HEALTH

CLEAN, GREEN, AND HEALTHY BEAUTY

Am I the only one that has lived under the misconception that clean, green and healthy skin products don’t exist?

My eyes were opened a few years ago as I started to research on this new beauty trend also known as “Clean Beauty”. I have always had a passion for skin care, and I have always had an interest for trying on new products on my skin. Yet I never fully understood what I was putting on my skin…

SO.. what is clean beauty anyway?

As defined by the Clean Beauty Gods (aka GOOP) “Clean, for us, is quite intense: It means 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”.

So, basically any product in which you don’t really understand the ingredient list, any product that tests on animals, any product that causes damage to our environment, and any product that can cause you harm! YES! Harm.

Yes, I know what you are thinking! This is America! We must have the FDA regulating everything!

Well yes, the FDA regulates Cosmetic companies, with a law that was passed in 1938!!! ,1938!! 1938!

Ok ,I’m done. Don’t you find this odd, and scary? This old fashioned act does not require the FDA to pull from the market potentially dangerous chemicals, or ingredients used in products until after they hit the market!

So how is the cosmetic industry regulated then? Well, they SELF- REGULATE! Meaning they use ingredients that can be harmful to your health and, the FDA does not have approve or disapprove of any product until after they hit the market. They give that responsibility to the cosmetic companies creating the products. Instead of blaming the government, companies such as EWG and Credo Beauty took action into their own hands and started to shine light on harmful ingredients!

I know our government is too busy with immigration laws and other types of types of laws at this moment, but just think about the millions of girls trying on make up for the first time, what if it’s your daughter? Your sister? Would you want her to be exposed to a toxic chemical? Exactly.

I also want to make clear, I am not here to blame anyone, not even our government, this is why I have decided to be proactive! I will post a more in-depth article about FDA regulations, vegan, animal cruelty free, and other certifications about products so we can have more understanding of what clean beauty consist of!

In 2020 there are more regulations on pesticides than on cosmetics alone.

Clean beauty is , clean of everything, meaning:

.100% transparent ingredient list! (Not all products list their full list of in- gredients!)

.Organic / Raw/ green materials that are sourced responsibly.

.No testing on animals!!

.Sustainable/ Recyclable packaging (if possible, this is hard to find on a pro duct, but it definitely is a plus for me!)

.Minimal Environmental Foot-printing.

Another aspect I want us to focus on is “Greenwashing”. This is happening now more than ever, companies print their labels with the words “Raw Ingredients”, “Natural Ingredients”, “Green”, “Eco”, which in reality might not even mean that they are clean products.

WHY? Simple, you see, companies can put whatever they want on their label, so let’s say out of the whole ingredient list there is about 2 ingredients that are “Natural” (meaning they come from the earth, but may contain antibiotics or pesticides!) so because they have 2 ingredients that are natural, they can brand their product to say,” Made with Natural Ingredients! We will keep this in mind the next time we are at the cosmetic isle and see tricky words like these! Which brings us to the actual product certifications, companies are audited, tested, and pay a fee to put a certification symbol on their product’s label! These are the ones you want to look for in a label!

I explain in detail several certifications in my others posts!

I will also like to point out that synthetic cosmetics are NOT bad! And while I prefer natural ingredients, sometimes natural doesn’t mean is best, we still need synthetic ingredients such as preservatives so the consistency of the formula stays fresh for longer. This is why we need to be careful when reading the ingredient lists and labels!

In reality, there is no such thing as a chemical-free product. All products contain chemicals even if they are clean beauty products, but we do want to stay away from toxic chemicals! Even water is a chemical!

Clean refers to products that use natural ingredients and often incorporate synthetics that have been certified safe for people and the planet.

In this blog we will navigate through the world of clean beauty together, we will discover which products work and those who don’t! Ingredients we need and ingredients we have to stay away from!

Let me know which Clean Beauty products have worked for you and which ones haven’t, I would love to hear from you!

Love, Alexia Reyes

@BORDERHERITAGE

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