The "Natural" Lip Balm That Wasn't: What the 2022 PFAS Cosmetics Lawsuits Revealed
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The "Natural" Lip Balm That Wasn't: What the 2022 PFAS Cosmetics Lawsuits Revealed
By Oceanic Organics
In early 2022, something shifted in the clean beauty world — and for many of us, it changed the way we looked at our medicine cabinets forever.
A wave of class action lawsuits hit some of the most trusted names in cosmetics. The allegations were the same across the board: products marketed as natural, clean, and safe for everyday use were found to contain PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as forever chemicals.
This is the story of what happened, what it means, and why it was the moment that led to Oceanic Organics being born.
What Are PFAS?
PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — a group of more than 12,000 synthetic chemicals that have been used in manufacturing since the 1940s. They show up in nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing, food packaging, firefighting foam, and — as it turned out — cosmetics.
The reason they're called "forever chemicals" is straightforward: the carbon-fluorine bonds that make up PFAS are among the strongest bonds in chemistry. They don't break down. Not in the environment. Not in your body.
A peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Science & Technology detected high levels of organic fluorine — an indicator of PFAS — in over half of 231 makeup and personal care samples tested, including lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, foundation, concealer, lip balm, blush, and nail polish. As one of the study's authors noted, these are products people spread on their skin day after day, creating significant potential for exposure.
The Lawsuits That Made Headlines
In February 2022, the first major cosmetics PFAS lawsuit was filed — and it targeted a brand that millions of people trusted explicitly because of its "natural" positioning.
On February 15, 2022, plaintiff Daniela Gruen filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Clorox, the parent company of Burt's Bees, alleging that the company did not disclose to consumers that its mascara, lip gloss, and lip shimmer products contained PFAS — and that these products were fraudulently and misleadingly marketed as safe for consumers and environmentally friendly.
The lawsuit alleged that Burt's Bees had advertised products as "consciously crafted with ingredients from nature," "over 95% natural origin," and "Kind to Skin & Planet" — without warning buyers that they contained PFAS.
Burt's Bees wasn't alone. Similar lawsuits were filed against L'Oreal, CoverGirl parent company Coty Inc., and Shiseido — all relating to cosmetics found to contain potentially toxic PFAS substances.
The pattern was striking: brand after brand had built their marketing on the language of clean, natural, and conscious beauty — while independently conducted testing found forever chemicals in their products.
Why Lip Products Are Especially Concerning
Of all the places PFAS can end up, lip products are particularly worrying. Unlike a moisturizer you apply to your arm, lip balm and lipstick are applied directly to your mouth. They transfer to food. They get ingested throughout the day.
The lawsuits argued that the presence of PFAS in cosmetics was of particular concern given that the products were meant to be applied to the eye and mouth areas, which could increase a wearer's risk of exposure.
For anyone who had been applying what they believed to be a natural, safe lip balm multiple times a day — sometimes for years — this was deeply unsettling news.
The Word "Natural" Doesn't Mean What You Think
Perhaps the most important thing the 2022 lawsuits revealed wasn't the presence of PFAS specifically — it was the gap between what "natural" means in marketing and what it means in practice.
In the United States, the word "natural" on a cosmetic product has no regulated legal definition. It doesn't mean the product was independently tested. It doesn't mean it's free of synthetic chemicals. It doesn't mean it's safe.
It means a brand chose to put that word on a label because consumers respond to it.
This is not a small loophole. It's a wide-open door through which misleading claims can walk freely — and for years, they did.
How This Became the Beginning of Oceanic Organics
When news of the Burt's Bees lawsuit broke in early 2022, our founder Grai had been using their products for years. Like so many women, she had chosen Burt's Bees specifically because she trusted the natural positioning. She was a mother. She cared about what went on her skin and her family's skin. She had done what felt like the right thing.
Finding out that trust had been misplaced didn't just frustrate her — it sent her to her kitchen.
If she couldn't trust brands that built their entire identity around clean ingredients, she would make her own. She started with the simplest possible goal: a lip balm made from ingredients she could name, source, and verify herself. No synthetic compounds. No fillers. No forever chemicals hiding behind a "natural" label.
That first batch led to another, and another. Friends tried it. Neighbors asked for more. A formula emerged — organic beef tallow, frankincense, rosemary, jojoba, arrowroot — five ingredients with a combined comedogenic rating that sits at the very low end of the scale, and a safety profile that holds up to scrutiny.
Oceanic Organics was born not as a business idea, but as a response to a broken system.
What We Do Differently
We are not naive enough to simply claim we are "natural" and call it a day. Claims are easy. Ingredient lists are transparent.
Every ingredient in every Oceanic Organics product is listed in full — no proprietary blends, no vague "fragrance" catch-alls, no ingredients you need a chemistry degree to decode. Our formula was built around ingredients with well-established safety profiles, low comedogenic ratings, and a track record measured not in years but in generations.
We will never use PFAS. We will never use synthetic fragrances, preservatives, or emulsifiers. And we will never put the word "natural" on a label as a substitute for actually being transparent about what's inside.
What You Can Do
Whether or not you choose Oceanic Organics, here are a few things worth doing after reading this:
Check your current products. The Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database (ewg.org/skindeep) lets you search cosmetic products and ingredients for safety ratings. It takes two minutes and the results are often eye-opening.
Read the ingredient list, not the front label. The front of a package is marketing. The ingredient list is the truth.
Look for PFAS indicators. Ingredients containing the words fluoro or perfluoro in their name are PFAS compounds. If you see them, put the product back.
Ask brands directly. A brand that is genuinely transparent about its ingredients will welcome the question. One that deflects or speaks only in marketing language is telling you something.
The Bottom Line
The 2022 PFAS lawsuits were a turning point — not just for the brands named in them, but for every consumer who had trusted the word "natural" without questioning what it actually meant.
We believe you deserve better than marketing language. You deserve to know exactly what you're putting on your skin — especially on your lips, especially if you're pregnant, and especially if you're applying it to your children.
That's not a radical idea. It's just honesty.
And it's what every product we make is built on.
Every ingredient in our products is listed in full at oceanicorganics.co. No secrets. No forever chemicals. Just five ingredients your skin recognizes.
Pregnancy safe · PFAS free · Small batch · Zero synthetics
Sources: Gruen v. Clorox/Burt's Bees, Case No. 3:22-cv-00935 (N.D. Cal. 2022). Solis v. CoverGirl Cosmetics, No. 3:22-cv-00400 (S.D. Cal. 2022). Davenport v. L'Oreal USA, No. 2:22-cv-01195 (C.D. Cal. 2022). Vitale et al., "Fluorinated Compounds in North American Cosmetics," Environmental Science & Technology (2021).