Are Your Favorite Retailers Taking Action on Toxics?

Taken from the website, Mind The Store.

In our second annual report card on toxic chemicals in consumer products, the Mind the Store Campaign found that one-third of 30 major U.S. retailers are leaders, but two-thirds are seriously lagging behind. Find out how the stores where you shop are (or are not) tackling toxic chemicals in everyday products. Click on any of the logos below to learn more about each company, read our report, and raise your voice as a consumer!

Ulta Beauty earned a grade of D-, scoring 18.5 out of 135 possible points, ranking it 20th out of 30 retailers evaluated. Ulta Beauty has started taking some actions to address toxic chemicals in the products it sells, but still has much room for improvement. The company earned points for making efforts in recent years to require the suppliers of its private label products to eliminate chemicals of high concern identified in a private list that goes beyond legal requirements as new products are added and existing products reformulated. This list includes prohibitions on parabens, formaldehyde releasing preservatives, BHA & BHT, alkylphenol ethoxylates, and toluene and xylene in nail products. Unfortunately, Ulta has made little of this information public, only sharing limited, non-quantified information with us for the purposes of this report. While it labels its reformulated products as “free from” specific chemicals, this information is not readily searchable on its website or displayed in store, making it difficult for consumers to identify safer products. Ulta does not appear to be taking action with suppliers outside of those producing its private label brands.

Opportunities for improvement: Ulta can make progress by making more information publicly available, setting public and quantifiable goals with clear timelines for reducing and eliminating chemicals of high concern, and starting to work with suppliers other than those of its private label goods to reduce chemicals of high concern. Ulta should also become a signatory to the Chemical Footprint Project and pilot it with key private label suppliers. Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration already requires disclosure of ingredients on cosmetic products, Ulta should go beyond compliance with this requirement by working to disclose the ingredients in fragrances and close other loopholes in the mandatory labeling requirements to demonstrate a greater commitment to transparency.