EWG Takes 'Clean Beauty' to the Next Level

EWG's latest initiatives seek to make clean beauty more science-driven.
EWG's latest initiatives seek to make clean beauty more science-driven.

EWG is targeting ingredients, scientific collaboration and "will take ‘clean beauty’ deeper into supply chains," per the organization. The initiative will reportedly "enable cosmetics ingredient manufacturers to earn the coveted EWG Verified: For Your Health certification for individual ingredients and ingredient compositions."

“As EWG’s Skin Deep has revolutionized consumer awareness about cosmetics safety and EWG Verified has become the premier mark for clean beauty products in recent years, cosmetics ingredient makers and formulators from around the world have asked if their ingredients and proprietary mixtures can qualify for our Verified certification,” said EWG president Ken Cook. “EWG is ready to make that happen. The goal of EWG Verified Ingredients is to improve the market for clean personal care earlier in the product formulation process and deeper in the global cosmetics supply chain."

Report: The Clean & Sustainable Beauty Agenda, 2021

Cook added, “Products will still have to meet the EWG Verified standard to carry our mark, which applies to all of a product’s ingredients. But our Verified mark will make clean ingredients easier to source and help drive innovation in key problem areas, like the need for safer options in cosmetics preservatives."

EWG's team will help brands evaluate products to earn the EWG Verified mark.

To support the initiatives, EWG scientist Carla Burns has been appointed senior director of cosmetic science, with lead responsibility for EWG Verified cosmetics and ingredients.

EWG's team will help brands evaluate products to earn the EWG Verified mark. Per the organization, 1,800 products sold by about 300 companies have earned the mark to date and retail at stores such as Ulta, Sephora, Walmart, Target, CVS, Kroger, Dollar General and Walgreens.

"Cosmetics brands are listening to their customers and reaching out to us to consult on products that will meet our exacting standards"

"The EWG Verified program was created to fill the void left by our nation’s antiquated law regulating the cosmetics industry, which allows companies to bring personal care products to market without any required testing to show that they are safe,” said Burns.

She added, “Today consumers know our mark on cosmetics is the gold standard for health and transparency and can rest easy when they see the EWG Verified seal, knowing that the cosmetics meet our most stringent, industry-leading benchmarks for health."

Burns concluded, "Cosmetics brands are listening to their customers and reaching out to us to consult on products that will meet our exacting standards. And ingredient manufacturers, in turn, are listening to cosmetics brands, which is why we have heard so much interest in the EWG Verified Ingredients category we’re announcing today."

“One of the keys to a healthier product is to engage with companies before they formulate, not after"

The organization will also expand its EWG Reviewed for Science program, allowing EWG scientists to collaborate directly with their counterparts at cosmetics brands and formulators to improve products' Skin Deep cosmetics database scores. The database draws more than 8 million people a year, per EWG, and features health ratings for 76,000 products and 9,135 ingredients.

The cosmetics science collaboration program is open to companies the organization has "pressure-tested for more than three years through contracts with a select group of leading firms in hair care, skin care, fine fragrance and other categories."

Kali Rauhe has been named director of cosmetic science and will lead EWG Reviewed for cosmetics. Rauhe said that expanding the EWG Reviewed for Science pilot program to the entire cosmetics industry “will allow our scientists to work with brands at every level, from product formulation to ingredient selection to consumer awareness.”

"And as of today, more than 1,800 products have earned our EWG Verified mark.”

Rauhe added, “One of the keys to a healthier product is to engage with companies before they formulate, not after. The building block for EWG Reviewed is EWG’s proprietary Formulator Assistance Tool, or FaST.”

Rauhe concluded, “In 2020, our team of researchers reviewed the ingredients of more than 23,000 products for inclusion in our various consumer databases. Each week, hundreds of products are submitted from companies that want them rated and added to our databases. And as of today, more than 1,800 products have earned our EWG Verified mark.”

EWG’s new initiatives are reportedly focused on making "clean beauty" more science-driven.

The Verified and Reviewed cosmetics programs are supported by toxicologists, chemists and other scientists, including Thomas Galligan, Ph.D., David Andrews, Ph.D., Alexis Temkin, Ph.D, and Tasha Stoiber, Ph.D.

“The pilot phase of EWG Reviewed for Science made very clear that leading scientists, perfumers and formulators in the private sector are eager to have deeper, direct collaboration with EWG to keep abreast of our Skin Deep ratings system, or to expedite scientific review of products that can ultimately carry the EWG Verified mark into the marketplace,” Cook said.

He added, “At the same time, EWG’s staff have gained enormous insight from private sector experts into cosmetics ingredients and the process of formulating finished, clean beauty products."

“By launching EWG Verified Ingredients and opening EWG Reviewed for Science to the entire industry, we’re taking our commitment to the next level."

Collectively, EWG’s new initiatives are reportedly focused on making "clean beauty" more science-driven.

“For EWG, clean beauty is found at the intersection of transparency and health,” Cook said. “We have relentlessly pursued those attributes with our science, consumer guides and aggressive advocacy to reform cosmetics policy, and by doing so we have played an outsized role in defining clean beauty. 

He concluded, “By launching EWG Verified Ingredients and opening EWG Reviewed for Science to the entire industry, we’re taking our commitment to the next level. We’re confident that both consumers and companies will benefit."

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