The Truth About Ingredients

[Reprinted with permission from MPENZY.]

Did you know that over 80% of all beauty products* are made with ingredients MPENZY does not allow?

Say goodbye to synthetics. Because the truth is, when it comes to having amazing skin, everything we need is found in nature. In exploring which ingredients MPENZY truly adores, it’s essential to discover which ones we vehemently avoid. Because some things simply shouldn’t be in skincare

The simple truth is that many beauty products are advertised as natural or organic when their ingredients are far from it. Many companies produce these “so-called” natural or organic products by adding a few herbal extracts to a synthetic soup of polymers (plastics), silicones, petroleum (and its derivatives), artificial fragrances and colours, and other potentially harmful substances. They then market the product by focusing on the few clean ingredients, while disregarding the rest, hoping the consumer will do the same. The public is becoming more aware of this unethical marketing strategy (often called “greenwashing”), but unfortunately the practice is still widespread.

At MPENZY, we evaluate every ingredient - so you don't have to.  We focus exclusively on organics; and guarantee that all the products we carry are made with genuinely pure ingredients that have therapeutic value for your skin. In addition to this guarantee, we also promise to work diligently to ensure that none of the products we carry contain ingredients that are harmful to you or the environment.  We developed The MPENZY Standard with 12 guiding principles.

The MPENZY Standard

Ingredients bottles

We do not allow: 

  1. Ingredients that have known or suspected safety concerns.
  • Butylparaben
  • Ethylparaben
  • Isobutylparaben
  • Isopropylparaben
  • Methylparaben
  • Propylene Glycol
  • Propylparaben
  • Triclosan 
  1. Ingredients prone to impurities that have known or suspected safety concerns.
  • Acrylates Copolymer
  • Ceteareth-20
  • Cocamide Mea
  • Emulsifying Wax
  • Ethanolamine
  • Laureth-7
  • Sodium Laureth Sulfate
  • Hydroxyethylcellulose
  • Peg-100 Stearate
  • Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
  • Polyquaternium-7 
  1. Ingredients that are made from petroleum (unless they are nature identical).
  • BHT
  • Butylene Glycol
  • C13-14 Isoparaffin
  • Dipropylene Glycol
  • Disodium EDTA
  • EDTA
  • Paraffin
  • Peg-8
  • Petrolatum
  • Polybutene
  • Polyethylene
  • Tetrasodium EDTA
  • Trisodium EDTA
  • Propylene Glycol
  • Triclosan 
  1. Ingredients that are made by treating natural ingredients with petroleum derivatives or synthetics.
  • Hydroxyethylcellulose
  • Peg-100 Stearate
  • Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
  • Polysorbate-20
  • Emulsifying Wax 
  1. Synthetic colours
  • FD&C Blue 1
  • FD&C Red 40
  • FD&C Yellow 5 
  1. Synthetic fragrances
  • Lillial
  • Vanillyl Butyl Ether
  • Parfum*
  • *Typically Synthetic Unless Noted 
  1. Synthetic preservatives (unless they are nature identical).
  • Chlorphenesin
  • Diazolidinyl Urea
  • Dmdm Hydantoin
  • Imidazolidinyl Urea
  • Methylchloroisothiazolinone
  • Methylisothiazolinone
  1. Synthetic polymers and other synthetic ingredients (do not exist in nature).
  • Carbomer
  • Polymethyl Methacrylate
  • Pvp/Va Copolymer
  • Sodium Acrylate
  • Acrylates Copolymer
  • Polyethylene 
  1. Ingredients that are derived from harming animals.
  • Ingredients made from animal fats or oils 
  1. Ingredients that do not easily biodegrade.
  • Cyclomethicone*
  • Cyclopentasiloxane*
  • Dimethicone Copolyol*
  • Dimethicone*
  • Methicone*
  • Phenyl Trimethicone*
  • Polyquaternium-7
  • Disodium EDTA
  • EDTA
  • Tetrasodium EDTA
  • Trisodium EDTA
  • *Silicones. 
  1. Ingredients that could react with other ingredients in a cosmetic product to form potentially harmful substances.
  • Triethanolamine (TEA)
  • Diethanolamine (DEA)
  • Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate
  • Nitrosamines are the potential by-products of reactions between these ingredients and other ingredients. Nitrosamines are potent carcinogens. 
  1. Ingredients that are generally considered to be harsh on the skin.
  • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
    Can be made solely from natural sources, but is a very aggressive detergent 

If an ingredient fails to meet one or more of these principles, MPENZY will not use it. 

*Based on a comparison of The Black List™ and a review of the ingredients of 42,879 beauty products1 and 7201 hair care products2 on Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Database  conducted in May 2009.