There has never been a more body-conscious generation of women than the women who walk this earth today. The days of women being ashamed of their bodies, skincare, and well-being are long gone. This has paved the way for a generation of women who yearn for physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being.
Well-being starts at the skin, which we all know is the largest organ—sorry kidney. The skincare industry has developed faster in the last thirty years than it did in the past two centuries. Our shelves now have tons of beauty products with thousands of ingredients both from natural and unnatural sources.
As you predicted, this industrial production of beauty products has seen toxins sip into the supply chains, ending up in our homes and eventually in our bodies.
What Clean Beauty Is all about
Many women begin their skincare journeys in their teens. Back then, there isn't much demand for extensive skincare. For me, a few facials and lip gloss would have been enough to have my skin glowing. But as we come unto age as women, we start demanding more of our skincare products. We develop extensive skincare routines, and at some point, the ingredients and chemicals in our products start becoming uncomfortable.
If you have arrived at this point like I once did, welcome to clean beauty.
Clean beauty is developing a skincare routine that uses products that don't have any toxins as its ingredients. Developing a skincare routine means that some ingredients and products will be leaving your shelf as you welcome other products into your skincare life.
Here is everything you need to know about incorporating the clean beauty routine:
1. Ingredients to Get off Your Shelf
The art of knowing the right ingredients and products is at the heart of developing a clean beauty routine for your skin.
From now onwards, flashy names and endorsements from your favorite celebrities and Ellen will not be enough to get a product on your shelf. The fact that your friend Anna has been singing about that product will still not be enough to cut it. Your makeup shelf has now moved from being a community shelf to an "ivy league shelf." Repeat after me "ivy league makeup shelf."
The ingredients that make up our product now matter. And those ingredients that contain toxins like the ones below get thrown out of our makeup routine ASAP.
- Fragrance
Fragrance/perfume is not as beautiful as it sounds. It contains a wide variety of chemicals and toxins added to skincare products to give them scent. Apart from the smell, fragrance comes with a hefty discount of reproductive issues and allergies. For these noble reasons, products with fragrance shall no longer partake in your beauty routine.
- Toluene
Toluene comes labeled with other high school chemistry names like benzene and phenylmethane. Like high school chemistry, it isn't good for your health. It has been proven to cause fetal damage, nausea, and skin irritation. In clean beauty, though shall not touch products with this ingredient even with a ten-foot pole.
- BHA
BHA is a preservative found in many makeup products. You must have come across this ingredient either knowingly or unknowingly in your skincare journey. BHA is good at preserving the product but terrible in safeguarding your skin. They contain potential carcinogens. All products with BHA on your shelf now have to go.
- Propylene glycol
This is another high school chemistry like name. Its bad news and is a well-known skin irritant. You should consider a restraining order to keep products with propylene glycol away.
2. Consider Less Harmful Ingredients
Luckily, for each toxic synthetic ingredient out there, there are hundreds of organic ingredients that you can replace them with.
Simple and available products such as coconut oil and flour have been tried and tested for decades and proven efficient.
3. You are Your Own Lab
In transitioning to a clean beauty routine, listen to your body, and read your skin. This is the only way you can evaluate your progress. Assess your routine every ten days, if no visible changes are seen make minor adjustments to your products.
4. Find a Clean Beauty Society
You are not alone in your pursuit of a clean beauty routine. Find likeminded people sharing their stories on social media and YouTube. Learn from the mistakes they made and borrow necessary techniques and products from those in your community.
Always remember that alone you can go fast, but together we can go far.
5. Thoroughly Research the Products You Use
As you search for new toxin-free products, beware of baits. Just because a product has a picture of a sunset, flowers, and a big nature emblem doesn't make the product natural. This product may have high levels of [insert high school chemistry name], which is dangerous for your skincare and well-being.
There is a lot of information on skin care products on blogs and magazines and the internet at large.
6. Start Slow
Ease into your clean skincare routine, taking one step at a time. Don't rush into integrating new products into your skincare routine. Similarly, don't alienate all the products you have been using all at once. Listen to your body and move at the pace, which it is most comfortable. Starting slow is the key to a routine you will never quit.
7. Tone Down On the Expectations
A clean beauty skincare routine gets a lot of praise in well-being circles. It isn't uncommon to hear stories of how one felt like a newborn or how one felt one with oneself, whatever that means. This gives many women high expectations that may end up leading to disappointments.
Be patient with the results and tone down on your expectations. Consider this routine as a new part of your life, and don't pay too much attention.
8. Be Willing To Spend Some More
The more money you spend on your skincare products, the lesser the number of toxins in your skincare products. Committing to a clean beauty routine means that you will be willing to spend a little more on your well-being. Consider it delayed gratification as, in the long run, the benefits outweigh the costs.
Who We Are
Bio republic is a family of experts that has dedicated the past decades in developing skincare and well-being products and advice for this generation of empowered women. For more information on our services, contact us today and let us be part of your story.
