Luxury Spa Finder - May/June 2008 - (Page 40)

brains ] [ beauty& 5 Questions for MIKE INDURSKY Chief Marketing and Strategic Ofﬁcer of Burt' s Bees What counts as a natural beauty product in the U.S.? Right now, the word is up for grabs. Indursky wants to change that: He' s helping to create a deﬁnition of natural, regulatory standards, and a seal for products that meet them, JUPITER which will appear on labels later this year. We asked him what this means for the consumer. Saving face Priti Radiant Facial 1 2 3 4 5 Who exactly is developing the criteria for being natural? We, meaning a group of natural-product manufacturers, are working with the U.S. Natural Products Association to deﬁne and regulate what a natural product really is. Participation on the part of companies is voluntary, as it is with obtaining the USDA organic seal. What are the criteria? We' re saying that to be natural, a product has to be made with at least 95 percent natural ingredients, contain no ingredients with any potential human health risks, and use only pure processing methods, meaning they don' t adversely affect the ingredients. O rganic is the order of the day at this sweet little spa in New York' s East Village. Known for natural nail care, it's n ow also one of few places in the world to offer facials using Stella Are these standards hard for companies to achieve? Frankly, yes. Unlike the USDA organic regulations for products, we wanted this to start off at a high level, not a choice of levels based on varying the percentage of natural contents so that every company can meet the criteria. If that were to happen, the standard would mean nothing. It' s worth the effort. In fact, we' re reformulating a handful of Burt' s Bees products to comply. McCartney's E cocert-certiﬁed Care range. (Ecocert is France' s organic-certifying body.) According to aesthetician Zoë Picayo, the 30minute treatment is a ª quick pick-me-upº that boosts circulation, improves texture, and imparts glow. She used Care' s gentle cleanser, ﬂoral-water toner, two serums, and 5 Beneﬁts Moisturizing Cream and supplemented them with products from two likeminded brands, a Pangea Organics scrub and a Dr. Alkaitis almost-edible eye cream, as well as lots of massage. The products showed that organic and luxe are very compatible, and performed as well as many lab-derived lines: I arrived with my face parched from a cross-country ﬂight and left with my skin looking and feeling healthyÐeven days later. ÐA NN ABEL Why not work with the Organic Trade Commission toward one standard for natural and organic? Before a product can be organic, it must be natural. And because there are no regulations on organic personal care per se [such products are monitored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture], a product labeled organic can contain minute levels of organic ingredients and synthetic ingredients, including those that are potentially harmful such as parabens and phthalates. That' s why there ﬁrst needs to be a natural standard. Only if the product is natural should it be determined whether it' s also organic and to what extent. How does your natural standard compare to European Union standards for natural beauty products? They' re comparable. We look to BDIH [the regulatory body for personal-care products in Germany], which we consider the leading standards group in Europe, as a benchmark for where we want to be in 2010. We' re focusing only on the U.S. now, but we want a globally harmonized standard one day. For the consumer, that makes the most sense. US$60, 212-254-3628, www.pritiorganicspa.com 40 may· june 2008 visit spafinder.com http://www.pritiorganicspa.com http://spafinder.com

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Luxury Spa Finder - May/June 2008 Contents Editor's Note Ask Susie Pulse Points Spa Road Trip Beauty & Brains Pound Wise Private Label Real Estate New Tuscan Trio The Real Bora Bora The Spa Collection The Insider's Guide: Ireland Spa Rx From the Sparchives

Luxury Spa Finder - May/June 2008

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