We hear this term constantly, beauty and skincare brands use it left and right nowadays. But realistically, what does it mean? Are we still jumping on the clean beauty train or are we over it? And for those who haven’t even taken a second to try and figure this out, let’s analyze it together, for the sake of our sanity, yes?
I want to recount what I have seen has happened to this term, and industry, through the years, from my experience. Being that I had been a major supporter since my freshman year in college. Which was something like 14 years ago (excuse me, what???), so I think I can give you a pretty good recount of how things started. I’m basically your grandmother telling you a story about life before social media. It was a good life honestly. Anyways, let’s go back in time.
how it started (from what i remember)
It was around 2008 that I first started hearing about what vaguely sounded like “clean beauty”. This type of beauty products had less toxic ingredients than the usual brands you would find in the beauty aisle. Around this time there was a really big news story about how SLS caused cancer or something like that. This is the first time I remember being truly interested in what products I was using. And more particularly, how I could find out if they had harmful ingredients or not. What I also remember is that safer beauty and skincare products where very hard to find, and also quite expensive. So, me, a regular Jane had but one choice. Going back to the basics of hippie-dom and witchcraft and prepare the potions myself.
I became very inspired by the likes of Sophie Uliano, which I forget how I found, and Pinterest diy recipes. The products that you would find where, as I said, very expensive, and honestly, not very efficient. And they had hippie-living-in-the-forest vibes more than anything else. I remember trying a blush that came in a cute cardboard “tin” and smelled like mustard. My boyfriend couldn’t stop smelling my cheeks.
It was maybe a year later that I noticed that a new brand was launching at Target. Its name: Yes to. It carried only shampoo, conditioner and body products. It was the only brand aside from Burt’s Bees products, that was deemed as “clean” in a regular store. Not long after that, I read that Juice Beauty was going to be available in Sephora. The closest Sephora store from where I lived was in Las Vegas. After saving up, I was able to get a few things: a lip balm trio, a cleanser and a moisturizer. The lip balms were crap, the cleanser smelled like trash, and the moisturizer would leave me looking like a mirror. That was Juice Beauty for you. How things have changed right?
It was quite a few years later that I started noticing more and more brands starting their on e-commerce store. But after the disappointment with Juice Beauty, I went back to my DIY ways. And what I couldn’t make, I would at least buy cruelty free.
Then social media and subscription boxes started booming with influencers, circa 2015, and that is when I started really seeing a change. It was around this time that I decided to start this blog. Reviewing samples of clean beauty products that I would get on subscription boxes. (Petit Vour, I’m looking at you!)
From then on, companies big and small have emerged. Some started by one person in a kitchen, selling on farmers markets, to investment backed brands that now sell everywhere. Some, questionable, some, impressive.
regular brands dressed in green
And even though clean beauty wasn’t overpowering the market, I started noticing something. Regular brands starting to put a lil green leaf on their labels. Trying to confuse you with their deceiving ways. And I think it worked, people would think they had made a good decision. But if you read the ingredient list, the endocrine disruptor, cancer linked ingredients where still there.
And this is still happening, although not to the extent that it was. Conventional brands are trying to change their ways, but they also want to keep making a profit. They might be removing certain ingredients that are the most known to be harmful, but sneak some others in there. It is just how it is sadly. And unless you are an expert, it is very hard to tell if an ingredient is safe or not just by reading it. Sometimes you can’t even read them in fact.
clean beauty terms
Now that we did a bit of history, let’s start analyzing all the terms that are essentially meaning the same.
- Natural beauty
- Green beauty
- Organic beauty
- Clean beauty
- Non toxic beauty
All of these terms I have seen thrown around over the years. I think the first term I heard was natural beauty. But because it was later discussed that not natural ingredients are good (ex. arsenic) it started shifting to Green Beauty. Then to Organic Beauty, even though not all the ingredients where organic, then to Clean Beauty. Non-Toxic Beauty is more a term I use myself, I haven’t seen many brands use it. I think it has a negative conotation because of the word toxic. It is not on brand.
But because there are not rules as to what really is “clean beauty,” any one can use it. Any brand can use these terms for their products, even if they are not really clean. This is the whole debacle. Clean beauty standards are not clear, and it means something different to different people.
Some brands could say their products are clean because they use 1 or 2 non toxic ingredients. Even if they use fillers and other suspicious ingredients for their formulas. Others do non toxic formulas, but include some preservatives. And others, do all clean everything. And they all call themselves clean.
has clean beauty lost its meaning?
Because of the stated before, I think the term really has lost its meaning. It is used so loosely now that it leaves you just as confused as if they weren’t using it. But just because of this it doesn’t mean that brands using safe ingredients don’t exist anymore. It only means that paying attention to ingredients is still very important. Trusting a green check at a store is not a thing in my books. I have seen many products approved to be clean that have many ingredients that I wouldn’t use. One very important one: Parfum.
What does clean beauty is supposed to mean?
Clean beauty, for me, means that the ingredients are not harmful in any way, to your body, the planet, or any animal. So it encompasses being non-toxic, vegan, and cruelty free. Not one or the other, but all three at the same time. I have a blog post that I wrote when I first started this blog with a brief explanation of all the different terms thrown around clean beauty,. You can check it out here.
You could add sustainability to the mix, which I do consider, but this is not crucial. The reason I do consider it is because its impact to the environment is huge and having a plastic container can leak potential toxins to the product and into my body. That is why I always opt for plastic free beauty. But there are some brands that do not take this into account.
do your own research
We talked about this before, how brands can deceive people into thinking they are clean when really they aren’t. So, the first thing I would recommend is, do your own research.
And this so important. Because, again, what can be clean for some doesn’t mean it is clean for you. Luckily, there is one trusted website that I use every time I am researching a new product. Enter the EWG’s Skin Deep Database. In here, you can search by ingredient, or by product (although not all brands are listed). It shows you a grade, from 1-10, 10 being the most dangerous, 1 being great. Some products are even EWG certified, meaning they are the safest.
You can also google ingredients to check for side effects and toxicity issues. Speaking from experience, at the beginning it will be a little bit overwhelming, but after a few times, you’ll start recognizing some ingredients and the research will be faster.
And the reason why I say that it is so important to do your own research is for a very simple reason. It seems like brands (not only in the beauty industry) got really good at advertising and tricking us into trusting them. Fast forward and here we are, knowing full well that fragrance in products of any kind are bad for you, when in the past we loved getting those uber-scented products.
hear what others have to say
I’m not saying trust everyone, but there are plenty of good websites and bloggers out there doing the work and sharing about clean beauty brands and giving honest reviews. But I would still always recommend going back to check the ingredients yourself. But reading a review from a trusted blogger is a good place to start if you are feeling lost.
It can be hard because there are a lot of bloggers/influencers that get paid to share brands with their followers. But there are a few that have built a big community because they only work with brands that are truly doing clean products. And not only that, but they share their real opinions about the products. I even sometimes dm the brands directly if I have a question about either an ingredient or a product and more often than not they write me back. Sometimes it is not what I want to hear but I appreciate having all the facts before spending my $$ on a new product.
If you feel like trusting me, I like to make thorough reviews of the products that I have tried, after doing the proper research, you can check them out here. I always tell the people that ask me for advise or directions and usually give them a few different product/brand options for them to do their research on.
the clean beauty -industry-
Let’s not forget that this is still an industry and there is money to be made. As much as I love that we have so many options out there compared to 10-15 years ago, we also need to consider that brands want to make money. I like that there are products focused for certain skin types and/or concerns, but pushing for a 10 step skincare routine sounds wacky. Who has time for that? Teenagers that don’t need that much product and maybe beauty influencers. So, they might be creating more products than what we actually need just to sell more and get more $$ from its consumers.
Are they all necessary? I’m not an expert, but I don’t think so. On this blog I will share with you little bits of information that I have researched about specific ingredients and products that could be beneficial for the skin. But I have learned that you don’t need a super rigorous routine and glowing skin takes more than a long skincare routine.
But when you start analyzing how you the industry tells you you need a cleanser to clean absolutely everything on your skin, then a toner to restore PH balance, then a serum to add nutrients and a moisturizer to relief how dry your cleanser left your skin, to me that is a red flag. So, keeping this in mind, let’s move to the next point.
not everybody is built the same
Just like our bodies, everyone’s skin is different. So, what works for someone doesn’t necessarily work for another person. Your skin might thrive with a serum or oil that wouldn’t necessarily work well for me. This is something that I struggle with, when I see a brand (clean or not) claiming that their product will change your skin. It is kind of misleading because it won’t work for everyone.
I remember getting the Proactiv system in my early 20s, and it totally wrecked my skin. They claimed it would change my skin. Well, I broke out like never before, I had pimples everywhere on my face. It was the worst thing I could’ve done to my skin and it took months to clear up. So I gave the products to my cousin, and her skin cleared out completely! I was so mad and disappointed thinking that something was wrong with me.
I had known about how everyone’s gut microbiome is different but I had never heard about the skin microbiome. As creepy and gross as it sounds, we have a whole mini environment in our skin with millions of different bacteria. And no two people have the same bacteria populations, isn’t that crazy? I learned all of this from a super interesting book called “The new science of clean” by James Hamblin. I will post a review about it very soon.
Anyways, my skin looks and feels its best with minimal products. And letting the skin do its own thing is something important that I have learned thanks to a James Hamblin book called “The new science of clean.”
the part that the beauty industry doesn’t want you to know
Speaking from experience, I felt my skin changed the most when I changed my diet to include less processed foods and drinking more water. That simple. But even nowadays, when we know the impact diet has on our skin and overall health, there are still lost of company claiming that they will change your skin like nothing else.
I’ll be honest, in my teenage years I refused to think that drinking water was going to do anything to help my acne. It took me a long time to realize that what you consume is such an integral part of skin health. It was only when I stopped drinking milk (for ethical reasons) and started noticing the changes in my skin (and my cramps, but that’s a story for another day.)
So, as much as we can hope that a night cream will have your skin looking like a baby’s bum, nothing will probably work on it if you are going hard on processed foods.
in short
Clean beauty has gained so much momentum in the past few years, I don’t think is going anywhere. And with new discoveries and trends, they are making it into an essential part of our daily lives. And as much as I love skincare, I think it is very important that we don’t fall into overconsumption. No teenager needs a 10 step skincare routine, no matter what you tell me. Even my generation, I feel like most overdo it with the products and don’t focus enough in having a healthy lifestyle and diet. The most important thing for me is that we need to change the narrative, aging gracefully instead of slathering creams because you are terrified of a wrinkle. What do you think?
