It appears that clean beauty is all the hype lately. A lot of brands have been releasing their own version of clean beauty line and Sephora now carries a clean beauty section on their stores and website. It might sound like a great news. However, there is an entirely different truth about clean beauty that doesn’t seem as clean as it appears.
Lately, a lot of new brands have also come out with the “clean beauty” concept. The clean beauty movement seem to be thriving among beauty lovers.
Of course, at the first glance, this may appear like a great thing. Everything is claimed to be better for your skin since they do not contain “toxic ingredients” unlike other conventional makeup.
But is it really as good as some people make it appear to be?
Let us take a look;
(A little disclaimer, this truth about clean beauty might ruffle some feather. However, it’s important for you to be aware of them before making your own decision)
1. The Gray Zone
We would like to call clean beauty to be in “The Gray Zone”. Simply because there are no clear guidelines on what the term clean beauty actually means. Just like how the term natural has no specification regarding its usage.
There are no legal standards of what clean beauty actually means. Therefore any brand could claim their products to be clean and may still contain ingredients that are actually not good for your skin.
Oh, but are “toxic chemicals” term clean beauty advocates like to throw around is scientifically proven to be true?
Well, to find out, let’s jump to the next point!
2. The “Toxic Chemical” Myth
“It contains chemical ingredients, so it must be bad for you.”
Yeah, no, actually, everything is chemical.
A lot of clean beauty advocates like to claim clean beauty as better because they do not contain “harmful and toxic chemicals” unlike other conventional products. However, the truth is most ingredients used in cosmetic has been tested and they have to be proven safe in order to get into the market.
While we have to agree that some ingredients are better used than others in our products, the claim that clean beauty is better because they do not contain “toxic chemicals” is not valid.
Let us take paraben as an example. A lot of people tend to hate paraben because it is said to be carcinogen, but paraben is actually one of the safest preservative used for cosmetics.
While paraben can be harmful in extremely large doses, most cosmetic products containing paraben only have them at around 0,01 to 0.3 percent, at such small dosage, it is impossible to feel any side effect from the ingredient unless you already have a paraben sensitivity in the first place.
We found this great article on paraben in cosmetic that will help you relax a bit when you see this ingredient on your list.
3. Shelf Life and Longevity Issues
A lot of clean beauty brands are staying away from using what they claim as “toxic” preservative in their products. As a result, it allows more bacteria to grow inside the product in a relatively shorter amount of time. It causes the products to expire faster and potentially grow some fungal or mold inside it.
A simple search on google would allow you to see the examples of the brands we are talking about. You will realize that not putting any preservative at all in a beauty product for the sake of making it “clean” sometimes cause more problems than good.
4. Natural is Not Always Better
A lot of clean beauty brands like to replace certain ingredients with other ingredients which are actually more harmful and irritating to the skin than the scientifically proven safe chemicals they label “toxic”. Take essential oils as an example. Sometimes clean beauty brands love to add in essential oil such as lavender and peppermint oil into their beauty product.
Truth is, there are no scientifically proven ways that these ingredients would do any wonder for your skin in comparison to active ingredients in other beauty products. Therefore, natural is not always better.
5. It is NOT More Sustainable
The high demand for natural ingredients in beauty products could be difficult to maintain. It has caused some risks of forced labors in areas which produce these natural ingredients. Naturally, this will deplete the natural sources.
In order to process these natural resources and convert them into usable ingredients in beauty products, it would require a lot of energy. As a result, it produces more waste and environmental damage in comparison to lab made and synthetic ingredients.
These synthetic ingredients not only cost less to make, but in some cases could be more environmentally friendly.
While it is true that there are some synthetic compounds in beauty products we should avoid to avoid further environmental damage like micro beads. Most other synthetic ingredients are actually not as “unsustainable” as most people think it is. While “natural” ingredients may actually be the real “unsustainable” ingredients.
6. It’s Marketing
The term “green washing” has come along with the growth of “clean beauty” movement and there is a reason for that. Whenever a new movement grows exponentially, there would always be a form of contradiction to that movement. In this case, it is not for no reason or mere skepticism.
We’ve been seeing a lot of companies labeling their products to be “clean” just to increase sales. When in fact some of the ingredients they use still contain irritants like fragrances which could potentially damage the skin.
It makes the whole “clean concept” pointless in the end. The reason for this is none other than to make more profits.
Brands are using people’s love for “clean beauty” as a marketing and branding strategy, so they would buy from them instead of conventional brands that do not follow the clean beauty trend.
Conclusion
Now you know the truth about clean beauty. Though the clean and natural beauty movement has brought more consumer awareness regarding ingredients and label, it could be used for the wrong reason.
We believe everyone should decide for themselves what they choose to put on their body and skin, but it is also important to be smart and decide for yourself which ingredients are best for your body and skin instead of just blindly following the trends that has otherworldly claims behind it.
