SPILLING THE TEA ON INGREDIENTS. WHAT’S LURKING IN YOUR BEAUTY BAG?

The term “clean ingredients” is often used in the context of skincare, cosmetics and personal care products to describe formulations that are free from certain potentially harmful or controversial substances. However, it is important to note that the definition of “clean” can vary depending on individual Perspectives and the specific context.

Lets break some buzz words down:

CLEAN
Safe for people and the planet, clean means that a beauty product should have considered human and environmental health, using a nontoxic element as a baseline and plant-based ingredients for active results. Much like eating clean with no processed foods.

GREEN
The word green means the product does no harm to the environment. Reef-safe sunscreen with biodegradable packaging would be labelled green. Kraft, card stock packaging, sugar cane, or bamboo is considered green.

ORGANIC
Organic cosmetics are products containing ingredients of vegetable origin but are grown biologically and without using synthetic elements or GMOs.

NONTOXIC
When a beauty product is labelled nontoxic, it means that the ingredients have not been shown to cause adverse health effects at the levels found inside the formula.

VEGAN
A beauty product is vegan if it doesn’t contain any animal by-products or ingredients sourced from animals. This includes beeswax, honey, lanolin, and tallow. People assume vegan with clean, but this is not the case. A product can be vegan and still contain chemical ingredients.

CRUELTY FREE
A beauty product is cruelty-free if it has not been tested on animals right down the supplier chain before being sold. As well no animal-derived ingredients extracted at the expense of an animal’s welfare (like natural-fiber makeup brushes). A beauty product can be cruelty-free but not vegan, and vice versa. People assume it’s the same thing

SUSTAINABLE
Truly sustainable ingredients are those that are ethically sourced and proven to be safe for the environment, with sustainable or no-waste packaging being defined as glass packaging, biodegradable packaging, post-consumer recycled packaging. Very similar to green. In general these terms typically refer to formulations and packaging that avoid or minimize the use of certain substances that may have potential health risks to you or environmental concerns. However, it’s important to note that the above buzz terms which come under “clean” is not regulated or standardized in the Skincare or Cosmetic industry. There is no universally agreed upon definition, and can be subject to marketing hype or greenwashing. Some companies may use the term “clean” without clear criteria or full listings of ingredients.