We've been having a love affair with natural ingredients for...well, since the beginning of time. But is it important that products are completely natural all the time?
Just because something is labeled as "natural" doesn't mean it's good. After all, the bubonic plague was natural. The word "natural" has no legal definition, so there's no way to impose standards on products that claim to be natural.
The truth is that much of the "clean beauty" movement relies on marketing to sell a wholesome image of itself that appeals to buyers. After all, we all don't want to spread poison on our skin. But that sometimes lead to them demonizing ingredients that aren't harmful at all; they just sound scary.
For instance, propylene glycol. Propylene glycol is a penetration enhancer and a humectant. It's a very, very common skincare and makeup ingredient. The same thing goes for petrolatum, which has inexplicably gotten a bad rap lately. It's another humectant and it strengthens the skin barrier, but it sounds scary because it contains the word "petrol."
And then there's been a movement against preservatives. That's a wild one because preservatives are important, and even the scary-sounding ones (like formaldehyde) have been proven time and time again to be safe. In fact, some of the entirely "natural" products that don't use any preservatives degrade so quickly that they allow molds and bacteria to grow.
So how can you know what's safe to put on your skin? First, look up the ingredient. That scary-sounding petrolatum? It's just Vaseline. Often, just finding out the common term for an ingredient will tell you exactly what it is.
Secondly, look for studies on the ingredient itself. It's not enough to rely on apps that rank products on how "good" they are for you because most go by a set of arbitrary standards. Pull up peer-reviewed tests to get the truth.
We undergo rigorous testing to make sure all our products are safe for you and your skin. We even go the extra mile to ensure they won't cause irritation or sensitivities. And we use natural ingredients with the highest-quality preservative standards to make sure they're just as fresh and potent as possible.
