Lisa Price, the naturals-obsessed founder of Carol's Daughter, believes only products with food ingredients need to be pumped full of preservatives. Still, she's careful not to overproduce; if the products aren't sitting in a warehouse for years, they don't need as much chemical stabilization. "We produce in smaller batches," says Price. "We forecast based on sales."
Jessica Iclisoy, a Beverly Hills mother of two and founder of California Baby, is another fan of micro-manufacturing. Her line, geared to tykes, pregnant women, and sensitive types, is built around either organic or sustainably grown ingredients that are sourced globally. "It doesn't make sense to try to grow lavender in rainy Seattle," she says, "so we get ours from Provence."
With its Anew Alternative Intensive Age Treatment, Avon is diving into the burgeoning "herbaceuticals" category. After focus groups showed a growing desire for naturals, the company partnered with medicinal-plant experts in China and Thailand. The result is a blend of Szechuan lovage root and neem flower, Eastern herbs lauded for their alleged ability to zap lines and wrinkles.
Once found only in health-food stores, holistic beauty brands are now stocked in the country's biggest chains. Itching to try The Healing Garden Organics? Pop in to Target. Need a Kiss My Face fix? Head to Old Navy for ONBody, a joint venture between the beloved natural-beauty line and the cheap-chic fashion retailer. While not technically organic like Kiss My Face, ONBody nonetheless offers a blast of wholesome beauty amid towering stacks of value-priced togs.
Call them the "almost organics"—beautifiers that straddle the fence between an all-natural agenda and those that require a Ph.D. in microbiology to decipher the label. "Natural products are becoming more mainstream," says Grassroots' Druker. "Moms today are concerned with what they're putting not only on their own bodies, but also on the bodies of their kids and pets."
