Why Clean Beauty is Important
Over the past decade, we’ve seen society move towards a healthier way of living. On a wide scale, we first started seeing the rise of organic foods. While most would still check out the produce section at their local grocery store, farmers markets and chains like Whole Foods saw growth in their business based on the desire for “cleaner” eating. That’s not the only thing that’s seen a transformation within the last 10 years. With the beauty industry being valued at over $500 billion dollars, we’ve seen a rise in clean beauty.
When you think of beauty, does your mind automatically gravitate towards makeup? While this seems to be at the forefront of the industry, there’s more. Beauty also includes skincare, hair, and nails. Think of some of your favorite products. Do you have an acne cleanser you can’t part with? Are you always shopping for the same tube of your favorite lipstick? Is there a nail polish brand you always prefer above others? You might have your own list of Holy Grail beauty products, but have you ever peaked at the list of ingredients?
What is clean beauty? It can be described as being both safe for people and safe for the planet. It is essentially the combination of nontoxic elements and plant-based ingredients. Why is clean beauty important? It can affect your overall health. We’re all guilty of assuming that all the products on shelves are safe to use. Truthfully, they should be that way, but there are a lot of brands and companies who aren’t looking out for us. If we told you that the FDA banned 11 ingredients for use in beauty products, you’d probably think we’re off to a good start. We thought so too until we found out that there are over 1300 ingredients that have been banned in neighboring country, Canada, and in Europe. While we can’t debate that all 1300 ingredients are actually unsafe, we can’t help but wonder what ingredients other countries have banned that we readily use daily.
We won’t dwell too long on the scary aspect of the beauty industry, but there are a few ingredients you should look out for. While parabens can prevent bacteria and mold growth in your products, they’ve also been linked to causing issues related to reproductive health and obesity. Phthalates are used to make fragrances last longer, but exposure to these chemicals has been seen in studies on breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and infertility. The ingredient to watch out for the most is formaldehyde. After it was officially stated that formaldehyde is a human carcinogen, a movement started to remove it from products like nail polish and hair products; however, the ingredient is still a by-product of some keratin treatments. It’s safe to say that no one should want to come in contact with these ingredients.
Clean beauty is one step that helps us know that our products are healthy. Some might be fooled into believing that health solely comes from internal health, but topical health is just as important. Your skin is lined with pores – pores that are meant to absorb products into the body. Go back to some of your favorite products. How many do you apply daily? Weekly? Based on some of the ingredients, there’s a chance that you’re introducing your body to some harsh chemicals.
There are many terms used by clean beauty brands that make claims towards the cleanliness and health-rate of the product. While some might be tricky, others are clear window into why clean beauty can be beneficial to us. A word like organic is great because it alludes to production without harmful pesticides. Natural is one of the more difficult words because everything natural isn’t always good for us. If you love the environment, words like green or sustainable are reserved for products that were created with a small impact to the environment. Lastly, if a product says it’s non-toxic, we should take it with a grain of salt. While non-toxic means it isn’t harmful to humans, with a little digging, everything in the world could probably be proven harmful to us.
Transitioning to clean beauty seems like we’re just signing up to waste our current products and spend money on new ones. When you consider the overall benefit towards your health, you have to admit that it’s a worthy cause. If you need help along your search, a quick look at Sephora would show that they now distinguish clean beauty products on their site. You can easily find many of these clean beauty brands in stores, and for the days when we feel a bit lazy, there are over 10 clean beauty brands to shop on Amazon.
The 21st century has shown a distinct movement towards living life with our health in mind. Let’s get into it! If you want flawless skin, beautiful makeup, luscious hair, and fabulous nails, clean beauty is one guaranteed way to achieve it.