We’re sorry to tell you, but someone had to.

Think of us like that friend who tells you that those jeans just don't look great on you. We're not being mean, but you deserve honesty. 

For years, you’ve been sold an image: a bottle nestled in an apple orchard, a lotion gently placed beneath a shady tree, a bar of soap with flowers floating beside it. It looks clean. It feels wholesome. But it's often just marketing.

Here’s the thing - words like “natural” and “clean” sound comforting, but they’re not backed by any real standards. The FDA doesn’t regulate them. There’s no universal definition. And that means companies can say almost anything they want, and many do.

Here's the truth...

The personal care and hygiene industry has a greenwashing problem.

Brands use phrases like “naturally-derived”, “naturally-occurring”, or “plant-based” to give the illusion of purity and make products sound better than they really are. They put little pictures of leaves on their bottles. While that’s cute and all, it is largely a distraction.

The truth is most products sold at the supermarket are not nearly as natural or clean as you've been led to believe. They include key ingredients at a very small amount to add label appeal. In addition, there is no transparency about the ingredients they include.

It feels dishonest. But we're here to do things different. 

Who We Are

My name is Jacob and me and my wife started Agua Viva because we feel like people deserve honesty. No fluff. No feel-good buzzwords. No misleading marketing. Just transparency.

We just want to be told the straightforward truth. You shouldn't need a degree in marketing to decipher the truth behind what's in your products. At the end of the day, we want educated consumers to make educated decisions.

And, above all else…

You deserve to know exactly what you're putting on your body.

We believe that honesty should be the standard, not the exception. If you're anything like us, you're tired of claims of something being "natural" with no real substance behind it. You're also tired of less-than-natural ingredients being spun as if they were. 

We won't use clever marketing or misleading terms. If we need to use a less natural ingredient to keep our products safe, we won't hide behind cute labels or misleading marketing, we'll be straight up with you. We’re not perfect, but we are committed to transparency.

Because in a world full of buzzwords and half-truths, we believe you deserve better.