The Truth About ‘Clean Beauty’ Skincare

The Terminology of the Skincare Industry

The skincare industry is full of buzzwords – a whole bunch of beauty lingo that is sometimes accurate, sometimes confusing, sometimes misleading and sometimes completely empty. Not to spoil the punchline, but today we’re focusing on “clean beauty” – which definitely falls into the latter categories.

So, what we’re going to do today is clear the air on what clean beauty actually means, as well as help define a few other key terms so that the clever marketers of this industry will have a harder time tricking you. To do that, we’re going to have to explain what the term clean beauty means to those who use it. what it actually means, and what kinds of things you should be looking for to do the best by your skin!

What do they mean by Clean Beauty? 

As a writer, the thesaurus is like my best friend – a well-placed synonym can take a sentence from average (or pedestrian) to great (or phenomenal). Or they can make you kind of såçound like a bit of a jackass – point is, synonyms are a great way to help you understand what a word means. So, let’s try that here with clean beauty.

When skincare companies talk about clean beauty, the synonyms for what they’re talking about are organic and natural. But what does that even really mean? Does the existence of clean beauty presuppose the existence of dirty beauty? If so, what is dirty beauty? And how is all of this regulated?

Are you starting to see why this is a bunch of nonsense?

Clean Beauty is NOTHING but Marketing

Let’s just set this straight, clean beauty actually means nothing – it’s marketing, it’s a couple of words to throw on the label to trick you into buying something. It’s used to play a sort of word association game with you. You hear clean beauty, and you think natural and then organic and then you’re sold – completely convinced that this product is perfect for your skin and can do no harm. Once again, there is NO regulatory body for clean beauty – no toxicity % to meet, no safety checklist – nothing. You can literally just throw it on your labels and BOOM, now you’re a clean beauty brand.

This whole idea is just built on marketing and word association – and while we’re on the topic, let’s break down those words too.

The Myth of Natural & Organic Skincare

Ah, yet another common misconception in the skincare world. Since we’re talking about synonyms and word association let’s try it with natural and organic. When a skincare customer hears these words they think because an product/ingredient is perfect for their skin – and can do no harm because it comes from the Earth.

You know what else is natural, organic, and comes from the Earth? Venom from a King Cobra snake, and I don’t see anybody out here trying to rub that under their eyes. Nature ain’t always safe and good – nature can kill ya, or worse, make your skin dry.

The thing with natural ingredients is that yes, SOME are great for your skin! But a lot of them aren’t at all, and even the ingredients that are good for you need to be properly controlled and delivered at a precise percentage.

What’s Better for you Than Clean Beauty? 

SAFE beauty.

We get too caught up on all the hype and hoopla with the words in the skincare industry. If you want to do right by your skin what you need to do is try and look beyond the marketing ploys, and put your focus into the science.

Don’t be fooled into thinking clean and natural products are always going to be good for you, and don’t be scared off by words like chemical or lab created. What your skin needs is products and ingredients that are effective. Properly controlled, thoroughly tested, and 100% SAFE!

We’re going to get more into all of that because it’s a lot to cover and it deserves its own blog – so be on the lookout for our next post if you’re interested in learning about safe beauty.

Anyways, if I can leave you with anything today, let it be 2 things;

1. Marketers are sneaky and clever, like foxes (I’d know, I am one) – don’t be tricked by flashy words.
2. Clean ≠ Natural ≠ Organic ≠ Tested/Controlled ≠ Safe ≠ Good for you and your skin!!!