Clean Beauty - Fad or fact?
There is a lot of fear around the “clean beauty” movement that has been climbing over the years.
I mean, if I saw something saying there is hormone disruption I would immediately start to worry and question what I am putting on my skin too!
BUT we have to take into account WHO is promoting “clean beauty.”
So who is promoting it you ask? Well none other than the companies that are making a profit off of that term and having you buy their products.
To fully understand the “clean beauty” movement, we must define it.
Organic: The only official governing body of this term is the USDA which defines organic as “grown on soil with no prohibited substances including synthetic fertilizers and pesticides applied for three years prior to harvest, and no genetically modified organisms.” To obtain the USDA seal it must have 95-100% certified organic ingredients.
There is no way skincare can reach those requirements, unless it's a pure seed oil, so guess what?! Beauty products/companies use other governing bodies who are not regulated by the USDA and award their own seals. Some have requirements of over 70% and some have lower standards of including over 20% of organic ingredients.
Confusing right?! How can there be consistency of the label “organic” when there is no consistency of the governing body rewarding these seals to skincare products?
Vegan: There are three governing bodies that award the “vegan” seal on products which is defined as “a product free of animal products or byproducts.” This is very dependent on how transparent the company is when applying for the seal.
Cruelty-Free: Defined as “products that do not participate in animal testing.” Same thing with the “vegan” seal, it is all about how transparent the company is willing to be in the application. The final product may not be tested on animals but the ingredients could be. The Leaping Bunny can be identified as free from testing on animals in all stages of development so look for that seal!
Clean Beauty: Unregulated term in which the company who markets and provides the product decides what is excluded and included in the “acceptable” product list. A research article gives the example of the “Clean at Sephora” Program, “Made Without List” at Ulta, and Whole Foods list in their clean beauty lines. All have defined “clean beauty” for themselves. One program has 20 ingredients banned and another has 100 ingredients banned.
Bottom line? Clean beauty is defined by the company SELLING the product!!!! THEY get to choose what is acceptable and what is not. There are ingredients that have been banned by various organizations but that's why they won't get FDA approval for the product in the first place!!!!
There are two major issues with all of this.
1. Misinformation
Examples of parabens, formaldehydes, etc.
For example: The most common cause of formaldehyde exposure is NOT from absorption through the skin. It is through inhalation. Not what the clean beauty movement wants you to believe. It has been determined through scientific research formaldehyde can safely be used if it has less than 0.2% concentration.
2. Health concerns: Contact Dermatitis
The clean beauty fad has led to alternative ingredients (from proven safe ingredients) causing contact dermatitis.
The most common ingredients causing facial dermatitis? Limonene and Linalool (Clean Beauty approved). Just sayin
So let's stop thinking we are making better choices for ourselves just because a product says “clean beauty” or “cruelty free.” Lets stop feeding into the fear mongering and trust medical professionals who have spent years researching these ingredients and topics!
References
Urban, K., Giesey, R., & Delost, G. (2022). A guide to informed skincare: The meaning of clean, natural, organic, vegan, and cruelty-free. Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 21(9), 1012–1013. https://doi.org/10.36849/jdd.6795
Cosmetics. guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients. (n.d.). https://doi.org/10.3403/bsiso16128