Are Your Beauty Products Actually Toxic?
I don’t know about you, but I spend so much time and energy trying to eat “clean”. What I mean by that is I actively seek out and buy organic produce. I rarely buy packaged goods and try to eat as holistically as possible and I considered myself to be living a fairly healthy lifestyle. However, for some reason, I never really thought too much about my skincare and makeup products being “clean” until recently. And it wasn’t until recently, that I came to realize just how many high end beauty products have VERY toxic ingredients in them!
Sadly, if you live in the US there are even more toxic ingredients being used in products than anywhere else! Did you know that more than 50% of beauty products in the US contain dangerous chemicals? What’s even more shocking is that the EU banned and outlawed over 1300 ingredients from being used in beauty products while the US only bas only a whopping 11! In fact, the last law regarding ingredients in personal care products in the US was passed in 1938! The amount of chemicals that have been created since then for use in beauty products is astronomical. And as the production and usage of chemicals in our products continue to rise, so has the rise of autoimmune disease, cancers, infertility and more. There is a reason that going nontoxic is starting to be more openly discussed. Just as we take care of our body from the inside out, we need to take care of it from the outside in as well - after all our skin is our largest organ.
Unfortunately, for me my knowledge of food ingredients and what makes food clean is much more vast than my knowledge of clean beauty product ingredients to know if they are toxic or not. Thankfully, there are a few resources out there where you can look up the products you use or planning on buying to see if there any toxic ingredients being used in those products. Here are the ones I use:
The app “Think Dirty” which has close to 58,000 products from beauty to household products. They rate each product and anything at level 8,9,10 is highly toxic. They also list which of those ingredients are toxic and what they have been linked to (cancers, endocrine disruptors, infertility)
When I first used this and realized some of my favorite products were amongst the highest risk like my Georgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation which is a $90 bottle and my Nars Foundation - how is this even legal? Also my Olaplex no. 3 Hair Perfecter, and my Mac Studio Fix pressed powder. It was a sad day when I had to let those go but it is just not worth risking your health!
www.EWG.org - they also have an app called “EWG Healthy Living” This one is great for looking for clean products vs trying to see if the product you already own is clean.
Here are some truly clean - nontoxic beauty brands:
Kora Organics - a certified fully organic brand of skincare and beauty products based out of Australia created by Miranda Kerr. Their makeup selection is small but clean and nontoxic. You can purchase their products online on their website - they ship worldwide - and also at Sephora (they are actually currently the only certified organic brand that Sephora carries). skincare products.
Beautycounter - this is one I think most people are familiar with and the one with the most variety of clean nontoxic beauty products. They have a wide range of skincare and makeup. You do have to purchase their products through a consultant or they have some of their products available at Sephora as well but a very select few.
Ilia - primarily a clean makeup brand and available via their website or Sephora. For the most part their products are clean. There are a few eyeliners that are a level 6 on Think Dirty.
Kosas - primarily a clean makeup brand and available via their website or Sephora.For the most part their products are clean. There are a few eyeliners that are a level 7 on Think Dirty.
Saie - this is a newer nontoxic makeup brand available via their website or Sephora. Because they are newer, there is only a few products on Think Dirty but all clean. I actually use and LOVE their melting pot bronzer.
Farmacy- primarily a clean skincare brand and available via their website or Sephora. Mostly clean, some products have a level 5 rating on Think Dirty.
Necessaire - primarily a clean skincare brand and available via their website or Sephora. They are newer so not many products are on Think Dirty but the ones that are very clean.
Elaluz - this is a new makeup brand by Camilla Coelho and is EWG certified so the entire brand is toxic free. I have a few of their products and I LOVE them. Available at Ulta
Lawless Beauty- toxic free newish makeup brand available at Sephora. I am a huge fan of their products - love their powders and lip products
Tata Harper - a nontoxic luxury skincare line available at Sephora. The products are made with no synthetic ingredients, no artificial colors or fragrances, and many of the ingredients are grown on the brand's Vermont farm
Others that have a wide range of ratings on Think Dirty but do have some truly clean products:
Drunk Elephant
Ren Clean Skincare
Summer Fridays
The Ordinary
My personal top pick for skincare would hands down be Kora Organics. It is very tough to have a fully organic brand. Everything from their ingredients to the manufacturing facilities to the packaging materials must be reviewed, approved and audited by Ecocert/COSMOS so this is my go-to for skincare.
For makeup I actually have products from several of the brands listed such as Ilia, Kosas, Saie, and Drunk Elephant. I personally would have loved to get my hands on some makeup from Beautycounter but did not have a chance before moving to Sweden and unfortunately they do not ship worldwide. However, there are several clean nontoxic brands available to me here that are not available in the US so I will be trying and testing those products soon!
Here are my current favorite go-to nontoxic makeup products in my everyday routine:
(First I start with skincare and I am currently using all Kora Organics products and loving so far)
Foundation: Kosas Skin Improving Revealer Foundation
-currently obsessed with this because it’s like a skincare makeup product which I love! It also has mineral SPF (Zinc Oxide), Niacinamide + Caffeine to brightens and smooth skin, Squalane + Arnica + Provitamin B5 for glowy sooth skin, Peptides + Hyaluronic Acid to plump. I can’t say enough good things!
Concealer: Currently using Too Faced Born this Way but will be getting Kosas once I am out
Setting Powder: Lawless Seal the Deal Translucent Power - I used this on my wedding day and fell in love with it. One of the few powers out there that doesn’t contain talc
Contour: Elaluz Stick Bronzer with Camu Camu (which is a fruit with the highest Vitamin C potency - great for daily wear to protect skin from environmental stressors) I use the shade Super Yummy Natural which is the cooler tone. There is a warm tone and shimmer one as well
Bronzer: Saie Sun Melt - this is a natural creamy bronzer gives you a beautiful glow
Blush: Ilia Multi-Stick (also great for lips) in shade At Last which is a beautiful dusty rose—looks great on all skin types
Mascara: Milk Kush High Volume Mascara- I’ve loved this for the past 4 years now. It is buildable and I usually apply 3+ coats
All this info is available in detail under my Clean Makeup highlight on Instagram here
Hopefully this was insightful and gave you the nudge to check the toxicity of your beauty products. The amount of messages I have received from cancer survivor followers about how real and necessary this information is gave me the extra push to get this information out there and keep the conversation going. Clearly, there needs to be a change in this industry but we can at least do what we can in ensuring the products we use everyday are not harming our health. I encourage you to not blindly trust marketing that says “clean” on products and look them up yourself. You would be shocked at some of the products/brands that say/are known for being clean but that are actually in fact not — looking at your Goop!
Thanks for being here and as always, stay well my friends!
xx Melody
