Clean Living Make-up

When I got pregnant and started looking into items to buy for my baby – it was an easy decision to focus on: ‘non-toxic’ and ‘organic’ items. This was inline with my existing commitment to a healthy ‘green’ lifestyle including: cleaning products, skincare and trying to buy organic and/or seasonal food where possible.

The more research I did into ‘non-toxic’ or ‘clean living’… the more I realized how prevalent ‘Greenwashing’ is and how customers (myself included) are being duped into paying more for products that aren’t actually better for us!
This especially rings true for beauty and skincare products. I was convinced my beauty regime was ‘green’ – I was loyal to brands that marketed themselves as: ‘Natural’, ‘Earth Friendly’,‘Ethical’, ‘Clean’. I was paying a small fortune for what I thought was ‘better ingredients’. To my devastation, I discovered MOST of the makeup and skin care products I used rated 4-8 (moderate to high hazard) based on EWG’s ‘Think Dirty’ app or Skindeep site … this is not the only source of truth, however its a great start! I will no longer buy from the following brands: Chantecaille, Josie Maran Cosmetics, Tarte Cosmetics and Becca Cosmetics.

At the moment there is a lot of hype behind ‘clean make-up’. Post research, I would be cautious at buying from new ‘green’ companies without vetting the ingredients for EACH product you plan to buy. I general have a ‘simple’ makeup routine consisting of: Foundation, Mascara (sometimes), blush and lip balm / lip stick. I needed to replace ALL my products and did research on the below brands/products and decided to give them a try.

Clean-Living Beauty Brands

rms beauty

• EWG Rating: 1-6 on 42 products reviewed.
• Founder: Rose-Marie prominent makeup artist and founder of http://www.beautytruth.com/
• Mission: Our mission to create healthy luxurious beauty means we only use the highest-quality clean ingredients, meticulously sourced and tested for complete purity
• Intriguing Products:
  • “UN” COVER-UP: available in 16 shades
  • LIP2CHEEK Modest: ewg rating varies by colour, Smile & Beloved have higher ratings due to  D&C RED 30.
  • Volumizing Mascara

Beautycounter

• EWG Rating: 1-4 on 118 products reviewed, multiple products are EWG Verified.
• Mission: One by one, we are leading a movement to a future where all beauty is clean beauty. We are powered by people, and our collective mission is to get safer products into the hands of everyone. Formulate, advocate, & educate—that’s our motto for creating products that truly perform while holding ourselves to unparalleled standards of safety. Why? It’s really this simple: beauty should be good for you.
• Founder: Female founder & mother
• Programs:
  • The Never List™ = +1,500 chemicals Beautycoutner will never use as ingredients in our products. This includes the over 1,400 chemicals banned or restricted in personal care products by the European Union, plus additional chemicals screened by Beautycounter and found to be of concern. Full list here.
  • Advocacy work: In 2017, founded the ‘Counteract Coalition’ of like-minded businesses in the skin care and beauty industries that want more health-protective laws in Washington, DC. This coalition provides an opportunity to use our collective voices to effect meaningful change.
• Intriguing Products:
  • Outline Eye Pencil (Black)
  • Tint Skin Hydrating Foundation
  • Sheer Lipstick

Juice Beauty

Customers with fruit allergies should check each product’s ingredients. I have an apple allergy and will be steering clear of this brand.

• EWG Rating: 1-2 on 29 products reviewed.
• Founder: Karen Behnke, mother of two
• Mission: Juice Beauty is the Organic Solution
• Intriguing Products:
  • STEM CELLULAR CC CREAM
  • SPF 30 TINTED MINERAL MOISTURIZER – BB

Kosas

• EWG Rating: 2 on 18 product reviews.
• Founder: SHEENA YAITANES a scientist, artist, entrepreneur, wife, mother, and life-long beauty devotee.
• Mission: Our clean, skin-loving, botanical formulas and expert color pigmentation honor the beauty in every layer of the self. We undo conventional rules and create products that are beauty rebels, effortlessly applied, flattering across skin tones, and enriched with beneficial skincare ingredients.
• Intriguing Products:
  • Tinted Face Oil
  • Color Trifecta Weightless Lip Color Trio

Rituel De Fille:

• EWR Rating: overall rating of 1-3; not psyched about their use of: Castor Oil & IRON OXIDES.
• Founders: Rituel de Fille was founded by three sisters
• Mission:
  • Alchemy: Every Rituel de Fille color is obsessively formulated in-house by the Ramos sisters to meet our exacting standards. We approach our formulation like potion-making: we carefully select each pigment, oil and wax for a clear purpose, and develop each color from the ground up to contain the fewest possible ingredients. We use nothing extraneous, and avoid fillers. This attention to detail creates intense color with opulent textures.
  • Essence: All Rituel de Fille products are entirely natural, and handcrafted without parabens, phthalates, synthetic dyes or synthetic fragrances. We never test on animals, and only source our raw materials from companies that are also 100% cruelty-free.
• Intriguing Products:
  • Enchanted Lip Sheer: Narcissus
  • The Flesh: Individualized Complexion Set

Not all ‘Clean Living’ Brands are created equal

Here are some new /popular brands connected with the ‘Clean Beauty’ movement that I would trial with caution.

• Ilia: Brand overall rating of 1-5. Aprox. 60% of products were rated 1-2 (Low hazard) with 40% rated 3-5 (Mildly hazardous).
• Tata Harper: All recent product reviews were rated 3-5 (Mild hazard) – this seems misaligned with their brand values of being non-toxic.

Where to Buy

Some retailers focused on ‘clean beauty’: SpaceNK, Net-A-Porter, Goop & Cult Beauty.