For the past couple of years, a trend in skincare has been growing. The demand for cruelty-free, sulfate-free, paraben-free, vegan, organically and ethically sourced products has been on the rise. Companies are now making it a selling point to point out that their clean beauty products are not only effect but good for the environment too.

Clean beauty products are products made without ingredients known to be harmful to humans. Some examples of clean beauty products are:

If you’re considering moving towards a “cleaner” beauty routine but don’t necessarily want to do a vanity overhaul here are some “unclean” ingredients to lookout for.

Unclean ingredients

Parabens are any of a group of compounds used as preservatives in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, these compounds are typically added to cosmetics and skincare to slow down the decaying of the product since they are usually made with biodegradable ingredients. This is an unclean ingredient because scientific studies suggest that parabens can disrupt hormones in the body, harm fertility and reproductive organs, increase the risk of cancer and cause skin irritation.

Formaldehyde is a colorless pungent gas in solution made by oxidizing methanol. When used in cosmetics formaldehyde is used as a preservative much like parabens and what makes it unclean is its ability to cause skin irritation and allergy with prolonged use.

Oxybenzone is a chemical compound typically found in sunscreen and has recently come under fire for being linked to hormonal disruption in men and women. It is also proven to cause skin allergies and considered a hazardous eye irritant.

Silica is a mineral found in sandstone, granite, and clay, as well as in parts of plants and animals. In cosmetics it is used a thickening agent and when synthetically produced is used as an absorbent powder. What makes this ingredient unsafe is if inhaled it is known to potentially cause severe lung inflammation, can be fibro genic, and cause cancer. There are safe types of silica to use that are specifically designed for beauty products.

These are just a few examples of ingredients deemed unclean and unsafe.

Will this clean beauty movement press on and become a standard?

I hope so. It is comforting to know that as technology advances, we are finding cleaner and safer ways to produce and use products.