Clean Beauty

What is it and why should you be interested? In this post you will find a summary of what it is outthere on clean beauty. The aim here is to provide a little background about clean beauty such as its definitions and challenges.

Before we start talking about clean beauty definitions, we will provide a background on its origin. By knowing its origin, you will better understand its definitions. That's right, there is more than one definition! You will see soon why...

Origin - it was about safety

At the beginning of the 21st century, Ren Skincare pioneered the concept of clean skin care with its minimalist design philosophy. The brand furthered the concept of heightened safety by helping the consumer to avoid what it termed “harsh chemicals” and “toxins.” (Olioso, 2019)

In order to have safer products, some ingredients were not included in Ren Skincare's products, such as parabens, sulfates, and mineral oils. Those were communicated via a "free-from list". Still, the products comprised both, natural and synthetic ingredients (Olioso, 2019).

Overall, there was a growth in health and environmental awareness. Other ingredients such as silicones and phthalates were included in the list of concerning ingredients (Olioso, 2019).

"This represents an embrace of the precautionary principle, which resists the introduction of ingredients,. F processes and products with unknown or disputed impacts, and has resulted in a generation of free-from products and brands all over the world" (Olioso, 2019). According to Olioso (2019), the aim has been to make it easier for producers to gain consumer's trust.

Definitions - or a lack of one...

The demand for clean beauty products has been growing, but their definitions and standards might vary across different brands or retailers. Dr. Barbara Olioso (2019) tries in her article to shed a light on the subject. According to her, there is no official commercial definition of "clean". Interpretations can vary by brands, consumers, and retailers. Here are examples of some definitions of clean beauty:

• "To us, Clean Beauty is defined by-products that are mindfully created and produced without any proven or suspected toxic ingredients. Clean Beauty products include ingredients ethically sourced and are made with the health of our bodies and the environment in mind." (Clean Beauty Box).

• "A basic definition of clean beauty is a product that is safe for human use, and does not include any toxic ingredients" (Hirsh, 2019).

• "a 'clean' product is one that claims to be made up of safe, non-toxic, and natural ingredients" (Hirsh, 2019)

• "It means a non-toxic product that is made without a long, ever-evolving list of ingredients linked to harmful health effects" ("Clean Beauty").

As a result of lack of an official definition, "...there aren't any regulations around the word clean, meaning a company can claim its products are clean, even if they are filled with ingredients that might be unsafe" (Hirsh, 2019). The requirements to be considered "clean" vary from brand to brand. So, even though many corporations and beauty companies have specific qualifications for a product to be labeled clean it is hard to know what exactly they mean with clean.

A common word used in the context of clean beauty is "natural" - another word that companies can use freely, without regulations (Hirsh, 2019). Hirsh (2019) points out that "...just because an ingredient is natural does not mean it is safe, and just because an ingredient is synthetic, aka chemical-derived, does not necessarily mean it is unsafe." For example, even though animal fat is technically natural, it might have the potential to irritate skin and organs, besides posing concerns in terms of animal welfare and sustainability (Hirsh, 2019).

Why being critical is essential

For lack of official definitions and regulations, according to Louise Prance-Miles (2019), it is important to remember that just because the brand states that their product is clean or natural, they are not necessarily the safest choice. Indeed, apparently several brands are claiming to have clean, non-toxic products with not enough evidence. Follain calls this 'cleanwashing', which he defined as "when a product claims to be things like clean, natural, and non-toxic, but in actuality, the product may include toxic or unsafe ingredients" (Hirsh, 2019). For these reasons, we recommend being critical towards any product and brand, including those that state to be natural or clean. For example, even though they may contain natural ingredients, there may be a too high a concentration of a specific ingredient that you could be allergic to (Prance-Milles, 2019).

Tips against "cleanwashing"

Sophie Hirsh (2019) provides some tips to avoid "cleanwashing": Find Brands You Trust, Look Up Any Unrecognizable Ingredients, Make Your Own Products. For example, in terms of finding a brand you trust, you can find one in this blog as we featured some clean beauty companies. So, if you do not know where to start or do not have a company in mind, take a look at our companies under the category companies. If you are not convinced about them, do some research on them such as their regulations on clean beauty. As Hirsh (2019) says:

Whether or not the product is actually safe for your body is up to you to decide. If you only want to use products that meet your personal safety standards, you'll have to take some time to do the research. Your body will thank you.

Ingredients - identifying the "bad guys"

Based on the Clean Beauty Box website, ingredients that are organic, wild-harvested, eco-cert, bio-dynamic, cruelty-free, and fair trade are those sought when we talk about clean beauty products. As for ingredients that might be avoided there seems to be several. As said before, these ingredients are those that have been proven or are suspected of, to be harmful. The Clean Beauty Box website provides a list of ingredients they do not use and why (Clean Beauty Box):

• Parabens (Preservative): have been linked to increases in breast cancer by mimicking estrogen and causing endocrine disruption.

• Phthalates (Plasticizer and Skin Conditioner): are highly toxic and have been found to cause damage to the reproductive systems for both genders and affect fertility and genital development in males. Banned in the EU, but commonly found in many personal care products sold in the US.

• Formaldehyde (Preservative): is a known carcinogen, skin irritant, and suspected to increase liver toxicity. It also can cause severe allergic rashes which become more likely with long term exposure.

• Triclosan (Anti-bacterial): has been found to be toxic to the water environment and may harm the reproductive system as it is shown to disrupt thyroid functions.

• Synthetic Fragrance (Fragrance): some of these identified chemicals are known irritants, allergens, and hormone disruptors. Long term exposure to these chemicals may contribute to increased immunotoxicity and allergic reactions. Be sure to read labels carefully, even products listed as “Fragrance-Free” may still contain fragrance ingredients to mask other scents.

• Siloxanes (Emollient): Suspected to harm the reproductive system, potentially impairing fertility, increasing uterine tumors, and changing hormone compositions.

• SLES, SLS, ALS (Synthetic Antioxidants): Known to actually cause skin depigmentation, they have also been shown to cause damage to the liver and stomach.

• PEGs (Surfactants, Emulsifiers, and Skin Conditioners): they are frequently contaminated with a carcinogen that penetrates the skin and has been shown to harm the nervous system.

• Petrolatum (Emollient): There is concern that mineral oil hydrocarbons are a contaminant of the human body.

• Phenoxyethanol (Preservative): can cause skin and lung irritation. Also toxic to the kidneys, nervous system, and liver, and repeated, long-term exposure can cause organ damage. Toxic effects can occur through inhalation, skin exposure, and ingestion.

If you want to see the full description of each, visit the Clean Beauty Box website, the URL is under references. It might be useful because there they also tell in which products such ingredients are usually found and under what name. You can, for example, check if one of your products such as your hand cream has any of these ingredients. Be an informed consumer!

Scroll through this link to find a list of our featured brands below!

Our Goal

So why is it important for us to share this all with you? We want to increase awareness because we share the same goal as people at goop:

"That more people vote with their dollars so that someday, we won’t have to wonder what’s in this perfume or that face cream, because all of it will be clean and safe" ("Clean Beauty")

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References

Clean Beauty Box. Retrieved from https://cleanbeautybox.com/pages/definition-of-clean-beauty on May 1st 2020.

Clean Beauty—and Why It’s Important. Retrieved from https://goop.com/beauty/personal-care/clean-beauty-and-why-its-important/ on May 1st 2020.

Hirsh, S. (2019). What Makes 'Clean' Beauty Products Clean? Here's What You Need to Know About Makeup Claims. Retrieved from https://www.greenmatters.com/p/clean-makeup-explainer on May 1st 2020.

OLIOSO, B. (2019). SURVIVAL OF THE CLEANEST: What does “clean beauty” mean, to whom and how is the definition evolving? Global Cosmetic Industry, 187(2), 28–30.

Prance-Miles, Louise (2019). Clean Beauty products no safer than normal cosmetics, says report. Retrieved from https://www.globalcosmeticsnews.com/clean-beauty-products-no-safer-than-normal-cosmetics-says-report/