Clean Beauty and non-toxic living is my true passion. I’m always on the lookout and sharing the very best non-toxic clean products and brands; whether it’s beauty, food, home, health or wellness products. I’ve always been extremely passionate about living a clean lifestyle and educating myself on the ingredients. Many people don’t know how or where to begin buying non-toxic clean beauty products or the real reasons why it matters. But I’ve got your back bestie!
Jump to: Common Toxins Found In Products || How To identify Clean Non-Toxic Beauty Products || What Ingredients To Watch Out For || Why You Should Buy Clean Non-Toxic Products || Possible Risks Of Using Toxic Products || Better For You, Better For The Environment || Highly Recommended Non-toxic Beauty Brands || Clean Non-Toxic Makeup Brands
A Guide To Switching To Non-Toxic Clean Beauty
It is time to make the switch to non-toxic beauty products! Using clean products makes such a huge difference, your skin, body and overall health deserve it. Buying non-toxic clean beauty products doesn’t have to be overwhelming; I’ll help you every step of the way to swap out your products one by one.
I’ve done the research, and I’ve tested out brands and products through trial and error, so you don’t have to!
It takes about 26 seconds for a product to absorb into your skin. So, yes, it really does matter what products you use and put on your body. Since clean beauty is such a huge passion of mine, I’d love to help educate you on it as well. In this post, you’ll learn some common toxic ingredients in many products, what to watch out for, possible health risks, and more. At the end of this post, i’m sharing my top favorite clean beauty skincare and makeup brands.
This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the links and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my Affiliate Links Disclosure for more information.This post contains affiliate links from Amazon, see my full Amazon Affiliate Disclosure. This post cannot be seen as medical advice or health advice see full disclaimer.
“What you eat, drink, breathe and what you put on your skin is how you bring the outside world in” – Dr. Robert Morse
Common Toxins found in products + how to look for them
You have to become a label reader.
Always check the ingredients list on products. Any claims on the front of the packaging for products are irrelevant and just advertising; honestly, you should almost always disregard the product claims on the front of the packaging.
Products can claim ‘all natural’ and that they are ‘clean,’ but when you check the ingredients list they are not fully clean or natural. What is commonly defined as a natural product is not regulated by any means. In fact, 80% of ingredients in beauty products have not been tested for safety.
For example, companies can claim a product is ‘all natural’ when it still contains certain dyes, such as blue no. 2 which is derived from coal tar. Since coal tar comes from the earth naturally they can claim it as a ‘natural’ ingredient. To see the effects of artificial colors and dyes can have read this scholarly article and do your own research as well. Do not trust advertising and marketing! Advertisers are paid big bucks to deceive people and convince them to buy a product.
How To Identify Clean Non-Toxic Beauty Products
I suggest looking for certifications on product packages, more preferred the white and green USDA-certified organic emblem. When it comes to beauty products, it’s not common to find certified organic, but you can also look for Paraben free, sulfate free and check that it is fragrance-free.
Check out this post from one of my favorite blogs, The Good Trade: “What Does an ‘Organic’ Certification Really Mean?”.
The golden rule of label reading is that if you cannot pronounce or identify an ingredient in the list, the ingredient is not good for you. Of course, in today’s world that’s extremely hard to do 100% of the time. All you can do is your best! When switching from regular products to clean + non-toxic products it’s not something you can usually do all at once. It’s always a learning process.
It takes time to research the ingredients and educate yourself, as well as what brands to shop and what brands to quit supporting.
“Where you spend your money is your power. Pay attention to where you spend your money and who you’re supporting.”
What Ingredients To Watch Out For
This is just going to be a very quick overview of common ingredients to watch for. To keep things simple, pay attention to if these are in your products’ ingredient lists. I encourage you to research each ingredient mentioned below.
Here are some prevalent ingredients you will find in some of your products that are harmful:
- – Artificial colors & Dyes: Read this scholarly article “Food dyes: A Rainbow Of Risks.” This article has so much good information and research studies on the effects of food dyes.
- – Formaldehyde
- – DEA
- – Parabens
- – Parfume or Fragrance
- – Petroleum / Mineral Oil
- – Phthalates
- – Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) / Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
- – Sulfates
Many of those ingredients are found in shampoo products, body washes, makeup, skincare, shaving cream, and so much more! And all of this is often going directly on your skin – which means absorbed right into your body + bloodstream, yikes!
Those are just the basics and common ingredients that can be harmful; of course, there are plenty more. I encourage you to research each ingredient yourself. And then take it one step forward and don’t just check your beauty products – check everything you use. Check your products, your partner’s products, what your kids use, etc.
Check these posts out!
5 Affordable Clean Beauty Skincare Brands You Need To Try
3 Clean Deodorant Brands – This Is The Best!
Why You Should Buy Clean Non-Toxic Products
Did you know? 80% of ingredients in beauty products have never been tested for safety
Possible Risks Of Using Toxic Products
There are so many possible effects toxins and harmful ingredients can have on a person’s overall health, internally and externally. Next time you apply a product or even purchase a product consider the ingredients beforehand.
Some ingredients used in your products can have immediate effects such as dermatitis, allergic reaction, etc. Have you ever used a product and immediately felt irritation or itchiness on your skin? It is just the worst.
Personally, I have extremely sensitive skin and always have. I’ve always had to be careful about what products I use, which got me started on the non-toxic journey.
Some people are lucky and don’t have sensitive skin or react to things, but that still doesn’t mean the product ingredients are not affecting them at all. I recommend reading this article, “How Our Skin Absorbs Toxic Chemicals And How You Can Avoid It.”
Toxic ingredients can also have long-term effects if used over long periods of time + since harmful ingredients are so commonly found in so many products out there it’s something to consider.
There’s no saying these symptoms or issues will for sure occur, but there also has not been enough research to tell us there is not a risk at all.
Here are some *possible risks of toxins in your products.
- – ADHD
- – Endocrine system disruption
- – Damage to the human hormone equilibrium
- – Dermatitis
- – Exposure to Carcinogens (aka leading to cancer)
- – Hair loss
- – Interfere with the reproductive system
- – increased production of estrogen
- – the risk of breast cancer
- – the risk of ovarian cancer
- – Skin allergies
- – Skin damage
- – Skin irritation
- – types of cancer
60% of what goes on your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream
Better For You, Better For The Environment
If you’re someone that is mindful of the environment and try to do good for the planet, switching to non-toxic products will minimize your impact on the environment too! Toxic ingredients aren’t just bad for our bodies but can have an effect on the earth. In the last few years, many companies have become more sustainable, which is great!
You’ve probably heard that hairspray is bad for the environment and can affect the ozone layers. But what if we considered all of the other products and toxic ingredients; where do they go when we throw a product out, pour a product out down the sink or shower?
Many products that aren’t clean contain synthetic ingredients. The synthetic ingredients can travel far and can even affect the ecosystem, cause water pollution, air pollution and more. Synthetic ingredients are typically NOT biodegradable – meaning they never fully go away.
Products made of real ingredients + not synthetic will biodegrade which is, of course, better for the planet.
I highly recommend reading “The Health Risks of Chemicals in Personal Care Products and Their Fate in the Environment” by Lisa Paulsen. It’s a bit of a read, but well worth it and very educational. Lisa Paulsen goes into detail about Phthalates, Parabens, Triclosan and synthetic fragrances – why they’re used, what the health effects they can cause, and how they may affect the environment. Well worth the read y’all!
Overall, buying non-toxic clean beauty products is a great start to doing better for yourself as well as becoming more eco-friendly.
My Highly Recommended Non-Toxic Beauty Brands
Finding brands that are cleaner and less toxic is so important. It can be pretty overwhelming to learn how many brands out there contain harmful ingredients. And it’s especially overwhelming to get started on this clean beauty journey when you don’t know what brand to trust and what brand works. Let me tell you after trial and error with some products, not all brands that are clean are worth using; a good thing that I’ve got your back! I like to focus on the brands that are amazing! Here are some of my absolute favorite clean beauty brands:
Cocokind
Cocokind has been one of my favorite clean beauty skincare brands for years now. I’ve tried all of their products and loved every single one of them. This brand is also very affordable too!
This brand is very transparent about its ingredients and even the breakdown of the cost of its products. Check out their Instagram @Cocokind
Earth Harbor
I recently discovered Earth Harbor in the last year and immediately loved it. The company is founded by a toxicologist and herbalist; all of the products are made of completely natural ingredients. Earth Harbor also partners with 1% For The Planet and is a plastic-negative brand.
Youth To The People
YTTP is a clean beauty skincare brand that I first discovered back in my beauty school days. With my sensitive skin, I needed a brand that was gentle, had clean ingredients and worked well, this was it!
Their products contain superfood ingredients and are 100% vegan.
Clean Non-Toxic Makeup Brands I Love
Illia
I love that Illia Beauty believes that makeup and skincare should be the same thing – their products are clean ingredients and benefit your skin. Typically makeup is hard on the skin and can be very drying and even damaging. My experience with this brand has been great. I love the Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 and how my skin feels with it on!
OGEE Luxury Organics
I love this brand and their contour collection is amazing! Typically I avoid contour products from big-name brands because they usually cause my skin to break out – but with the OGEE contour collection my skin feels great and the product feels lightweight.
This brand is certified organic, non-toxic, cruelty-free, and made in the USA.
I even have a 15% off code for you to use on your purchase!
Use code: KRISTIN15 at checkout
More Articles Worth Reading:
“Toxins in Beauty Products, More Serious Than You Thought” (Dr. Sanusi Umar, MD)
“16 Toxic Chemicals To Avoid In Cosmetics And Skincare” (Soumya Tamatam)
Subscribe to my mailing list for more clean living tips
- 8 Best Non-Toxic Makeup Brands To Try In 2024
- The Best Retro Bluetooth Speaker To Take Your Playlist Anywhere
- The Best Zero Waste + Plastic-Free Refillable Handsoap For Your Home
- Why Buying Non-Toxic + Clean Beauty Products Is Important
- My Top Favorite Purchases This Month You’ll Love Too | Fashion and Beauty Finds January 2023
