NEW YORK — Grabbing for body lotion after a shower is pretty much the standard for many women concerned about keeping their skin moisturized. But how many of them know whether their lotion — or shampoo or conditioner — contains ingredients that now are being declared unsafe by the European Union?
“Not enough women,” according to Morris Shriftman, executive vice president of Avalon Natural Products, one of the leading organic beauty companies in the natural beauty care industry.
So Shriftman is leading a new campaign for the Petaluma, Calif.-based company, which is owned by investment firm North Castle Partners LLC in Greenwich, Conn., one that aims to inspire women to make a conscious decision when purchasing and using beauty products.
Avalon’s new campaign and company mantra, Consciousness in Cosmetics, is meant to reflect its commitment to using only the best organic ingredients in products. Avalon is backing up the effort with a series of reformulations to its bath, body, hair and skin care portfolio.
Along with taking out artificial preservatives, such as parabens, new packages now bear a seal featuring the mantra, alongside a “commitment statement” that explains how the product is paraben-free, and without synthetic fragrances or artificial colors. An explanation of how the product works and which active ingredients do what is also featured on containers, as well as the organic institute that has certified each product as one that is indeed organic.
“We are trying to practice full-disclosure labeling,” Shriftman said.
Of the company’s 175 shampoo, conditioner, bath and body gels, liquid hand soap and moisturizer products, which are under the Avalon Organics and Alba brands, approximately 35 Avalon hair, bath and body products have thus far undergone changes. Another 12 Avalon skin care items are planned to be retooled for March distribution. So far, the $30 million company has invested $1 million and four months to convert its products to reflect a higher standard.
Some of the new products include six shampoos and six conditioners. Flavors include Nourishing Lavender, enriched with beta glucan; Clarifying Lemon, made with shea butter, and Revitalizing Peppermint, enriched with babassu oil. Hand and body lotions come in a Ylang Ylang variation, as well as Lemon, Lavender and Aloe-Unscented stockkeeping units. Bath and shower gels, roll-on deodorants, glycerin hand soaps, soap bars and moisturizing cream shaves are also available. Both the Avalon Organics and Alba brands have price points that average in the $7 to $8 range.
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Shriftman said the campaign and formulation changes look to inspire women to think about what they are putting on their bodies.
“It is about honoring your body with consciousness, being beautiful but being smart, thinking about what you are putting on your skin. The same way you read labels on food products, read what’s in your beauty products,” Shriftman said.
Avalon-branded products also do not contain any petroleum-based ingredients, formaldehyde, harsh preservatives or sodium lauryl sulfates. Instead, the company has concocted an herbal infusion made with 10 essential oils to keep products fresh on shelves for nearly two years.
Alba, a natural brand that’s organic to a lesser extent than Avalon, contains synthetic fragrances. This will be corrected in the last half of the year.
Avalon is planning to promote its new look with a $700,000 print advertising campaign in natural trade journals, such as Yoga Journal and Vegetarian Times. Avalon competes against companies such as Kiss My Face, Nature’s Gate and Jason Cosmetics, but is clearly the industry’s leading brand.
According to SpinScan data for the 24-week period ended Oct. 30, Avalon Organics Lavender Shampoo is the category’s best-selling sku. Avalon shampoo, overall, contributed 26 percent of the category’s growth. Three of the company’s brands rank in the top 10 best-selling items in body care for the latest 24-week period. Overall, Avalon ties with Burt’s Bees as the top-selling body care brand with $2.1 million in sales for the latest 24 weeks.
Avalon works closely with the San Francisco-based Breast Cancer Fund, a national organization that raises public awareness about the environment’s contribution to breast cancer, found to be a cause of the disease in 50 percent of cases. It’s this relationship that helped Shriftman come to a decision to bring Avalon even closer to its organic roots. But the plan to tinker with Avalon’s inner workings was not well received by all executives involved with the brand, Shriftman said.
“I felt there were things we could do to be better. But some thought, ‘Why fix what’s not broken?’” he said.
But a trend in keeping toxins out of products by companies such as L’Oréal and Revlon is giving some credence to Avalon’s efforts.
He likens what is taking place at the company to building a three-layer cake.
“At the base, we are creating products that are safe and clean. Then we are making sure we are not using any chemicals. At the top, we are showing how the natural product industry is representing a laboratory for change. It will soon be backed up by the mainstream.”