Burt’s Bees:Friend or Foe
January 6, 2008 by Noel Boehm
Filed under Beauty Products
Today on TreeHugger there is an excerpt from a New York Times article about Burt’s Bees and it’s founder. Apparently Burt’s Bees was sold to Clorox in November but was actually sold originally years ago. Very interesting article, you should check it out. Personally I have been off of the Burt’s Bees bandwagon for a while. They have great marketing and are readily available almost everywhere but really most of their products are not natural and the ingredients list is purposely vague sometimes. Like, I want to know what kind of fragrance is used. The merger with Clorox makes their Bill for Setting The Natural Standard sort or disingenuous. After I checked out their baby wash on Cosmetic Database, I was floored at how high of a hazard rating it has along with most of their other products. I became rather disillusioned but I don’t want to rain on anyone else’s parade. They have quite the following so my opinion is just a drop in the bucket. Decide for yourself.
Hi there
I adore your blog, btw. I recently have been giving the Burts Bees the evil eye because while its easy to assume all their products are natural and safe (and I do love a few things like the cuticle creme), they are slightly vague and not always forthcoming with the fragrance issue. They readily label items “phthalate free” and whatnot but not every product says that.
Now that they are in almost every store, its easy for people who are aiming to rid themselves of paraben-esque products to snatch these up and think they’re covered.
One Burts Bees alternative I have found is in a company called BeeCeuticals. They have a little way to go to catch up to Burts but their products are what they say they are and they are truly forthcoming with their promise to provide safe, natural products.
Their lip balm blows Burts Bees out of the water in my opinion. I am a BeeCeutical convert. Also their Body Balm is a perfect cracked dry foot remedy.
Thank you so much! It’s unfortunate because I really do like some of their products but I just can’t endorse them wholeheartedly anymore. When you see a product in the background in a Pottery Barn Catalog you know it’s just too much hype. I’ll have to try Beeeuticals, it sounds really great. Where can you find the line?
Clorox and Burt’s Bees do not seem like a likely match…?
So far I have only found it online: http://beeceuticals.com but I think it’s starting to show up in health food stores. I’ll let you know if I see it in retail.
I just noticed the Burts Bees Radiance cream in the weekly Target circular. I think they’ve officially “sold out” as the kids say.
Burt’s Bees is the worst! I can’t even believe that health foods stores still sell them. Synthetic fragrances are the biggest offenders in terms of bad reactions and hidden toxic chemicals. I recently switched to Beeceuticals because they have USDA certified organic products and scent with organic essential oils. I love their stuff. The founders were organic farmers back in the sixties and had health foods stores that merged with Whole Foods. They are also very committed to the environment. That is the type of company I want to support, not put more money into the pockets of Clorox!
BeeCeuticals is great. Kathy is right about their Lip Balms, and the lip balms are certified organic. Clorox is also one of the worst animal testers in the United States. So even though Burt’s says “they” don’t test on animals, for every product you buy it helps fund Clorox’s animal testing! There is a petition on the web to get Clorox to stop animal testing. Sorry I don’t have the link right now. I will find it and re-post
Thanks for the info you guys. Yeah they just leave such a bad taste in my mouth. I’m a firm believer in you are the company you keep. You can’t say you are for “The greater good” and in a the same breath take money from a company whose values are the opposite. Goes back to the need to be an informed consumer.