Knowledge Base

Clean Beauty

Embrace the Clean Beauty Movement: A Comprehensive Guide:

If you like your beauty products the same way you like your people: non-toxic, then the clean beauty trend is for you!

The latest craze in skincare, it’s not just some fad or marketing ploy–clean beauty is real and here to stay. But, with so many celebs and idols backing it up out of nowhere, it can be hard to understand what is clean beauty and why it’s so buzzworthy. Don’t worry, your skincare fairies aka, us, are here to help you out! In this blog, we’ll be walking through everything you need to know about living an eco-friendly, skincare lifestyle – from packaging and sustainability, all the way down to finding brands and products that work best for your skin type.

Get ready for a deep dive into all things clean beauty – because if there’s one thing we want you to take away from this post it’s that taking care of yourself can also mean taking care of the planet too!

So, let’s get down to business!

What is clean beauty?

Clean beauty is a movement that prioritizes sustainability and promotes the use of safe, effective skincare, makeup, and hair products. It focuses on clean ingredients, free from harsh chemicals like sulfates and parabens, ensuring skin is nourished without irritation. Clean beauty products are produced with a conscious approach, leading to fewer emissions, less waste, and ethical packaging, while emphasizing transparency about their ingredients and sourcing. In a world where harmful synthetic options abound, clean beauty offers a safe and intelligent choice to maintain beauty without compromising health or environmental responsibility.

7 Most common toxic ingredients you should avoid to go clean

When it comes to beauty, we’ve all heard about the importance of going clean. And while many beauty brands are taking steps to make their products as safe and eco-friendly as possible, some ingredients still remain potentially toxic and should be avoided in your regular beauty regimen. Here are our top 7:

  1. Parabens: These preservatives might sound harmless enough at first glance, but their long-term effects on the skin can be anything but. Research has linked parabens to hormone imbalance and even cancer due to their ability to mimic estrogen within the body.
  2. Artificial fragrances: The synthetic ingredients in artificial fragrances can cause allergies, skin irritation, acne breakouts, and even worsen eczema and psoriasis for those who have these conditions.
  3. Phthalates: These have been linked to reproductive issues, birth defects, diabetes, breast cancer, and a host of other impacts on human health.
  4. Sulfates: While they may give your skin and hair some immediate satisfaction with foamy suds, they can also strip away body oil that make up the protective barrier our skin craves.
  5. Artificial colours: These dyes are made from toxic chemicals that can block the pores on your skin and cause redness, rashes, and allergic reactions.
  6. Mineral Oil: While they may provide some temporary relief and hydration, mineral oils do not contain any nutrients that can benefit the skin long-term.
  7. Oxybenzone: This chemical has been shown to bleach coral reefs and disrupt essential hormones when absorbed into the skin, leading to potential fertility concerns.

 

Clean vs. Natural vs. Organic beauty products: Is there a difference?

Beauty and skincare products are a multi-billion dollar industry, with more and more people in the detox market looking for ways to care for their skin in an effective and healthy way. Clean, natural, and organic beauty products have become increasingly popular over the years as consumers look for ways to avoid harsh chemicals found in traditional products.

As we said before, clean beauty specifically includes formulations free of silicones, parabens, sulfates, phthalates, synthetic fragrances, talc and other ingredients deemed potentially toxic or harmful. On the other hand, natural beauty products will use ingredients from nature and utilize less in terms of preservatives that are found in traditional beauty products. Finally, organic products have met certain strict guidelines in order to be marked as ‘organic’, which usually means that they were cultivated without the use of pesticides or other synthetic additives.

Clean skincare vs. Green skincare

Clean skincare and green skincare are two important kinds of skin care philosophy. Clean skincare focuses on ingredients being free of nasties such as parabens, sulfates. But this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re natural or organic – instead it emphasizes the lack of potentially harmful chemicals.

Green beauty follows an earth-friendly philosophy by using plant-based, sustainable ingredients that still bring their own goodness and efficacy to your routine without the risk of endangering plants or wildlife. So, it means that “green beauty” also translates to products that are vegan, eco-friendly, clean, and cruelty-free.

In this sense, green beauty brands are also clean brands, however, clean brands are not always green.

What is the Clean Beauty Movement?

To us, a clean beauty product must satisfy these two main criteria:

  1. Clean ingredients: At its core, clean beauty means that you can use a product without risking your own health. The ingredients list must contain only safe, clean ingredients.

  2. Transparent labels: When a beauty brand makes an effort to list all of its ingredients and label accordingly, it is on the right path to clean beauty. However, not all brands are transparent.

Clean beauty simply doesn’t contain mystery ingredients, and clean beauty certainly doesn’t claim to be something that it’s not.

Clean Beauty is Simple

Clean beauty isn’t about being 100% perfect. This means that yes, man-made ingredients are clean as long as they’re safe and non-toxic. This also means that clean beauty doesn’t have to be all-natural, preservative-free, etc. Clean beauty is synonymous with non-toxic beauty.

Rather than focus on buzzwords like “natural” and “organic,” switching to clean beauty products focuses on eliminating as many toxins as possible from our daily products.

Clean beauty is also about making ourselves more aware. Since the beauty industry lacks regulation, it’s up to us to become familiar with the most common toxins in our skincare, beauty, body, and hygiene products.

Does Clean Beauty Have to Be All-Natural?

No, clean beauty doesn’t have to be all-natural. It’s the twenty-first century, and the science of beauty has evolved to include a plethora of safe synthetics, safe man-made ingredients, and even safe preservatives.

As long as certain synthetic ingredients are non-toxic and proven to have no harmful effects, they can be incorporated into clean beauty products.

Does Clean Beauty Have to be Organic?

No, clean beauty doesn’t HAVE to be organic. Yes, clean beauty CAN be organic, but it’s not a requirement. What is a requirement, however, is that those ingredients are SAFE, regardless of whether or not they’re organic.

Does Clean Beauty Have to be Green?

No, clean beauty doesn’t have to be green. A beauty product can exhibit all green characteristics and not be clean if it contains toxic ingredients. Vice versa, a beauty product can have purely safe ingredients, but they may be conventionally sourced or contain animal products. In this case, the product is still clean since it’s non-toxic, but it’s not considered green.

Clean Beauty Recap: Can You Have it All?

So, you just found out that natural, organic, green beauty products aren’t necessarily clean right off the bat. This doesn’t mean that ALL of your favorite products are toxic, though. You may have some clean beauty faves on your shelves without even realizing it.

What we want to do is empower you with the knowledge to decipher between clean and toxic products. In order to know what to look for, you have to know what to avoid.

The Opposite of Clean Beauty: Toxic Beauty

Toxic Beauty: There is a whole world of clean beauty products out there. From online stores like Amazon to our go-to beauty meccas like Ulta and Sephora, you can almost always find clean alternatives to your not-so-clean favorites.

What is “Greenwashing”?

Greenwashing: Imagine strolling down the aisle in beauty shop with one goal in mind: to find the perfect, healthy moisturizer that won’t poison you. Your eyes land on a pure white jar with emerald green lettering. The words “all-natural ingredients” jump right off the packaging, and you are sold. When you get home, search the product name the only to find that the so-called natural cream contains allergens, irritants, hormone disruptors, and carcinogens! So, you’ve just experienced is greenwashing.

Top 10 Toxic Ingredients to Avoid At All Costs

If you wanted to know the safety or toxicity profile of every cosmetic ingredient, it would become your full-time job. As we’ve just demonstrated, you can’t even trust product packaging to know whether a product is what it says it is. So, how do you eliminate toxins from your beauty routine? Start with these 10 toxic ingredients to avoid at all costs:

  1. Parabens
  2. Fragrance
  3. Chemical UV filters Octinoxate and Oxybenzone
  4. Diethanolamine (DEA)
  5. Triclosan
  6. Phthalates like Dibutyl phthalate
  7. Sodium laureth sulfate (SLS)
  8. Formaldehyde
  9. Polyethylene (PEGs) like PEG-10 laurate
  10. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)

Conclusion

Clean beauty isn’t just a trend; it’s a movement towards safer, healthier, and more sustainable beauty practices. By choosing clean beauty products, you’re not only taking care of yourself but also contributing to a cleaner and more ethical beauty industry. With a better understanding of what clean beauty entails and how to identify toxic ingredients, you can make more informed choices about the products you use on your skin every day. So, embrace the clean beauty movement and let your skin glow with health and vitality!

Sources: GOOD FACE PROJECT – ABE  – MAYSA

Find your Clean Beauty Product at the Tracifier Beauty Shop!

At Tracifier Beauty, we’re dedicated to offering clean beauty products that prioritize transparency and trust. Our commitment to promoting clean ingredients ensures that every product in our shop follows standards for safety and efficacy. Additionally, through Tracifier Beauty Shop, we provide access to trusted dermatologists who offer personalized consultations to address your specific beauty and skincare needs. Join us in embracing clean beauty for a healthier, more radiant you.

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