There are so many different terms related to beauty and skin care that are thrown about nowadays. Terms like sustainability, green beauty, eco-friendly, and others are used by so many different organizations and publications that it’s hard to settle on a single, standardized definition. It’s even harder when a movement can’t trace clear origins to one place in time.
One of these terms is “clean make up”, which may mean different things to different people, but allow us to weigh in and offer some insight into what we mean by clean, and how it really makes an impact.
What Clean Make Up Really Means
The use of the word “clean” in clean beauty and clean make up has more than one connotation, but it has largely to do with the use of clean ingredients that don’t cause harm, labeling that honestly conveys information about the product and its constituent ingredients, and sustainable processes. Largely, the emphasis is on the use of ingredients that are non-toxic, and thereby safe to produce and use. But at Beauty Heroes, we take it a step cleaner by looking at ingredients and their biodegradability. There are many ingredients that might not have a toxic effect on the skin, but may have a toxic effect on the environment, bioaccumulating and causing issues in the environment. While the more generally used and accepted term may be clean make up, you’ll often hear us refer to it as healthy beauty, because that’s what clean means to us, it means that a product is not just not harmful, it actually has benefits for your skin.
In the green, clean, and natural beauty industries, you are liable to come across terms like “natural” and “organic,” although clean make up may contain synthetic ingredients, provided they are safe and effective for use. Green beauty, for its part, has welcomed effective bio-identical ingredients into the movement.
There is also an emphasis on transparency. There may be synthetic ingredients in clean beauty products as well as natural ingredients, but you can expect to find no known harmful substances like parabens, phthalates, and harsh synthetic fragrances in clean makeup products. In fact, harmful synthetic chemicals sometimes make their way into makeup and skin care products under the guise of “fragrance,” but that is not something you will find in clean beauty products.
How Clean Make Up Is Better for You
You may not need hard scientific evidence to convince you of the benefits of using clean make up, but there are plenty of them, nonetheless. Many of the chemicals and additives in conventional make up, skin care, and other beauty products, such as fragrances, dyes, sulfates, and others, can have a deleterious effect on the skin over time.
For example, petroleum-based and silicone-based ingredients, when applied to the skin, will create a feeling of moisturization and emollience in the short term, but in the long term, they can actually dehydrate the skin, adversely affect the skin’s lipid barrier, affecting both moisture loss and its interaction with and absorption of different products.
We believe that healthy beauty and clean makeup products that are applied to the skin nearly every day perform better when crafted with organic oils, butters, and ethically sourced minerals. The only reason that beauty products use harmful petroleum-based ingredients and silicone is that they are inexpensive and keep costs down. Healthy beauty products not only can deliver better color and performance, but they can also promote hydration, improve skin barrier function in the long run, and fortify the skin with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
The difference between healthy, clean makeup products made with organic oils, butters, and ethically sourced minerals and products made with petroleum, silicones, vinyl, and acrylates is the difference between fast food and a well-made organic meal. It may cost more, but it feeds you longer and better. And when it comes to clean makeup, healthier options are on par with traditional options in terms of price point. And as the clean and healthy beauty movement has continued to grow, more options at varying price points have become widely available.
How Clean Make Up Is Better for Our Communities and the Environment
Clean make up – such as creams, blushes, and lip products – does not simply produce potentially fewer harmful effects when applied to the skin in the long run. It is also better for our communities and for our environment.
The obvious manner in which clean beauty brands are simply better is in the efforts that many of these eco-conscious organizations take towards refining their processes. Many of the brands we feature here in our beauty store are committed to the use of recyclable or reusable materials, in order to reduce their ecological impact, helping to minimize the plastic crisis now faced by the planet.
When your routine is finished, the day has ended, and you’re ready to remove your makeup, it’s eventually going to make its way into the trash or down the drain. Those same chemical constituents that may produce suspicious results on your skin, once released into the environment or waterways, may produce equally suspect results. This is not a hard claim, and we aren’t pointing to a concrete study; but if you wouldn’t use it in your skin, would you feel comfortable releasing it back into the environment?
At the very least, with clean beauty products and makeup, you can be sure that the ingredients are gentler and safer for use.
Clean Make-Up Brands to Follow:
Here at Beauty Heroes, we’re proud to carry and promote a wide range of clean beauty brands, including the following.
Y et Beauté: Y et Beauté is best known for its high-pigment lipsticks that produce a satin-like finish. Their formulas are also safe and non-toxic, pairing performance with safer, cleaner ingredients, which is one of the hallmarks of clean makeup.
Ere Perez: Ere Perez bears the namesake of its founder, who believes that clean beauty is not simply a buzzword but a lifestyle choice. The company believes that the “ethos of clean beauty,” lies in choosing natural ingredients over unwanted synthetics – which is a trend you will find in their products.
Antonym: Antonym Cosmetics was founded by Valerie Giraud, who believes that professional performance should be available in cruelty-free as well as gentle on the skin. Their line of makeup products, including foundation and blush, reflects that premise.
Axiology: Axiology is known for its line of lipsticks that are free of harmful ingredients, and thus safer for its users and for the environment. Its founder, Ericka Rodriguez, believes in fruitarianism and devoted herself to creating a safer, healthier line of lipsticks: her products even utilize packaging sourced from a woman-owned paper-recycling boutique in Indonesia!
RMS: RMS Beauty, named for Rose-Marie Swift, arose from the dedication to creating beauty products that were free of heavy metals and toxic chemicals. RMS Beauty also uses packaging that is minimal, reusable, or recyclable, diminishing its adverse impact on the environment.
Rituel de Fille: Rituel de Fille produces unique eyeliners, eye soot, concealers, lipstick, and more, all with simple, safe ingredients. They produce every product in-house, creating unique, powerful pigments and equally unique colors.
Lily Lolo: Lily Lolo is unique in that its founder was charmed by the performance of mineral makeup and set out to produce a clean makeup line with healthy formulas that preserved the performance for which mineral makeup was known. Today, Lily Lolo produces a wide range of mineral makeups in an equally diverse and unique range of colors.
Sappho: Sappho makeup is a gem among clean makeup brands. It is formulated with vegan and certified organic ingredients, and its products are free of carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, microplastics, silicone, and other potentially harmful ingredients. In addition to superior formulations, the brand is well-known for its use of sustainably produced glass packaging.
Follow Us!
Interested in suggestions for clean beauty products for your makeup bag that are ideal for your skin tone and unique needs? Contact us at Hero@beauty-heroes.com to learn more or for personal recommendations!
You can also follow us on our social media accounts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, where you can learn more about natural makeup brands and connect with us using #BeautyHeroes!
