It dawned on me the other day that I have made it known that in the past year I have started transitioning to clean beauty and clean beauty products, but I have not really said more on what clean beauty is! I started transitioning to cleaner and safer products back in August, and while I have featured many clean beauty brands, I never really addressed why I made the switch.

What is Clean Beauty?

So what is clean beauty? To me, clean beauty means non-toxic products that are made without ingredients that have been shown to have harmful effects on our skin and general well being. Some of the harmful health effects include hormone disruption, some forms of cancer, as well as skin irritation. The personal hygiene and cosmetic industry is pretty much unregulated, in fact the last regulation around cosmetics was passed way back in the 1930’s.

Why is Clean Beauty Important?

And regulation on cosmetics is even worse in the US. Here in the United States we have only banned around 20-30 ingredients that are known to be toxic and irritating. Where as the European Union has banned over 2000. What this means is that it is up to us as consumers to educate ourselves and know what we are putting in and on our bodies.

I have started a Cosmetic Ingredients to Avoid series where I will share certain ingredients in our cosmetics and personal hygiene products that are known to cause irritation and are considered unsafe. These include ingredients such as parabens, phthalates, PEGs, ethanolamines, synthetic fragrance,  SLS and SLES, formaldehyde, mineral oil, and more. I hope that my blog and YouTube channel become a useful resource and guide on clean beauty for you to use and learn what ingredients to avoid.

Clean Beauty Brands and Companies

In addition to sharing this information with you, as I switch over to cleaner products, I want to share some of my favorite clean beauty brands that we should be supporting. Luckily for us, Sephora has done most of that work for us with their “Clean at Sephora” labels. In fact some of my favorite clean beauty brands like Herbivore Botanicals, Caudalie, Tatcha, and Supergoop are found at Sephora under the “Clean at Sephora” label. I’m also finding some great brands not at Sephora that are some of the best clean beauty products I have tried, like Earth Harbor, KPS Essentials, Truly Beauty, Mad Hippie, Andalou Naturals, Acure and more.

I hope that answers the “What is clean beauty” question for you. In my opinion it is better to be safe than sorry. Also, in my personal experience, since transition to more clean and natural products, I have actually noticed a huge improvement in my skin. I am dry, sensitive and prone to eczema flare ups but since using all clean skincare, I have not had breakouts and my skin is clearer and more radiant than ever.

If you have any questions on clean beauty or skincare, please let me know! I’m always here to help!

Stay fabulous!

Christopher