Nontoxic Beauty and the Cleanwashing Scam: 4 Tips to Avoid Lies About Your Beauty and Self-Care Products – My three girls and I wear more makeup during the holidays than any other time. There are so many social events and celebrations, and we enjoy treating ourselves to self-care products and being creative with our style during the grey days of winter.
But which products are truly safe to use? If you’ve been following the conversation around clean beauty, you might be confused about the truth regarding the best nontoxic options. Just like the greenwashing done by virtually every corporation that wants to appear environmentally friendly, every beauty company wants to pretend like their products are toxin-free. There’s a lot of cleanwashing going on.
I’m here to tell you that when it comes to cosmetics, there are truly clean products that are safe to use, and there are toxic products that are harmful to use. Whether or not you believe parabens are dangerous doesn’t change the fact that most beauty products contain harmful ingredients.
LOOPHOLES AND LIES
Here’s the truth: the beauty industry is virtually unregulated.
It may surprise you that companies are only legally required to disclose some product ingredients. The “trade secret” loophole also allows cosmetics companies (especially fragrance companies) to hide naughty additives they don’t want consumers to know about.
As long as the companies can legally justify hiding ingredients to prevent their competitors from having their secret, proprietary formulas, they don’t have to tell you what’s in their products, even if they are toxic.
TIP 1: READ EVERY LABEL AND DIG DEEPER
It’s essential to read every label. As customers demand more transparency, it’s becoming more common for beauty brands to disclose all ingredients in their products voluntarily, but it’s not the norm. Many brands will make claims of “clean,” “non-toxic,” “vegan,” “cruelty-free,” and “organic.” Dig deeper; read ingredient lists and contact the companies directly to confirm that they fully disclose all ingredients in the products you purchase. That is the only way to be sure that you have transparency before you buy. Stay away if the brand you are interested in does not have an ingredient list disclosed, or they make it hard to get to on their website.
TIP 2: WATCH OUT FOR METALS
It may seem strange to imagine metals in your makeup, but they are far more common than most people realize. Metals give cosmetics like lipstick their brilliance of color. Just as metals in tattoo ink reflect light and cause tattoos to “pop” on the skin (information first shared by leading health author Anthony William, the Medical Medium), metals in lipsticks and nail polish create the vibrant colors we expect.
For decades, toxic lead was added to lipsticks worldwide due to the shine it gave to the product on women’s lips. As recently as 2007, a consumer advocacy group provided test results revealing hazardous lead levels in almost two-thirds of lipsticks on the market, including major brands like Christian Dior, L’Oreal, and Cover Girl. Government regulators continue to test for toxic metals like cadmium, arsenic, chromium, cobalt, mercury, and nickel.
Toxic heavy metals in the body are a significant root cause of countless symptoms that affect women disproportionately to men, and their inclusion in cosmetics is one reason why. Look out for and avoid iron oxides, titanium oxides, bismuth, lead acetate, chromium, sodium hexametaphosphate, thimerosal, and hydrogenated oils.
TIP 3: LIMIT YOUR EXPOSURES
In this world, avoiding toxins in our beauty and self-care products is virtually impossible. And that’s okay, as long as we understand the truth and how to make the best possible choices. We can avoid or limit our use when we know the most toxic products.
One common exposure to harsh ingredients is hair dyes. Without strong chemicals, hair dyes are ineffective—there’s simply no way to alter the color of your hair without them permanently. Some of the worst ingredients in hair dyes are formaldehyde and paraphenylenediamine (PPD, for short)—known carcinogens—ammonia, phthalates, parabens, and resorcinol. Seek products that do not contain these ingredients as much as possible, and avoid gluten-containing dyes if you are sensitive to gluten.
Consider limiting your hair color appointments to reduce your toxic exposure, or explore natural hair color products that may be unfamiliar. Henna is a natural hair dye that typically lasts for around two months. Some find that it behaves differently from conventional hair dyes and choose not to use it, but I recommend doing a henna test to see if it works for you! TIP
4: USE NATURAL ALTERNATIVES
Thankfully, natural alternatives to conventional and toxic beauty products are growing. One of the easiest and most powerful ways to support your health is to avoid all fragrance products where you don’t know the exact ingredients. Conventional perfumes are highly toxic and may even be worse for you than smoking cigarettes. They lower the immune system, contaminate the liver and brain, and pollute the air around you. If you want to learn more, and I suggest you do, watch the documentary Stink!, directed by Jon J. Whelan.
A fantastic alternative is to make your perfume at home using a small amount of liquid carrier oil like coconut or sweet almond oil and mix it with your favorite blend of essential oils. Most perfumes mimic natural scents – why not go for the real thing? Or seek out clean beauty companies like Living Libations, my favorite brand, for their premade face oils, sun protection products, perfumes, and more. Their Raven Maven mascara is one of my favorite products. I also love Jane Iredale’s liquid eyeliner, the organic lipstick and foundation sticks from Ogee, and Zuii’s organic blush. Two more brands at the top of my list are Strange Invisible by Alexandra Balahoutis and Ffern from the U.K. for botanical and clean fragrances.
THE POWER OF CHOICE
When we know the truth, we can make informed decisions about what we put in and on our bodies daily. That empowerment means everything in an increasingly toxic world. There may be times when you want to treat yourself to a new hair color when your health is strong, while there may be other times when you know your body would prefer to stay away from harsh chemicals—being able to choose from an informed place makes all the difference.
It’s not about shutting ourselves away from the world and not interacting with anything that harms us. But doing what we can to limit our exposure to harmful ingredients and using them only when we are aware of our choice can make all the difference between feeling our best and our worst.
So often, it’s corporate secrecy that trips us up, especially when it comes to women’s health. Women have the right to thrive, and companies are responsible for letting us know what they’re selling and how it might impact our health. Let’s end this year feeling empowered by the knowledge available to us and move into 2025, ready to take on any challenges with grace and strength.
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