I gotta be honest - the word "clean" actually drives me crazy.
Clean used to mean not dirty. She had a bath. He washed his shirt. I removed all of the goop from the seats of my car.
But now clean seems to have a loaded meaning, and too many brands are utilising it as a marketing term. It seems to point at something, but does it mean what you think it means?
When it comes to personal care and beauty products, there are now a slew of perfumes, skin care, shampoos, lipsticks and every manner of product giving themselves permission to come under the umbrella term clean beauty. You would fairly assume clean beauty means products that contain no nasty, toxic ingredients, those that are environmentally friendly, have been proven safe, are mostly natural, right?
Not quite right.
Clean suggests there is a standard.
But the term clean is actually subjective.
Clean is a marketing tactic, and not a defined standard. There is no definition or standard in the beauty world that any brand needs to uphold to be able to use the term clean. Look at ten different brands who call themselves clean, and you will see ten different definitions and standards. What they all have in common is a list of exclusions, but those exclusions vary from brand to brand.
Sadly, clean is very murky.
CLEAN VS NATURAL
If your preference is to use products that are close to natural as possible, and don't contain any harmful ingredients, there are a few guidelines you'll probably want to follow.
So when you are looking at "clean beauty" and trying to find what is actually natural, here's our tips:
100% natural
Look for ingredient panels that clearly state the percentage of natural or organic ingredient. Ideally 100%, but something over 96% is going to be pretty decent for the most part.
Cruelty-free
A product could be cruelty-free but still contain a slew of toxic ingredients. This claim has no bearing on what the brand allows or doesn't allow in its formulas.
Vegan
Be careful - vegan doesn't necessarily mean made from plants. It just mean it contains no animal-derived ingredients. It could still be made from petrochemicals and other harmful materials. Look out for labelling that clearly states that product is made from plants.
Phthalate-free
It's a good start - phthalates are very harmful to human and animal life - but removing phthalates doesn't go far enough. What are they using in place of phthalates? Those materials (such as DINCH) can be just as harmful. And are they keeping all the other harmful ingredients, but focusing on phthalates as the only villain?
Sustainable
True sustainability is important. But being sustainable doesn't mean the formula is natural or even not harmful. There are many brands in the market than claim sustainability because they aren't utilising overused resources, which is fantastic, but many are also including ingredients which take decades to break down in the environment, and can cause reproductive and neurological harm to marine life and humans.
Transparent
Transparency is really important, and something we are super passionate about. As consumers, we have a right to know what goes into the products we use - whether they be beauty products, food or medication. Unfortunately there is still a veil of secrecy in some parts of the beauty world (and other industries such as medication, paint, candles etc, but that is a story for another platform!).
The key to finding out what you really need to know is digging deeper and asking questions. Understand what is being included on the label and in the formula, but also what is being left out, or not said.
As an example, the term "fragrance" is not transparent. Fragrance could mean up to 200 different chemicals, and you'd never know because the fragrance world protects brands from disclosing the truth. The intention is to protect their intellectual property (I get it - no one likes a copycat), but in doing so consumers are being ripped off and inadvertently exposed to ingredients we would probably rather avoid, or at least know about.
So support brands that do their best to be transparent with their ingredients and processes. Support brands whose ethos you trust.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm waiting for the term clean to run it's course. It's not been super helpful to brands working hard to have strong integrity, or to the natural beauty industry as a whole.
And as for you, now you know what to look for, next time you see the term clean, you can just roll your eyes and look a little deeper.
