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- There is no one definition for clean skin care. Some brands omit sulfates, parabens, and mineral oil — others go as far as to ban nearly 1,400 questionable irritants in their products.
- What constitutes "clean" is all over the place, but one thing that all brands can agree on is that ingredients should be safe for our bodies whether they are sourced naturally or produced in a lab.
- Here are 11 clean skin-care brands that rival anything else we’ve tried. In fact, to us, they’re just skin-care brands.
Ask anyone how they define "clean skin care" and you’ll get answers ranging from "products made without parabens, sulfates, or mineral oils," or "things you DIY-ed in your kitchen at 2 a.m." There’s no right or wrong answer, but loosely defined, clean skin-care products are made without questionable ingredients or harmful irritants. Think of it as a "better safe than sorry" approach.
"There is no one clear path of rules for clean beauty, much like there is no one clear path to ‘wellness.’ They are ambiguous terms and it depends on the goals and preferences of each individual," says Pamela Marcos, director of product development at Farmacy.
Because there isn’t an official definition, brands, retailers, and watchdog organizations have created their own filters, whether it be following the European Union’s list of almost 1,400 banned ingredients or creating certifications to better educate consumers on what’s safe or not. The level of clean among these filters still varies greatly, but just recognizing that certain ingredients don’t need to be in skin-care products is a step in the right direction.
The bottom line is that you don’t need filler, questionable components, or toxic ingredients to obtain hydrated skin, shiny hair, and a glowing complexion. In fact, these 11 brands prove just that.
Take a look at how some clean skin-care brands are setting a foundation in the world of beauty and wellness.
Summer Fridays
Summer Fridays
Summer Fridays skin-care products, $44-$52, available at Sephora
Influencers Marianna Hewitt and Lauren Gores Ireland only launched Summer Fridays last September, but they’ve already dropped three facial masks with each one more popular than the previous. The latest R + R mask ($52) exfoliates with rose-flower powder and hydrates with a blend of argan, safflower, sesame, avocado, and grape-seed oils for soft, glowy skin you won’t be able to stop touching.
The brand has a "Clean at Sephora" stamp of approval, meaning products are formulated without sulfates, parabens, and mineral oils, and have less than 1% of synthetic fragrances, but the brand takes it further by making sure formulas are also vegan and free of animal cruelty.
"From the start, we wanted Summer Fridays to only use healthy ingredients," the founders tell Business Insider. "In fact, Summer Fridays’ co-founder Lauren was pregnant at the time of our first formulations so everything we tested had to be good for our bodies and her growing son. Our team is hard at work developing clean, effective products you can feel good about putting on your skin — because healthy is the best kind of glow."
What the brand vows to never use: Sulfates, parabens, mineral oil, and more according to the "Clean at Sephora" seal.
Ren Clean Skincare
Ren
Ren Clean Skincare skin-care products, $25-$80, available at Sephora
One of the OG pioneers, Ren has been in the business of clean skin care since 2000. The brand uses "bio-actives" in its formulas, which isn’t a scary term so much as it’s used to describe ingredients that help your skin help itself, like probiotics that strengthen your skin’s dermis layer and lactic acid that exfoliates dead, dull skin. Basically, nothing in the products are there just because.
"For us, clean beauty is so much more than just using skin-friendly ingredients and actives — or simply not using known irritants," says David Delport, Ren’s global ambassador and head of education. "It must also proactively support the natural function of the skin and never force a short-term result at the cost of the skin’s equilibrium, sensitivity, or barrier health. Our bio-active ingredients are essentially well-recognized by your skin. They speak the same language, but from product to skin, it must be a collaborative conversation — never a command."
Every product deserves a shout-out, but two items we hoard are the exfoliating AHA tonic ($35) and the energizing kelp and magnesium body wash ($27). Both wake up your skin and give it a nice glow, and the body wash is housed in a 100% recycled bottle, 20% of which is made with reclaimed ocean plastic and is absolutely genius. The brand is aiming to be completely waste-free by 2021 and has started rolling out bottles made with fully recyclable packaging, reclaimed plastic from oceans, and even glass so consumers can send back and refill. It’s also partnered with the non-profit group Surfrider to help clean up beaches and oceans around the world.
What the brand vows to never use: Sulfates, parabens, mineral oil, and more according to the "Clean at Sephora" seal.
Beautycounter
Beauty Counter
Beautycounter skin-care products, $18-$80, available at Beautycounter
Perhaps one of the brands with the strictest set of self-imposed rules, Beautycounter defines clean with five principles — ban intentionally, screen rigorously, learn constantly, source responsibly, and share transparently. You can do a deep dive into each here, but the most important component is banning harmful ingredients in its formulas.
In fact, Beautycounter has avoided more than 1,500 questionable and harmful ingredients that are defined in its "Never List." For context, the European Union’s list of banned ingredients includes almost 1,400 ingredients, while the US’s list has only 30. Let that sink in for a bit.
Beautycounter also advocates for safer personal-care ingredients with texting campaigns to ask Congress to pass more laws protecting personal care, and annual visits to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers every March.
Products run the gamut from skin care and color cosmetics to body and sun care, and there’s even a new men’s line called Counterman. The Countersun Mineral sunscreen ($36) is a standout for its mineral formula and non-aerosol spray as are its facial oils ($69), which are potent plant-based blends that are as luxurious as they are clean.
What the brand vows to never use: More than 1,500 chemicals beyond the usual suspects. Check out the full "Never List" here.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – jwong@businessinsider.com (Jada Wong)