Unraveling the truth behind 'clean' cosmetics, we delve into the world of beauty products. Are they truly superior or is it just a marketing ploy? Let's explore the science, the myths, and the reality of this burgeoning trend.
Clean beauty is a new chapter in the hunt for truly non-toxic, ethical cosmetic ingredients
“Clean beauty” might be a trendy marketing term, but it comes from the realities of trying to find safe options for yourself and your family.
- Without regulations to back up what the word “clean” means, any company can use it without proving that their personal care products are safer than anything else you can buy at the store.
How can we make all beauty “clean”?
The last federal legislation granting the FDA the authority to regulate cosmetics in the United States was passed more than 80 years ago
- This has led to various scandals over the years arising from cosmetic ingredients causing harm to the people who use them
- Until there are laws in place that ensure there aren’t harmful products still on the shelves, people-especially those who don’t have the resources or access to figure out which products are harmful-will be at risk
Defining clean beauty as a movement
There are two meanings of clean beauty: one that defines a movement towards getting rid of some of the sketchier skeletons in personal care’s closet and one that is more or less a marketing term
- People have believed products to be safe for their entire lives simply because they could be bought at the store, and knowing that isn’t necessarily the case has caused demand for options that aren’t going to hurt them in the long run
- For many products, this movement has ended up with companies telling you what is in the bottle of shampoo, lotion, or sunscreen but also the things that are left out
Clean Beauty is a Marketing Term
There’s no uniform meaning of clean, and what one company defines clean might not be how another company defines it
- The EWG has a personal care website that lets you compare how well products measure up in terms of ingredient standards
- One way that companies can sneak around disclosing ingredients in products is by burying not-so-fun chemicals in the fragrance
