Circle of Life
Clean Beauty 101

Clean Beauty 101

Sarah MacDonnell
Health, Beauty

There is a common misconception that being healthy is just about what you put in your body, and that what you put on your body doesn't matter. People are quick to dismiss the idea that personal care products exist in the same boat as food with the same set of rules. However, we absorb products through our skin the same way we absorb the nutrients in food. This means that in an ideal world, things like shampoo and conditioner, moisturizer, cleanser, deodorant, sunscreen, and makeup should technically be as "edible" as our food, or at least slightly resemble something found in nature. If we insist on eating organic to avoid chemicals and toxins, why should our personal care products be any different? A lifetime of absorbing the same harsh chemicals every day—then add in stress, medication, and a diet of processed food and sugar—and you have a recipe for chronic inflammation, leaky gut, and illness.

The beauty industry is destroying our gut, and our gut issues are destroying our skin. Which we then attempt to cover up or fix with more beauty products. The cycle continues.

Flamingo Estate founder, Richard Christiansen, created his own line of non-toxic, environmentally friendly personal care products after he noticed the run-off from his outdoor shower was killing his roses. He had been using a very trendy, expensive soap that remains unnamed—Aesop, Le Labo, Diptyque and the like come to mind.

But what does "clean beauty" really mean? It is defined as "a non-toxic product that is made without a long, ever-evolving list of ingredients linked to harmful health effects from hormone disruption, to cancer, to plain-old skin irritation. To name just a few: parabens, phthalates, PEGs, ethanolamines, chemical sunscreens, synthetic fragrance, BHT, BHA." You would be shocked at how hard it is to find products without any of these ingredients. Don’t buy beauty products at drugstores, and stick to the “Clean at Sephora” section. The best curated sites for shoppikng clean beauty products are Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Credo has physical stores in LA, NYC, SF, Chicago, Boston, and Texas. Detox Market has stores in LA, NYC, and Toronto.

An AMAZING resource is the Environmental Working Group (EWG)’s Skin Deep database, and their app, “EWG Healthy Living”. You can search or scan almost any product in the app to determine if any ingredients are harmful by US or international standards, then you can make your own decision about whether to use it. Products are rated from 1-10 (1 being safe, 10 being hazardous), they break it down ingredient by ingredient, and assign it a rating for allergy, cancer, and developmental concerns. The app is amazing also because you can search food and cleaning products as well, and create custom lists. We need resources like this, especially in the United States, where many ingredients banned in other countries are not restricted here. We unfortunately need to take it into our own hands to find out what is safe to use.

If a product isn’t listed, there are a few ingredients you can look out for. One of the main and most easily recognizable ingredients to avoid is fragrance (parfum). The EWG states, “the word ‘fragrance’ or ‘parfum’ on the product label represents an undisclosed mixture of various scent chemicals and ingredients used as fragrance dispersants such as diethyl phalate. Fragrance mixes have been associated with allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress and potential effects on the reproductive system”. Other concerns listed are “endocrine disruption (moderate), non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate)” and more. Get unscented, or products that clearly state a clean source of fragrance.

Other words to look out for are anything with a color (Red, Yellow, Blue, Lake, etc.), anything ending in -paraben, talc (remember when Johnson & Johnson faced over 40,000 lawsuits from people who developed cancer after using their baby powder with talc? it is often contaminated with asbestos), and aluminum.

MANY popular products are linked to cancer, infertility, respiratory illness, and more. Prominent hair brand Olaplex was recently cancelled when an ingredient in their Hair Perfector was linked to infertility.

Some popular beauty products and their EWG ratings:

  1. Too Faced Lip Injection Ultimate Lip Plumper: 8

    1. hazardous ingredients —> fragrance (8), benzyl benzoate (5), BHT (5), CI 45410 (aka D&C Red No. 27 or 28) Lake (5), the list goes on.

    2. concerns: allergy (severe), cancer, developmental

  2. Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder: 7

    1. hazardous ingredients —> propylparaben, butylparaben, talc, and many more.

    2. concerns: cancer (severe), allergy (moderate), developmental (moderate)

  3. Bobbi Brown Blush: 8

    1. hazardous ingredients —> CO 42090 (FD&C Blue No. 1 or D&C Blue No. 4) Aluminum Lake, FD&C Yellow No. 6 (CI 15985) Lake

  4. Glossier Exfoliating skin Perfector: 8

  5. Armani Beauty silk Perfect Foundation: 6

  6. Chanel No. 5: 7

The worst offenders are typically hair products, almost all perfume/cologne, makeup, and deodorant. It is generally safe to assume that beauty products made my designer or luxury brands (Armani, Dior, YSL, Burberry, Valentino, and the like) are NOT safe to use. Sad.

MY CLEAN ESSENTIALS:

Keep in mind, this is what works for me. My skin is normal and non-problematic, with occasional breakouts in t-zone. What works for you could be different, but I find these products suitable for a wide variety of skin types. They are super gentle, natural and non-irritating. I’ve stayed away from the P50’s, retinols, and Skinceuticals products for the purpose of this post as those are chemical-based and much more prone to irritation.

Skincare:

TONER: Thayer’s Facial Toner. $10. Expensive toners are a complete waste of time.

CLEANSER: Biossance Squalane + Amino Aloe Gel Cleanser $26

SERUMS:

  • VITAMIN C (brightening, sun damage reversal & protection): St. Jane Vitamin C Brightening Serum. $90. I used to be a Skinceuticals Phloretin CF/C E Ferulic girl (and I occasionally return to it/switch back and forth). But Jennifer Anniston’s facialist at Carasoin Day Spa told me she used to work at Skinceuticals and it is “not a clean brand”. She recommended St. Jane.

  • DISCOLORATION DEFENSE: Skinceuticals, 2 drops upper lip or in areas where you want to prevent discoloration.

  • HYALURONIC ACID (moisturizing, plumping, corrective): Skinceuticals H.A. Intensifier. I apply 2 drops to my neck after vitamin C. I’m still on the lookout for a cleaner replacement.

  • PEPTIDE (anti-aging, line-smoothing, botox-mimicking): Luzern Serum Absolut W3. $200. Also recommended by my girl at Carasoin, this is a miracle serum. It smooths lines like no other—she recommended to apply it only to problem areas. For a cheaper alternative, Biossance Sqalane + Copper Peptide Rapid Plumping Serum.

  • NATURAL RETINOL (skin cell turnover, exfoliation, line-smoothing): Dr. Dennis Gross Advanced Retinol + Texture Renewal Serum. The results are real. So smoothing. This is my new ride or die product. Without the dryness, peeling and harshness of retinol. I’ve also used Biossance Squalane + Phyto-Retinol Serum with great results but nothing like Dr. Dennis.

FACE OIL:

  • Always in rotation, but right now into Graydon Moon Boost Oil.

  • Another good one Is True Botanicals Radiance Oil (renew or clear). Wouldn’t recommend if breakout-prone.

MOISTURIZER:

SPF:

  • The single most important product for your skin. If you do nothing else, wear SPF, even inside and even when it’s cloudy or winter. And apply it to your hands (driving)! Sun damage doesn’t come from a few bad burns over the course of your life. It is the result of a build-up of low-intensity sun exposure at times you don’t think to wear it.

  • Elta MD UV Clear Tinted SPF 46. Make sure it’s zinc-based and chemical free. People also swear by drugstore pick La Roche-Posay Anthelois Light Fluid Face Sunscreen. My facialist recommended Suntegrity brand. To avoid any chalkiness, she mixed it with moisturizer before applying.

LIPS:

MASKS:

PEEL: I do 1x a week. emerginc triple threat peel $93

BODY WASH:

Makeup:

It’s annoying, but I am admittedly a “no makeup-makeup person”. I don’t know all the techniques, and I can’t recommend a highlighter nor provide contouring information. Until a couple years ago, I used the same Laura Mercier eye shadow palettes that a Sephora employee used on me during a tutorial in 2008.

FOUNDATION: Liquid — Ilia True Skin Serum Foundation $54. I seesaw on whether I like the ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint, maybe I just haven’t found the right shade. Powder — Mineral Fusion Pressed Base Foundation in Olive 3 $33. Jones Road What The Foundation is good for a thicker, more moisturizer-type foundation, and also great for mature skin.

CONCEALER: Kosas Revealer Concealer in Tone 04 $28. love this brand

GLOW/HIGHLIGHTER: Saie Glowy Super Gel mixed with foundation gives great shine. Newly obsessed with Jones Road Miracle Balm (Au Natural, and Miami Beach I love all around or for sun-kissed blush on cheekbones)

EYES: Ilia Pure Eyeliner in Rebel Rebel $24 and The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette in Cool Nude $38

MASCARA: Alima Pure Natural Definition Mascara in Brown. $26

LIPS: Olio E Osso No. 2 French Melon Balm $28. Hailey Bieber’s rhode peptide lip treatment gloss (unscented): insane.

FRAGRANCE: Carta Immortelle $110

DEODORANT: Taos AER Deodorant (all scents) $19. I tried a million non-aluminum deodorants and they all sucked, and this one works perfectly. I was recently notified that this company went bankrupt and I think I ordered 30 at once… I dread the day I run out.

Still working on the shampoo and conditioner thing… that’s the last to go for me. I notice a huge decline in quality with ANY natural shampoo and conditioner (much less REGULAR drugstore brands) to the point that I can’t justify paying extra for something that I’m going to be just as unsatisfied with. I’ve tried rahua, Act + Acre, Olaplex (I guess they’re canceled now), True Botanicals, Prose, natural grocery store brands, none of them do it for me. The best was Innersense, it’s just so expensive that I can’t justify adding it to the laundry list of clean beauty swaps I’ve already made. Open to recommendations.

Good luck!

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