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New kid on the 'people- and planet-friendly body-care block' Patently Obvious is getting ready to hit the shelves at Boots stores across the country in March. Allegedly, the secret behind the Patently Obvious products is a formula that makes the soaps antibacterial and biodegradable at the same time.
The four different hand-cleaning products -- hand wash, hand foamer, hand gel wash and a pocket hand sanitiser (we didn't know we needed all of these) -- plus a shower gel are all free from carcinogens like parabens and sodium lauryl/laureth sulphates, which we appreciate.
The bottles are all made from recycled plastic and while we really do like the look of them, we can't help but think that both the design and marketing message bear an uncanny resemblance to method household products. It's not a bad thing, just slightly unoriginal.
At £3.99 for a 300ml bottle of hand wash, Patently Obvious can easily compete with mainstream hand soap, price-wise -- let's hope it completely outshines them on environmental performance, too.
We certainly look forward to trying our hand at one of the Patently Obvious products and to checking out the Patently Obvious household range, which is to follow later in 2008.
30 January 2008 05:15pm
Samrt planet is not so smart - it kight od its homework.
Parabens and Na LS/LES carcinogens? I'm not aware that these are classified as carcinogens by any technically-competent authority or resource including the US' FDA, and EPA the relevant EU bodies.
Your eagerness to claim benefit falsely reported the status of these ingredients while glossing over the quality of "recycled pastic". Do tell us the purity of these items - as waste streams could easily include bottles formerly containing pesticides, spoiled food (as in heat stable staph toxins), motor oil, etc.
01 February 2008 02:18pm
Hi there - Rikke's away today, but we'll reply to your concerns on Monday.
04 February 2008 05:16pm
Hello there,
I acknowledge I could have been more factually correct and say that parabens and sodium laureth sulphate containing 1,4-dioxane and ethylene oxide have been known to be linked to cancer.
My research is mainly based on two sources: The Environmental Working Group?s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database and Bill Statham?s ?What?s Really in your Basket?.
With regards to the original contents of the recycled plastic used to make the bottles -- that is something we would possibly look into in longer features or detailed reviews rather than in a news story.
11 February 2008 09:35am
Hi, I don't know much about waste streams and recycled plastic, but I did once work on a farm and all our empty pesticide bottles had to be incinerated (that's the law). Anyhow I think it's good to actually see recyled plastic on the shop shelves. I've been recycling my bottles for years (my local council now collect from my home) and have often wondered what actually happened to it all, other than being made into traffic cones (or is this an urban myth). Have not heard of method, but will check it out.
18 February 2008 01:15am
Appreciate the comments here, and am delighted to see the range already being talked about on your website. Regarding packaging design, we have actually taken inspiration from laboratory containers & flasks, and the range is based on the 'Florence' & 'Erlenmeyer' flasks, with the showergels in Test tubes. Sort of a 'natural science of clean angle. Hope you like the range which has now shipped to Boots' warehouse, the website will be up very shortly at PatentlyObvious.co.uk, and Andy Hill, my MD (and the brains behind the range) will be explaining why he called it Patently Obvious and a whole lot more. Keep up the good work,
Will King, CEO, KMI.
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Discover the brilliant experienced people who are helping SmartPlanet through the green and ethical minefield.
