Parents and Consumers Who Read Every Label

We started this because we were tired of doing an hour of research every time we needed to buy soap.

Our Story

We started Trusted Labels because we were tired of being lied to. Every trip to the store felt like a research project. "Natural" didn't mean natural. "Independent" didn't mean independent. Brands we loved turned out to be owned by the same corporations making the products we were trying to avoid.

So we did what any frustrated parent would do — we started reading every label, researching every brand, and following the money. Not just the ingredient list, but who actually owns the company. Who profits when you buy that "natural" deodorant? Is it a family in Portland, or is it Procter & Gamble?

What we found shocked us. And we figured other families deserved to know too.

Mrs. Meyer's — the darling of the "clean home" aisle — is owned by SC Johnson. The same company that makes Raid bug spray and Glade air fresheners. Native deodorant, the one your friend swore was a small Portland startup? Procter & Gamble bought them for $100 million in 2017. SheaMoisture? Unilever. Seventh Generation? Also Unilever.

There's nothing inherently wrong with a big company. But there's something deeply wrong with a big company pretending to be a small one to earn your trust. And there's a real question about whether formulations stay the same after a billion-dollar conglomerate takes over.

That's why we built Trusted Labels. Not to tell you what to buy — but to give you the information you need to decide for yourself.

Our Mission

Every product on Trusted Labels gets two scores: Ingredient Safety (are the ingredients actually clean?) and Independence (is the brand actually independent?). Most review sites only look at one. We believe you deserve both.

A product can have a perfect ingredient list and still be made by a company that spends more on lobbying against ingredient transparency than it does on R&D. A brand can be proudly independent but use synthetic fragrance in every formula. Neither one alone tells the whole story.

We believe transparency isn't a marketing angle — it's a baseline expectation. If a brand can't tell you exactly what's in the bottle and who signs the checks, that tells you everything you need to know.

What We Look For

What Earns High Scores

  • ✓ Founder-owned, family-owned, or employee-owned companies
  • ✓ EWG Verified, MADE SAFE, or B Corp certified products
  • ✓ Full ingredient transparency — every ingredient listed and rated
  • ✓ Third-party tested and verified safety claims
  • ✓ Fair trade, organic, or sustainably sourced ingredients

What Drops Scores

  • ✗ Acquired by Unilever, P&G, SC Johnson, Colgate, or Clorox
  • ✗ SLS/SLES, synthetic fragrance, parabens, or phthalates
  • ✗ "Proprietary blends" that hide ingredient details
  • ✗ Greenwashing — "natural" claims without certification
  • ✗ Significant VC ownership that compromises brand control