About Trusted Labels
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.
Why we started
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 is the darling of the "clean home" aisle. It 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 startup? Procter & Gamble bought it in 2017; press reports put the price at $100 million. 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. We didn't build it to tell you what to buy. We built it to give you the information you need to decide for yourself.
What we believe
Our Mission
Every review separates a product-level Ingredient Score from a company-level ownership status. Most review sites only look at one. We believe you deserve both without pretending they measure the same thing.
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.
The criteria
What We Look For
- Founder-owned, family-owned, or employee-owned companies
- EWG Verified, MADE SAFE, or B Corp certified products
- Full ingredient transparency, with every ingredient listed and rated
- Third-party tested and verified safety claims
- Fair trade, organic, or sustainably sourced ingredients
- Acquired by Unilever, P&G, SC Johnson, Colgate, or Clorox
- SLS/SLES, synthetic fragrance, parabens, or phthalates
- "Proprietary blends" that hide ingredient details
- Greenwashing through "natural" claims without certification
- Significant VC ownership that compromises brand control