What Is 'Intelligently Organic'?
Our Policy Regarding “Natural” and “Organic” Products and Ingredients
You may have seen on the packaging of your latest Stemology purchase, or perhaps when you were perusing our website, the term “intelligently organic.” We’re pretty sure you are already familiar with the term “organic,” but “intelligently organic” may be new to you. Let us shed some light on what is sure to become a common phrase when speaking about organic products.
At Stemology we pride ourselves on our honesty and ethics – our company founder is a Doctor of Bioethics after all. And as much as Stemology is a pioneer in the ethical harvesting of stem cells, we are also at the forefront of transparency in natural and organic formulations.
When the term “Natural Products” is used in the world of skin care, it often has a wide variation of meanings. First, “natural products” and “organic products” are not the same thing. For a product to be labeled organic each ingredient should be certified “organic.” If you understand the term organic, you know that certified organic is an FDA certification used for certifying crops grown to US organic food standards. And, although Stemology has a number of certified organic ingredients in our products, not all of our ingredients are certified organic, as not all ingredients are available in an organic form as food and other botanicals sometimes are; for example ingredients such as water, which makes up a very large percentage of any topical skin care product, hyaluronic acid, alpha lipoic acid, sodium lactate, amino acids, sea algae extracts (and many other wild-harvested ingredients) cannot be a certified organic substance. This is why we, in good conscience, cannot use the term “100% organic” when referencing our formulas. We instead opt for the term “intelligently organic” when speaking of the organic nature of our line so as to be transparent in our communication.
Stemology is also dedicated to the natural origin, purity and safety of the ingredients in our products. We are committed to the use of natural ingredients. Our definition of a natural product is one that has ingredients derived from chemical compounds found in nature, either in a botanical (herb, flower, root, etc), or the human body (Hyaluronic acid, Coenzyme Q10, protein peptides, etc.). Our natural products will use emollients, preservatives, emulsifiers, and thickeners that are derived from nature by combining the healing and nutritive characteristics of plant extracts and whole food ingredients with the advances of science. What is not found in our natural skin care products are chemical ingredients derived from petroleum, ethoxylates, formaldehyde donors, sulfates, parabens, GMO’s, gluten or artificial colors or fragrances. All fragrances are from natural essential oils or distillates.
The preservatives in Stemology products are a combination of natural anti-oxidants, which keep oils from turning rancid, plus broad spectrum preservatives which boost the action of the natural preservatives and provide protection against bacteria, microbes, yeast, fungi and molds, which can pose serious health risks if allowed to develop within a product. No preservative are used that has its source from the previous list of disallowed ingredients. This is our definition of “natural” products. This is our commitment to you, our customer, and the planet.