Top 5 Worst Greenwashing Examples and How to Avoid Them

What is greenwashing and how does it affect you? It’s the ultimate clean beauty hurdle.

You want to find products that are natural and free of toxic chemicals, right? Who doesn’t! But we need to understand the definition of greenwashing and how to avoid this shady business practice.

This article will tell you all about greenwashing, give you some classic examples, as well as some tips on how to avoid it in the future that have helped me immensely over the years.

This post contains affiliate links. You can read more here.

Pin this image for later!

What the Heck is Greenwashing?

Greenwashing is a marketing tactic used to make a product look more natural and clean than it really is. And it’s one of the biggest hurdles you’ll encounter on your clean beauty journey.

It’s false advertising that is perfectly legal for companies to get away with. There is no “ingredient police” that have a set of standards for companies to follow. Which means that quality and toxicity standards are left up to the company.

Spoiler alert: It’s not much different than before! This is a problem for both marketers and consumers alike because most people don’t know they’re being duped.

It’s only common sense to trust what’s put on shelves in store, right?

Due to there being little to no regulations on what copywriters can say without being outright dishonest, a company can come across as “clean” instead of actually being that way.

This can lead to lawsuits from consumers claiming that they were the victim of false advertising. And it’s virtually the only way to get companies to pay for their dishonesty.

One of the Worst Examples of Greenwashing Ever

Years and years ago, I was a victim of one of the many greenwashing scandals that actually led up to a lawsuit. I didn’t learn of the lawsuit until years later, but it made me feel better!

A few years before I started my clean beauty journey, my mom and I tried this new shampoo from a company called Organix. It had this exotic-sounding essential oil in it called Argan oil and it promised shiny, renewed hair using healthy-looking ingredients.

We were sold!

After a few uses, we realized that this shampoo was just the same as the other ones. I looked at the ingredient list and couldn’t understand a single word! So we let it run out and promptly went back to our favorite shampoos.

Little did I know that millions of people were feeling the same as me! A series of complaints snowballed into a lawsuit that Organix eventually lost on the grounds of false advertising that their products were organic when they were not.

They were required to reimburse everyone who claimed to have bought their hair care products. By the time I found out about this, the time to get reimbursed had long passed.

Their company name was so tarnished that they soon rebranded to Ogx. Which wasn’t the best marketing move in my opinion.

There are plenty of stories like this out in the open, but unfortunately it can take a long time, if ever, for a company to get called out on greenwashing.

What is an Example of Greenwashing?

The scandal with Ogx that I just talked about is a perfect example! The easiest way to tell if a product is greenwashed is to look at the ingredient list.

While the marketing on the front looks great, the back can tell an entirely different story. Do you see ingredients like sulfates, parabens, or “fragrance?” If yes, that product isn’t very green at all.

There are so many more ingredients than just the three I mentioned that make a product toxic instead of clean. And you can have all that information at your fingertips with my eBook! It’s the ultimate crash course on how to become a clean beauty guru.

Get Me the eBook!

What Companies Use Greenwashing?

While there are certainly companies that I trust, most of them teeter between being “clean” and just plain fooling their buyers. Other companies play the game without adopting cleaner practices at all!

Here is a list of some of the most popular companies that look clean and green but aren’t:

Alba Botanica
Aveeno
Babyganics
Banana Boat Baby
Bare Minerals
The Body Shop
Burt’s Bees (Used to be clean but owned by Clorox now)
Covergirl
Herbal Essences
JASON (This brand’s products are a bit of a coin toss)
Kiss My Face
Love Beauty and Planet
Lush Cosmetics
Monat
Moroccan Oil
Neutrogena
Pixi
St. Ives
SunBum
Tarte Cosmetics
Yes To
And many, many more!

I know that some of these might come as a shock. And please keep in mind that this list is NOT exhaustive! There are plenty more companies known for greenwashing.

You can find these brands everywhere in sections that carry “natural” or “green” products.

Take the “Clean at Sephora” seal, for example. There are plenty of brands at Sephora that got this seal that are notorious for greenwashing. In fact, Sephora also got a class action lawsuit for mislabeling their products.

That’s where things get tricky. You must sort the lies from the truth.

And this can only come from self-education, because companies ultimately care for our health. How do you know if a product or company is using greenwashing tactics?

Take a look at the ingredient list and compare it to the claims that the product makes. If a product overkills the buzzwords, that might be a red flag.

What is Greenwashing in Marketing? Some Commonly-Used Greenwashing Buzzwords

If you want to outsmart a company’s greenwashing tactics and see what’s actually in your natural products, you’re going to have to grow your vocabulary a bit.

This doesn’t mean that the company is automatically lying about their ingredients if they use these words! Some companies actually tell the truth, believe it or not. You can check out my favorite clean beauty products in my top 10 nontoxic beauty products actually worth buying.

The main thing to remember is that there are no major tests or guidelines that companies must follow to ensure the safety of a product, unless they choose to get certified. Which means that every company might have their own set of standards.

Whether or not they make a product safe is a whole other matter.

Top 5 Worst Greenwashing Buzzwords

Nontoxic: This doesn’t always mean that the product is free of toxic or harmful chemicals. Rather, it can mean that this is a safer alternative compared to other products, like nontoxic paint. So there still could be plenty of harsh chemicals in there because there are no safety guidelines.

Dermatologist Tested: This claim is the equivalent to saying “My next door neighbor tried this face cream and didn’t break out in hives, so I shouldn’t either.” Since there’s no official guidelines for products, there’s no telling how the company got their product “dermatologist tested.” Double-check with whatever organization did the testing to see if they’re legit.

Organic: Unless you see the UDSA Certified Organic seal on the product, there are no guidelines for what organic means. Usually, this word is used to make customers think that all of the ingredients are 100% organic. The reality is, only a few ingredients will be organic, but the other harsh ingredients will still be in there.

Natural: This word is so overused it has no meaning at all. Natural usually means “of natural ingredients,” or “naturally derived.” I see it as a fluff word that makes you trust a company more, so you buy their products. Preservatives, synthetics, and hormone disruptors can all be found in “natural” products, so always be careful!

Fragrance-Free: If you ever see “fragrance” in an ingredient list, run far away! Companies use “fragrance” as a cover word for hundreds of harmful substances combined to make that pleasant you put on your body every day. Even if a product says it doesn’t have fragrance, double check that there’s no DLS or artificial coloring. Fragrance likes to hide in those ingredients too.

Easy Ways to Avoid Greenwashing

Now that you’re more educated on what to look for, let’s take a look at how you can avoid these harmful substances and still find products you enjoy!

Learn to Read Labels and Find Good Resources

This may be the most tedious method to avoid greenwashing, but it’s by far the most beneficial. I even got you started with the most common words I mentioned earlier! Unfortunately, there’s a slew of other words you can learn too.

Before you decide to buy a natural product, take a look at the ingredient list. The only thing that will tell you the truth about a product is its ingredient list.

You can be super strict, or only avoid a few ingredients. It’s totally up to you.

One common rule I’ve seen people use is they won’t buy anything if you can’t pronounce every ingredient. But I’ve found that mindset to be too limiting. There are so many natural ingredients with complex names!

Luckily, there are hundreds of reliable resources and databases that have done the research for you. Check out my personal favorite, Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database.

You can search for your favorite products where they provide a rating on the product’s safety. They even give a rating on each individual ingredient, which helps you build your vocabulary and understand why they are dangerous in the first place.

If you use the database as a reference point, you’ll be able to read ingredient lists on your own in no time! EWG also has an app simply called Healthy Living you can use to scan products for ratings, and

Just remember that everything has its pros and cons. I have a full review on how to use the app!

If your search gives you a green light on a product, woohoo! Your clean beauty product actually says what it means! Otherwise, your result could be yellow or red. I personally stay away from products that don’t get a green light rating.

Or, if you want a great second opinion with the convenience of Skin Deep right on your phone, there’s an amazing app called Think Dirty. You simply scan the product and it will give you a rating of how dangerous it is.

You can read more on my Think Dirty App Review if you want to learn how it works. It’s just as convenient as the Healthy Living App, though it does have its drawbacks.

Find Your Favorite Companies

While it may seem like all greenwashed companies are just out to get your money, there are thousands of great companies that actually care about giving you genuine products. Some companies are so honest, they publish their ingredients list right next to the product info online!

If you’re extra lucky, you can even get a little explanation on the purpose of each ingredient. Just Nutritive, the first clean beauty company I ever found, does this for their customers. They sell hair and skincare products that are handmade with naturally derived ingredients.

They make products for every hair and skin type, and for just about every ailment too! You can check out my Just Nutritive skincare review, or my natural haircare review to learn more.

When a company goes that extra mile to explain each ingredient to me, I know that I can trust their products. So do some searching, ask around, and you’ll find your own favorite companies in no time!

Use Your Best Judgement

So you found a beauty product that’s claiming to be natural or organic, but the rating on EWG isn’t that great. Where do you go from here? At the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide.

Clean beauty is a spectrum, and you won’t get any judgement from me for your choices!

One easy rule to follow is when to take an ingredient seriously depending on where it lands on the ingredient list. If a dangerous ingredient is at the bottom of the list, that usually means that it’s in very small trace amounts.

I sometimes let trace amounts of ingredients slide if I’m feeling lazy, but like I said, it’s all up to you.

There is no correct way to obtain a clean beauty routine, so personalize it as much as you want! You can choose products that tone down the harsh ingredients, or only go for the utmost natural and genuine.

Or you can choose to make everything! Yes, that’s possible, in case you were wondering.

Before You Go!

If you remember anything from reading this post, it’s that big name companies don’t care about your health at all. Think about it. Rates of cancer and hormonal imbalances in women have soared the past couple of decades. Do you think any of this could be linked?

While the harsh chemicals in our home and beauty products may not be the cause of cancer, it’s not helping. I’ve had friends and family go from life-threatening health situations to feeling their absolute best when they eliminated harsh chemicals from their beauty and personal care products.

That’s why I wrote a book about everything you need to know about switching to clean beauty without all the overwhelm! It’s seriously the resource I wish I had when I first started. Click the button below to check it out!

Buy My Ebook!

What is Greenwashing and How to Avoid it (With Examples!)