We happened upon Petal Fresh Organics vegan and cruelty-free beauty products by accident. We were at a discount store and were shocked to see a shampoo and conditioner set donning the PETA “cruelty free and vegan” logo. We were also slightly suspicious over its $3.99/bottle price tag. While we love our organic beauty products, the common downside is that they are often pricier since the ingredients are high quality and made in smaller batches. We decided to do some more research since; as we mentioned recently, many giant corporations with poor track records are jumping on the natural health bandwagon to cash in on its growing popularity.
The first thing we did was hop onto their website and noted that this brand is in wide distribution, including being sold at various discount stores, Drugstore.com and Amazon.com. We went all the way to the top and discovered that Petal Fresh Organics is owned by Dasy Design International Co Ltd Thailand. The company itself mainly deals in salon and spa products, including polishes, fake lashes and hair removal products. The website does not give a lot of information about ingredients, such as if the lashes are synthetic, which may be because they are an international website and so don’t necessarily have to divulge that kind of information. We did notice that only the Spa Organics page, which includes the Petal Fresh Organics line, mentions anything about being cruelty-free, vegan and organic, but it also appears to be the only direct-to-consumer line they carry. It is possible that they didn’t apply for their spa products to receive the PETA labeling since they will only be used professionally, although it seems that it would be a good idea to clarify if all products are vegan and cruelty-free in case the spa’s clients inquire.
One thing that did strike us about Petal Fresh vegan and cruelty-free beauty products is their website. The website is indeed pretty, but the wording seems a little off. Here is an example from their “About us” page, pasted exactly as it appears on the page:
“Patl Fresh is dedicated to bringing you quality products for healthier,more attractive hair and skin. Petal,we value naturalness without sacrificing the efficacy of our hair and body care lines. Our products utilize the medicinal prperties of organic herbs to cleanse and nourish without the use of harsh chemicals.Petal Fresh uses onky vergan and paraben-free ingredients and our products are never tested on animals. when you select a product from the Petal Fresh line, you can take comfort in knowing you are making an affordable, healthychoice.”
The blatant typos and misspellings seemed a little odd for a professional page. We even emailed them to point out the errors, in case it was just overlooked. The email was never answered and it has not been changed. It is possible that, since the parent company is based in Thailand, the web page was designed out of the country and so there was a language barrier, but the company that is managing Petal Fresh Organics, Biocreative Labs, is based in California. While we don’t want to sound like grammar snobs, it does little to allay our concerns when trying to determine if this company and its claims are legitimate.
While we wish we can give a better answer on whether this company is legitimate to the top, unlike other companies we recently mentioned, we cannot definitively confirm either way. Because Petal Fresh Organics products are widely distributed, chances are good that you either have or will run across them. We cannot say that this is a bad buy, but we also cannot say that it is a completely cruelty-free, environmentally ethical buy. So the bottom line is: purchase at your own risk.
If you have anything to offer about this company, we would love to hear from you!