP and aims to improve standards to the benefit of the manufacturer, the consumer, and, most importantly, to our living planet Earth. “Global standardization of the organic beauty and personal care industry is also an end goal of OASIS. The organization will take an active roll in the development of an industry standard at the international level,” said Timmons, Chairperson of OASIS and Founder, Oh, Oh Organics.

The Organic Standard is the first of several standards (i.e., packaging) that OASIS plans to create within the field of sustainability.

“Today, Oasis and its 30 founding members will bring clarity to the chaos of the organic beauty and personal care industry,” says Karl S. Halpert, Chair, Media and Communications for OASIS and CEO, Private Label Select.

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OASIS’ mission is dedicated to providing verifiable standards that support and promote organic and sustainable production for the beauty and personal care Industry, utilizing principles of incremental improvement and continuous change. The OASIS seal provides assurance to the consumer of credible value for organic and sustainable claims on OASIS products.

OASIS requires 85%* (with a plan to increase the level to 95%) organic content in finished products. It also allows a limited amount of “green chemistry”. However, ingredients based on chemistry that is not environmentally responsible is not allowed.

*ECOCERT requires 10%

3. OASIS is a 501 C 6 Mutual Benefit Trade Association designed to represent the concerns and goals of companies that make sustainable and organic products for the health and beauty industry. Founding board: Troy Aykan, Hain Celestial Group; Debra Claire, Perfect Organics; Tommy Dionisio, Cosway Company; Karl S. Halpert, Private Label Select; Tim Kapsner, Aveda; Karl Krummel, L’Oreal; Mary Mulry, Foodwise, Inc; Denise Peterson, Cognis Corp.; Tim Shaeffer, Depth Body; Gay Timmons, Oh, Oh Organic, Inc.

4. Founding Members: A Woman of Uncommon Scents, Abitec, Aveda Corporation, Carrubba, Inc., Cognis Corporation, Cosway Company, Creative Concepts Corp., Depth Body, Diva International, Earth Mama Angel Baby, Estee Lauder, Foodwise, Inc., Hain-Celestial, Indigo Marketing, Juice Beauty, Kerry/Manheimer Fragrance, know your source, Lifetech Resources, LLC, L'Oreal, Nature's Baby, Oh, Oh Organic, Organic Grooming, LLC, Origins, Perfect Organics, Private Label Select, Purcell Jojoba, Scents Alive, Smith & Vandiver, Inc., Suki, Inc., Trillium Herb Company.