Championed by lifestyle companies of the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and Kourtney Kardashian’s Poosh, clean beauty has risen to cult status over recent years. But, it’s not just a beauty fad, as Beauty Archive explores…
What is clean beauty?
Clean beauty refers to non-toxic, natural and sustainable beauty products and promotes transparency on ingredients labels.
But, you may ask, we’ve been using beauty products since the beginning of time, why are we only just hearing about it now?
As documented by Toxic Beauty on Amazon Prime, the last few decades have been a turning point for research into the chemicals being put in beauty products, and with people caring about the planet more now, they are also caring about what their beauty products do to it and themselves.
What’s all the fuss about?
A study in Toxic Beauty showed medical student and makeup lover, Mymy Nguyen, carrying out a makeup detox and a toxicity test before and after. The results showed that Mymy’s toxicity levels were higher than 95% of Americans when using her everyday beauty products, however, when she switched to clean products, her toxicity levels dropped dramatically to below average.
More than a beauty topic, clean beauty has political, environment and legal connotations. Huge beauty brands including Brazilian Blowout in 2011 have been engaged in legal battles when their products have come under scrutiny for not being safe for use. Notably, family friendly company - Johnson & Johnson, still have ongoing litigation for their reluctance to label their baby powder with a health warning after over 11,000 cases showing its links to ovarian cancer were brought forward.
So, what should I avoid?
The list is long, but common harmful ingredients are parabens, phthalates and formaldehyde due to their strong connection to health issues.
· Parabens – mimics Oestrogen and has links to breast cancer.
· Phthalates – harmful to children and can cause birth defects
· Formaldehyde – Carcinogenic.
But I’ve only just made my perfect routine and found my matching products!
The pros for clean beauty are clear. But many people worry about finding the clean dupe for their normal routine, so we’ve curated a list of best places to source clean beauty products.
1. Goop Beauty – Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand
2. Juice Makeup – A clean makeup brand which is also Paltrow approved!
3. Drunk Elephant – A skincare brand focusing on skin health. Founded with the ethos on suspicious ingredients: “If there's any DOUBT, it's OUT.”
4. Love Beauty and Planet - Skin and haircare brand with the philosophy of “whatever we do must be good for beauty and good for the planet.”
5. Amika – Haircare brand who omit sulphates, parabens, aluminium starch, phthalates + DEA and are committed to reducing waste.
