Partners and Affiliates

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, womens, environmental and consumer groups whose goal is to protect the health of consumers and workers by requiring the health and beauty industry to phase out the use of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems and replace them with safer alternatives.

Founding groups of the campaign include: Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, The Breast Cancer Fund, Commonweal, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, National Black Environmental Justice Network, National Environmental Trust, and Womens Voices for the Earth. In spring 2004, these groups and more than 50 other organizations signed a letter asking cosmetics companies to sign the Global Compact for Safe Cosmetics and pledge to replace toxic chemicals in their products with safer alternatives in every market they serve.

For more information about the campaign visit http://www.safecosmetics.org. To find out if the beauty products you use are toxic, check the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database.

If you don't know about this organization yet, you should! Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) is a national nonprofit membership organization whose mission is to harness economic power --the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace-- to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. It is driven by a strong vision of a world where all people have enough, where all communities are healthy and safe, and where the bounty of the Earth is preserved for all the generations to come.

Green America publishes the National Green Pages™, sponsors the National Green Business Conference, and co-sponsors (with Global Exchange) the Green Festivals. To learn more about Green America visit GreenAmericaToday.org. To become a member, visit their Member Center. To find the Green Festival near you, visit http://www.greenfestivals.org.

The Natural Ingredient Resource Center was founded to help consumers, manufacturers and retailers, focusing on natural personal care products for the home and family, to learn more about the natural ingredients in the products they buy, make or sell. To encourage and provide an opportunity for manufacturers of these products to voluntarily show that they support "truth in labeling" and to provide a resource for education about natural ingredients. The NIRC does not certify ingredients, products or police compliance. Visit their Pledge Members Links page for the best in products containing natural ingredients. Because natural matters!

In order to display the Natural Ingredient Resource Center "Truth in Labeling" Pledge Seal, participants must voluntarily pledge to follow the NIRC Criteria for labeling natural ingredients and products.

The NIRC Guidelines mirror those established by the USDA for organic food,and are inspired in part by the hard work of the organizations workingto establish similar labeling guidelines for the term "organic" for cosmetics. Visit the NIRC site for their complete definition of Natural Ingredients.

IBN (Indie Beauty Network) is the established, respected voice of the handmade beauty industry, and the premier provider of business-related services to handmade beauty products manufacturers and the companies that supply packaging and raw materials to them.

Founded in January 2000, IBN (formerly HBN) is the only trade organization providing a holistic suite of meaningful, tangible benefits to handmade beauty businesses, including those manufacturing soaps, cosmetics, fragrances, candles and aromatherapy products. IBN Members Agree To The Following IBN Core Principles:

1. To abide by the highest standards of cleanliness and quality in the manufacture of handmade toiletries in order to ensure superior quality products and the safety of the consuming public.
2. To provide the public with useful, reliable and truthful information about the benefits of handmade toiletries products.
3. To compete within the bounds of the law, respecting others' ownership rights in the expression of their ideas.
4. To abide by all federal and state laws concerning the manufacture and sale of handmade toiletries products.

For more information, visit IndieBeauty.com or subscribe to The Indie Beauty Connection™ --a weekly publication informing consumers about the unique benefits of natural handmade beauty products and the entrepreneurs who make them. It features beauty product reviews, recipes for making beauty products at home, information about where to purchase beauty products, the founder's Lifestyle CEO® tips to help you grow your own business, and much much more!!