Oh well, it's time again to come back and update this blog. There are many questions that need to be answered and a long time has passed since our last time together. And not only time, but lots of new experiences that we need to share with all of you, our friends.
When companies don't have anything of value to say and their product or service is relatively ordinary, they often rely on marketing to create an image that they hope will add value to their brand. That is not the case with us. When you have a purpose and a vision at the heart of the company like we do at Hugo Naturals, and the leadership that my wife and I put together in order to help us change the industry, and when you understand our core values and our purpose, that all provides a road map to insure that we hold our course as a company along this journey. We are continuously transforming ourselves like our butterfly on our logo.
We have the most incredible team that is helping us to make our dream a reality, which is to enhance people's lives by making the safest, most natural, most pure and luxurious products for our customers, and in turn, helping to make a beautiful and happy world and forging an incredible destiny for our employees.
We made changes in our packaging. Now you can see us much better on the store shelves. With our new packaging, we believe we achieved our goal of giving our pure and luxurious products a presence of beauty and sophistication like nobody else in the market place.
Also, with our new packaging, we made a big change in the way we list our ingredients on our labels. We changed to the INCI format (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients). The INCI format is the strictest way, the highest standard. It is also a global standard, like the EU and the Asian FDA’s. The INCI format doesn’t allow the use of marketing words when listing ingredients, which avoids consumer confusion. For example, the word “organic” has been corrupted by companies who use words to sell their products. We do not. Our line is made with food-grade raw materials and is pure enough to eat.
This is why we are now listing our ingredients on our labels with their scientific names. This change can be confusing to our incredibly loyal customers. To help explain, I will use the example of alcohol. Alcohol like ethanol or isopropyl alcohol or methyl alcohol is not good for people’s skin. Those alcohols corrupt the natural barriers of protection of our skin. We do not use those alcohols at all, but we use cetyl alcohol, which is actually the scientific name for a fatty alcohol. Cetyl Alcohol is derived from coconut and palm oils. While it is a fatty alcohol, it is not an "alcohol" like ethyl or rubbing alcohol. Cetyl alcohol is widely used as a emollient, emulsifier moisturizer, foam booster and thickener in skin creams, lotions, shampoos and conditioners in the natural industry.
Making the decision to adopt the highest standard is always our promise. To always take the lead and not merely follow is in our DNA. To be vegan; to be cruelty-free, to be pure of synthetics: this is built into the culture of Hugo Naturals. Like being the first national body care company to be certified Gluten-free by the Celiac Sprue Association!
For today this is all. Sometime this week will be Debra’s turn to engage with all of you, till then …..
Hugo
Wish I could agree with all you have outlined. It is just not true. The formula has been altered on The Vanilla & Sweet Orange Shower Gel.It no longer contains olive oil and jojoba oil. (Nope, not even the botanical names of these oils are listed in the ingredients; i.e.
Olea Europa and Simmondsia Chinensis).
YET, The marketing text on the same label claims "Gentle botanical blend of vegetable glycerin, jojoba and olive oil effectively cleanses while restoring moisture and elasticity."
The acai berry pulp and several other ingredients have been replaced with apple fruit extract and coffee seed extract to name a few.
EWG's Skin database has increased the hazard level on your new formula. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/search.php?query=hugo+naturals+vanilla+%26+sweet+orange+shower+gel
So disappointed you sullied your product with your marketing scheme. I will no longer be purchasing your products.
Posted by: megan | May 02, 2011 at 08:01 PM
I was very disappointed today when I received my Hugo Naturals Shea Butter and Oatmeal lotion. I had kept my old bottle of the All Over Shea and Oatmeal lotion, and I was very surprised when I did an ingredient comparison. Among other things, the Acai pulp was missing, as well as the vanilla (now it just smells like almond oil). The product is just not the same. I have read Hugo's blog regarding changes in packaging and changes in ingredient nomenclature, and I have to agree with the previous poster. How dissapointing, this WAS one of the best lotions I ever used. I am returning the product, and will not purchase it again.
Posted by: Denise | May 03, 2011 at 02:42 PM
I was very disappointed in the changes in the size and packaging of your lavender liquid hand soap. The new smaller size bottle runs out to quickly and the new graphics are too heavy handed. The dominant dark brown color may stick out better on the shelves (I don't think so), but who wants their hand soap to stick out more predominately in the bathroom? Please bring back the larger size liquid hand soap with it's gentler, more harmonious graphics!
"We made changes in our packaging. Now you can see us much better on the store shelves. With our new packaging, we believe we achieved our goal of giving our pure and luxurious products a presence of beauty and sophistication like nobody else in the market place."
Posted by: Chris | August 30, 2011 at 05:37 PM
I have no words to appreciate this post ..... I'm really impressed with this post
.... the person who created this post was a big thank you man .. for sharing with us.
Posted by: Best naturals | October 19, 2011 at 02:18 AM
I agree with many of the posts here. The old formulations of your shampoos listed flower and herb extracts in the top five ingredients. The top five ingredients in the new formulas are mild surfactants. Yes, originally sourced from natural products like coconuts, but chemically altered none the less. The bottle size also decreased to 12 oz. from 16 oz., but the price has not. I found your products originally after an exhaustive and very time consuming search for the best, safest, products out there. Now I'm skeptical that your formulation, sizing, and labeling are really improvements. A new search begins.
Posted by: Brad00_0 | November 21, 2011 at 08:37 AM
Impressive blog! -Arron
Posted by: rc helicopter | December 21, 2011 at 03:20 AM