You might have heard of “Clean beauty” more often in these years.
Clean beauty is usually associated with natural beauty, cruelty-free beauty, green beauty and all other terms of beauty types that puts focus on sustainability and nature.
Some brands are using clean beauty as one of their selling points.
So, what is clean beauty? And how is it important when it comes to your skincare? Actually, there is no official definition. However, we can try to bring some of the core principles of clean beauty closer.
What is clean beauty?
Maybe you were expecting words like “natural,” “green,” and “organic.”
Clean beauty is talked about a lot. According to beauty media, a clean beauty product must meet these two main criteria:
Non-toxic ingredients
Basically, a clean beauty product should be made of the ingredients that are non-toxic and that aren’t harmful to one’s health. These ingredients must be safe for both humans and the environment.
Transparent labels
A clean beauty brand usually makes efforts to disclose all of their ingredients and label their products accordingly.
Clean beauty vs natural & organic & cruelty-free
Clean beauty has been around for a while, and it is getting more popular.
There are some brands trying to mislead the consumers with buzzwords like “natural” and “eco” on the packaging and claim that they are clean beauty.
However, these are the misconceptions, and we need to clear some things up.
Clean beauty = all-natural?
All-natural beauty products have been considered the all-stars of clean beauty for a long time. But, are they, really? Clean beauty doesn’t need to be all-natural.
Clean beauty is just safe for humans.
With today’s technology, the science of beauty has been able to produce a plethora of safe synthetics, man-made ingredients, and also safe preservatives that are non-toxic and don’t have any harmful effects. The beauty products that contain these ingredients can also be considered “clean beauty.”
Actually, according to some beauty experts, cosmetics and beauty products should contain some kinds of safe preservatives in order to maintain the stability of the products.
Clean beauty = organic?
Similar to natural beauty, organic beauty is often considered clean beauty.
While clean beauty can be organic, it doesn’t have to be.
The ingredients have to be safe for human use; it doesn’t matter if they’re organic or not. Yes, there are many benefits to using organic ingredients for cosmetics, but non-organic ingredients that are safe can be used in clean beauty products as well.
Clean beauty = cruelty-free?
Lately, it’s becoming common to choose clean and cruelty-free beauty products. This is generally a good practice.
However, clean beauty and cruelty-free beauty are different principles:
Clean beauty refers to beauty products containing only non-toxic ingredients.
On the other hand, cruelty-free beauty means that products and ingredients have not been tested on animals. It refers to the testing process, not the ingredients itself.
In this way, to be 100% safe to both humans and the environment, it’s best to seek out both clean and cruelty-free beauty products for your makeup and skincare routine.
To conclude, clean beauty is equal to non-toxic beauty.
Clean beauty is not really equivalent to “natural,” “green,” and “organic.” It doesn’t have to be 100% natural or preservative-free. If man-made ingredients are safe and non-toxic, they can be called clean beauty as well.
Why is clean beauty important?
The beauty industry has been lacking regulations for a long time. There has been no law regulation on personal care products passed in the US since 1938. During these decades, only 10% of over 80,000 chemicals that have been incorporated into the beauty products have been tested for human safety.
Toxics are around
Actually, many of the beauty and home products we use every day contain chemicals that can cause cancer, such as parabens, phthalates, formaldehyde, etc.
Some research indicates that toxic chemicals are highly associated with a growing incidence of serious health issues. Constant exposure to “environmental toxins” in our daily lives can have serious effects down the road.
Small doses add up
A little exposure to some chemicals is less likely to cause serious harm, but over time, small doses do add up. The cosmetics we wear, the food we eat, and the shampoo we use may contain harmful chemicals that can accumulate inside our bodies, and build up over time.
Moreover, some kinds of chemicals can be more harmful when combined with others. The effects of these harmful chemicals may not be obvious right away, but the long-term usage of these products can harm your health later on.
Be aware of what you put on your body
The concept of clean beauty is also about making the consumers more aware of what exactly we’re using on our bodies. Since the beauty industry isn’t well regulated, it means that we are the only ones who can protect our own bodies, and we have to pay attention to what’s in the products we use.
The best option is to become familiar with the most common toxins that are included in our beauty and hygiene products.
Rather than getting confused by the buzzwords like “natural” and “organic,” let’s pay attention to the clean beauty products and focus on getting rid of toxins as much as possible from the products we use on a daily basis.
