What Is Clean Beauty? AND WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE ORGANIC BEAUTY PRODUCTS

THERE’S A SHIFT IN THE AIR, and we’re voting with our dollars for certified organic beauty brands that are environmentally friendly. We’re heading back to nature and opting for safer skincare, clean ingredients in makeup and more ingredient list transparency. Scroll to find out more, and where you can find ‘clean’ products…

These days, the truth about the beauty industry is at your fingertips and can be shared globally with the tap of a screen. Because of this, times are changing. The beauty industry is cleaning up its act, being held accountable, and moving toward high-efficacy beauty products that have low-to-no impact on the environment and we’re absolutely here for clean beauty

What does clean beauty actually mean?

Clean beauty can be hard to define. While there’s no regulatory definition, for us, it refers to sustainable beauty products made by cruelty-free beauty brands without any questionable-for-your-health ingredients. Clean beauty skincare products are made from organic, and plant-based ingredients by brands that have taken human and environmental health into consideration, not only in the lab, but in all stages of the ingredient’s life cycle. Clean beauty isn’t just skincare that’s clean of harmful ingredients, it’s beauty that’s clean of social and environmental harm too.

Green chemistry has gotten so good that there’s really no need for dirty ingredients and outdated practices in the beauty industry. Dirty ingredients like carcinogens, irritants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals are the potentially harmful ones you probably don’t want anywhere near your precious bathroom routine. While a lot of beauty brands continue to legally make products with harmful ingredients, there are plenty of high-performing, luxurious brands to opt for instead that are natural, plant-based, and in our opinion, straight-up magic. 

One brand setting the clean beauty benchmark is 100% Pure, a certified organic beauty line that’s been cruelty-free certified by both PETA and Leaping Bunny. The natural ingredients in their makeup products are vibrantly coloured with fruit and vegetable pigments, and their nourishing skin and haircare lines are full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Products like 100% Pure’s Fruit Pigmented 2nd Skin Foundation are packaged in post-recycled plastic and glass, and biodegradable soy ink is used on labels rather than icky petroleum-based ink. If that isn’t enough to impress us, this clean beauty brand goes one step further by running its offices on solar energy #officegoals.

Which ingredients are self-care heroes, and which are the bad guys?

Ethically, we have a right to know what’s in our skincare. Skin absorbs a great deal of what is put on it, so for health’s sake, it’s important to know what to avoid in our beauty products. When the aim of using beauty products is to look and feel better, the last thing we want is to end up with unnecessary toxicity in our systems. The clean beauty keywords to look for when shopping around are: non-toxic, cruelty-free, plant-based, vegan, and certified organic.

Read up on ingredients to avoid such as parabens, fragrances, talc, oxybenzone, and others. Be especially wary of the word ‘fragrance’ because brands aren’t required to disclose what makes up the fragrance. It’s a bit of a loophole in the beauty industry, and it may have some dirty secrets you wouldn’t want your skin soaking up.

When looking at natural and organic products, get to know and trust clean brands and understand how brands ‘greenwash’. Oftentimes, brands use reassuring words and phrases like ‘paraben and sulphate free’ or ‘sustainable and environmentally-friendly’ on the front of the product, but it directly contradicts the ingredients listed on the back. You’ve probably noticed how much these bogus marketing claims are thrown around, but if you stick to your clean beauty keywords and retailers that can be trusted, you won’t be fooled by greenwashing.

You’ll notice in your quest a lot of brands stating that they are ‘certified organic’. This is regulated, as there are several organisations responsible for awarding these certifications. Brands like KORA Organics and Madara are certified organic brands that follow strict guidelines under certification bodies like Ecocert who inspect and scrutinise each product, ensuring their ingredient sources are indeed organic.

What we need to be seeing more than anything else is transparency, ensuring that every precious, earth-derived ingredient is accounted for and listed right there on the label and on all platforms where the brand communicates. That way, we can be certain we’re using products from brands that are environmentally friendly and using sustainable approaches to their ingredient sourcing, processes, and packaging.

Where can I find the good stuff?

With so many brands making all sorts of clean beauty claims, it’s hard to evaluate what we’re actually getting. Nourished Life has done the hard work and research for us, vetting and listing clean beauty brands only. It assesses brands based on certifications and practices, and publishes its policy, selection process and criteria for us to see. 

Browse Nourished Life’s website for natural and organic beauty brands trusted to be environmentally friendly, seriously effective, and honestly clean + follow them here instagram.com/nourishedlife

{Top photos by Fleur Kaan}