Stella McCartney has been living green since conception. Her animal-activist mother, Linda, and citizen-of-the-planet father, Sir Paul, raised Stella to be a lifelong vegetarian, animal lover, and environmental enthusiast. Today, Stella is taking her teachings and philosophies to the next level by integrating eco-ethics into her luxury brand, Stella McCartney. Aside from never ever using leather or fur in any products, Stella’s newest line, Care by Stella McCartney is certified by ECOCERT.

ECOCERT is a highly respected and trusted international organic and natural beauty products certification standard. According to ECOCERT, Care by Stella McCartney contains no endangered plants, genetically modified ingredients, petrochemicals, paraben preservatives or synthetic fragrances. In addition, Care contains 100% certified organic active ingredients.

Many people understand and practice the importance of eating organic—avoiding toxins in the body, but few have gravitated toward the concept of putting organic on the body. Why is it a good idea to put organic material on your skin? Many reasons . . . most importantly, it’s better for the environment because organic products avoid the use of harmful pesticides that disrupt ecosystems, litter the soil, and pollute water systems. Additionally, more than 50 independent international studies have compared the nutritional quality of products derived from conventional crops against those derived from organic ones. The conclusions clearly show that the organic compounds, like those used in Care by Stella McCartney, are higher in vitamin C, antioxidants, amino acids, essential fatty acids, and mineral salts—all nutrients essential to cell re-growth and function.

Animals and ethics aside lets get to the real question here! How does organic skincare smell? According to McCartney, “all of the products contain 100% organic essential oils created by an organic oil perfumer.” Unconvinced, I had to take a whiff myself . . . turns out, Stella is quite right. Care products boast an airy scent reminiscent of freshly cut flowers—not composting vegetables.

Posted on August 2nd, 2007 by Olivia Zaleski