Australian brand Inika Cosmetics, now officially “the most certified organic make-up brand in the world”, has unveiled its new makeup collection.
Launched in Sydney, the collection, which boasts a new brand name (Inika Organic), a new tagline (healthy is beautiful), new packaging and new formulations, also includes the world’s first certified organic vegan lipstick, which won the Best Natural Cosmetic Product at Europe’s Natural and Organics Awards last month.
Speaking at the launch, Inika owner and CEO Tony Rechtman said the company was committed to developing 100 percent natural, certified organic makeup that performs as well as the best ‘non-organic’ makeup brands.
He said the collection took three years to develop as “every ingredient had to be traced back to the farm” to be certified organic by OFC (Organic Food Chain) and CCPB (Organic Cosmetics Italy), which have the world’s most stringent certification standards.
“For example we approached 30 manufacturers to produce a certified organic vegan lipstick before we found one willing to work with us,” he explained. “We couldn’t use beeswax (an ingredient traditionally used to create lipstick) as that can’t be certified organic so we had to create a totally new lipstick formula using castor seed, jojoba seed, argan and avocado oils”.
The product launch comes as Inika, which is stocked in over 500 salons, day spas and health food stores around Australia, celebrates its 10-year anniversary.
Rechtman largely attributes the brand’s success to its organic certification.
“Women buy our makeup because they know they contain no synthetic ingredient, harsh chemicals or nasty fillers,” he said.
Nonetheless he readily admits there “is a lot of confusion surrounding the word ‘organic’ in the beauty industry due to the ‘green washing’ of some marketing claims”.
“We know that a growing number of makeup customers want genuine organic products and therefore want to make sure that our products are totally certified,” he said.
“Everything of ours that can be certified has been certified so I can confidently say that the brand is the healthiest makeup brand in the world.”