what is clean beauty?
there are A LOT of label tossed around in the beauty and skincare world. clean, natural, non-toxic, vegan, cruelty-free, sustainable, organic...
so what do they all mean? what should you look for when making your next purchase?
clean: safe for human use & does not include toxic ingredients. this isn't regulated so it's a little murky what is actually clean vs. claiming to be clean. see below for ingredients to look out for.
natural: with ingredients from nature. again, not regulated, so worth reading what's actually in the product.
nontoxic: ingredients have not been shown to cause adverse health effects for humans at the levels found in the product
vegan: contains no animal products
cruelty free: never tested on animals. look for the leaping bunny certification
organic: contains 95% organic ingredients & documentation from raw input to finished product to become USDA Certified Organic. grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, chemicals or fertilizers and when tested, it's free of any synthetic chemical residue
sustainable: should not harm the planet. this typically applies to both the product and the packaging. again, not regulated so you'll need to look into the company itself.
zero waste: does not create additional trash. everything is reusable, compostable, or biodegradable
lots of terms! it's up to you what you prioritize in the products you buy, but here's what I typically look for:
priority for all new purchases:
vegan & cruelty free. IMHO this should just be standard at this point.
clean/non-toxic. I look for brands that are identifying as clean. unfortunately there's a bit of leg work to determine if they are actually clean. I avoid the following: parabens, phthalates, PEGs, ethanolamines, sodium laureth sulfate, triclosan, BHT, BHA, and nanoparticles (especially for sunscreen!)
added features to look for:
sustainable/green/zero waste: these labels are extremely broad and have varying levels of validity. here I find it's best to do a bit of research on the brands. where do they source their ingredients? do they pay fair wages? do they have a carbon offset program? is their packaging recyclable, minimal, or reusable? look for specifics. brands that are greenwashing tend to have very high level claims but lack specific commitments, certifications, or metrics. Other things to look for: B Corp and Fair Trade certifications, recycling programs, or carbon footprint goals.
a few place to check out to find brands that align with your priorities:
Environmental Working Group is an incredible resource that rates products based on their ingredients, transparency, and manufacturing. Their certified products must score "green" and meet strict criteria.
Credo Beauty: Credo focuses on sustainability, sourcing, ethics, transparency, and safety. They have created their own clean standard that all brands they carry must meet. They also work with Terracycle - bring in your empty beauty products (any brand), earn rewards points and they'll recycle the container for you!
Follain: has a list of restricted chemicals that cannot be included in any of their products. every product must meet these requirements, making it easy to shop their site without verifying each product.
