Our Standards

reliv organics certified cruelty free cute bunny

Why are we Excited about Our Labeling?

At ReLiv Organics, we think it is so incredibly important for you as a consumer to know what goes into the products you buy, as well as the love and care that we put into producing each batch! The certifications we carry is our way of assuring you that your skin care products are of the highest standards with clean, simple, organic ingredients that are also cruelty-free.

USDA Organic Certified

Although we are a Canadian company, there are no current Canadian organic standard for personal care products. For this reason, USDA organic certification is the gold-standard when looking for any type of skin care product with clean ingredients. In order to get this certification, the ingredients in the product must be made with these strict guidelines in mind [1]:

Free from artificial scents, colours, pesticides, parabens, phthalates
Free from GMOs
Follows the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (as regulated by the federal government in the United States)
Protection of the climate, environment and soil it is grown in
Clear labeling for ease of consumer use

Within the USDA organic certification itself, there are different classes of labeling ranging from 100% organic to “made with organic ingredients”. Many of our signature ReLiv Organics products fall under the “organic” branch, meaning that a minimum of 95% of the ingredients and processing aids must be organic and pesticide-free. Even the scent from our products comes from essential oils; not from synthetic fragrances!

Leaping Bunny Certification

The Leaping Bunny logo on our products mean that they are completely cruelty-free, and that no animal testing was done throughout the entire process of product development! We chose to get certified through the Leaping Bunny Program because it is internationally well-recognized and trusted

It means a lot for us to have this labeling and we hope that you are excited about it too!

If you want to learn more about what USDA Organic and Leaping Bunny labeling means, check out our reference list down below [2,3].

Why Should You Choose USDA Organic over “Natural”?

Skincare products which are labelled to be “all natural” or “with natural ingredients” are different from USDA organic because they are not Health Canada or FDA regulated and may actually still have chemically-produced ingredients in them! In reality, the Environmental Working Group exposed that “fragrances”, for example, a rose fragrance, could be made of 50+ different chemical ingredients (the fragrance industry has 3,100 to choose from) [4]. Most of the companies that use “fragrance” on their ingredient list are unlikely to divulge the complete list of natural essences or synthetic chemicals used in their products, which are often petrochemicals. The best way to know if your product truly is completely natural is to take a look at the ingredient list. If you see words that you cannot pronounce or do not recognize as being from a plant or plant extract, it likely has been chemically produced.

But why is this a big deal? Unfortunately, although these products may contain some natural ingredients that are wonderful for supporting skin health, the other synthetic ingredients can negate the overall benefits of the natural component. One example is coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) - a natural ingredient in many anti-aging products. CoQ10 is an awesome anti-oxidant which fights damage to the skin as we go through the wear and tear of life [5]. However, if the product contains other pro-oxidants or free-radical causing ingredients such as pesticides, it can completely dilute the effect of the CoQ10, reducing the effectiveness.

Another important piece of information to keep in mind are endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which are often discussed when talking about pesticides and certain plastics. EDCs have the ability to partially or completely mimic certain hormones in the body, such as reproductive hormones (eg. estrogen). This is vital information to know when discussing skin care products as well. Research has shown that although you are not directly ingesting these products, there is absorption through the skin (eg. through hair follicles), via inhalation (especially with spray-on products) and through close contact with mucous membranes (eg. the mouth and nose) [6].

In a number of animal and human studies, it has been shown that parabens and phthalates can be absorbed through the skin and found as metabolites in the blood and urine [7,8]. Additional research has shown that certain synthetic chemicals from skin care products or “fragrance” can accumulate in human fat tissue [4]. Of course, more long-term research needs to be done as we are only at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to knowing more about how these environmental exposures may be affecting us. We know that you care about what you put into and onto your body, from food to personal care products. Knowledge is power, and ReLiv Organics is here to advocate for you and to create products that are safer for you and your family!