Why Clean Beauty Isn’t a Trend

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When I started diving deep into the beauty world and learning more about clean beauty, one of the questions I started to come across a lot was “is clean beauty just a trend?” Or statements like “well clean beauty is just the trendy thing right now.” While it’s definitely something that has become more popular over the last few years, I wanted to share with you why clean beauty isn’t just a passing fad.

I know it may seem like a foreign concept right now, but I promise it won’t always seem like it forever. Let’s go over a few of the reasons why clean beauty is going to stick around.

Why Clean Beauty Isn’t a Trend

Organic Food

Before we do the dive into clean beauty, let’s start with something simple that we all already know about. Remember organic food? It seemed like such a crazy concept when it came on the market. The prices seemed too high, the concept was abstract, and you had to go out of your way to find it. Plus, there was zero research readily available on the topic. Everyone just assumed it was a passing thing or for the crazy rich people.

But now? Organic food is everywhere. The prices have dropped and you can find it at your local grocery store. Organic food is the norm, not the exception.

People Are Realizing How Unregulated The Personal Care Industry Is

With how often we hear about the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and hear about them recalling food and other products, I think we all kind of assume that most things (products and food) in this country are heavily regulated. But it’s slowly starting to come to light how many areas of our life aren’t. One of the biggest areas? Personal care products. The FDA does nothing to regulate what’s put into your make up, lotion, shampoo, the list goes on. Which means that for years, companies could put whatever they wanted into products to make it look like the desired effect was occurring. Most of which was at the expense of the consumer.

What’s even more fascinating is that the European Union is actually way ahead of the United States on this and they’ve already banned 1,400 chemicals in personal care products. The US outlaws only 30 and has not passed a major federal law to regulate the ingredients in personal care products since 1938.

Luckily, this information is starting to really come to light and consumers are not pleased. As I mentioned last Friday, a bill was actually just been introduced in the U.S. Senate last week by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) which requires the FDA to review five ingredients per year. In turn, this will give the agency the power to recall products that harm consumers and raises the safety standard, among other health protective provisions.

Awareness of Unsafe Chemicals Is Rising

Along with awareness of the lack of regulation rising, consumers are also learning more about the chemicals in their products. And the more you learn, the more disturbing it really gets. Remember my post about the chemicals in sunscreen? Well sunscreen isn’t the only product filled with chemicals.

In fact, Beautycounter has something they call “The Never List”. This is a list of more than 1,500 questionable or harmful chemicals they never use in their products, but are commonly used in other personal care products. It includes the 1,400 products that the EU has banned, plus additional chemicals that BC has found to be concerning. Just glancing through this list, it’s crazy how common some of these ingredients are and how big of a risk they can pose.

It’s Not Just Beautycounter

I know I talk a lot about Beautycounter (because I work with them). But, Beautycounter isn’t the only clean beauty company out there! There are a handful of beauty companies AND brands that are migrating their products over to the clean beauty sector.

One of my favorite brands, Bare Minerals, has a number of products marked under the label of “clean beauty.” I’ve used their products for years and I love that one of my favorite products of theirs (Complexion Rescue Tinted Moisturizer) is a clean product!

Some of the other brands I’ve heard good things about, but I’m still looking into include Follain and Drunk Elephant. Sephora also has a section for products with a “clean stamp of approval.” (Though remember my sunscreen posts and still check the ingredients.) There are so many more brands and places to look though, I’ve barely scratched the surface with these additional places!

It’s Not Just Beauty Brands

A Number of Brands Are Looking Out For Consumers Now

While beauty is the focus, it’s important to note that beauty is not the only industry striving to be clean. There are a variety of brands who have spoken out about the toxic chemicals their products. Many of those brands and now they’re working to change that

Lola

Lola is an organic tampon brand that was created after the owners realized that they had NO IDEA was what actually in their tampons. They now create 100% organic cotton tampons that are delivered right to your door when you need them. On top of that, they believe in 100% transparency. From their ingredients to charitable giving to delivery service, you know exactly what’s going on when you get involved with Lola.

Everlane

Everlane is a clothing brand that lives their message of sustainability and transparency. When they realized how dirty the creation was of jeans, they knew that they couldn’t start creating jeans until they found a clean and sustainable way to do it. So they did. Also, though they had been producing silk items, they recognized that the process for doing so was destroying the environment. So they stopped that method and came up with a completely clean and sustainable way to produce silk.

Athleta

Hearing about this one actually pleasantly surprised me! If you haven’t heard of Athleta, it’s the active wear company in the Gap, Inc. family. Currently, 40% of Athleta apparel is made of recycled and sustainable materials. They’re also well on their way to reaching their goal of 80% by 2020. I hope that more of the Gap brands begin to follow their lead in the future.

Do I think Clean Beauty Is Going to Stop Seeming Like a Trend Over Night?

Oh gosh, no. I think that like most things, it’s going to take a while. But I think that as we continue to see more clean beauty products appearing in the mainstream or expand into specialty stores like Sephora, it’s something that consumers will find less shocking. In fact, I think that as consumers learn more about what’s put into their products, it’ll force larger brands to either change their practices or risk losing customers.

What do you think? Is clean beauty here to stay?

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