As self-care tools, beauty and wellness intertwine with one another, especially in today’s health-conscious landscape. Thus, it’s natural (no pun intended) they emphasise learning about formulation ingredients to ensure their favourite products don’t put their long-term health at risk. Enter clean beauty: products promising to safeguard it by excluding potentially harmful synthetic ingredients. But beyond its green-themed marketing and the bold claims about the dangers of certain ingredients, is there truth to their concerns, or are they fear mongering to drive sales? To demystify the murky world of clean beauty, Vogue Singapore speaks to National University Singapore chemistry lecturer of the “Decoding Health and Beauty Products” module, Dr Tabitha Lee, and Bud Cosmetics founder, Eric Chew.
What exactly is clean beauty?
The exact definition differs between brands and retailers, but at its core, clean beauty is about formulating products free from synthetic ingredients most likely to trigger allergies or exacerbate health problems, and replacing them with less problematic alternatives. Generally, the substances clean beauty targets are phthalates, sulphates and parabens, but many proponents also define it as formulations entirely made with ingredients of natural origin, while others extend their focus to sustainability and vegan products.
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When is clean beauty unsuitable for you?
Although some synthetic ingredients can be problematic to some, these concerns also apply to clean beauty. Simply because a product is clean doesn’t mean that it’s automatically healthier for everyone. For example, matcha’s antioxidants make it a popular skincare ingredient, but it’s also an irritant for certain types of skin. Retinol is of both natural and synthetic origin with powerful anti-wrinkle properties, and it can damage young skin and poses risks to the developing fetus during pregnancy. It’s also common for clean beauty to incorporate essential oils and fragrances, which are also common skin irritants. Does this warrant their exclusion from beauty products? No, because given the diversity of skin concerns, there will be other consumers who find them beneficial.
“The analogy I have is just because some people have a peanut allergy doesn’t mean you should ban peanut butter,” Dr Tabitha says.
This leads to the second point: the fear mongering present in clean beauty’s marketing. Most of the messaging about chemical groups don’t take into consideration the contexts where they’re legitimately harmful. Take the claim that all parabens are harmful, for example. Although it’s true some have endocrine disrupting properties that warrant bans from cosmetic use in most regions, such as the EU, others are under limits on their concentration or usage in certain products.
Dr Tabitha Lee explains, “The ingredient alone isn’t inherently poisonous. It’s how much of it is there that makes it harmful or not.” To give an example, she states, “If you talk about sulphates, they can be used up to ten percent, depending on the product. So to some people, ten percent is a lot.”
To sum it up, it isn’t fair to claim that synthetic ingredients are inherently harmful to everyone or that natural ingredients cannot trigger allergies without taking the diversity of skin types into consideration.
When is clean beauty helpful?
Conversely, in comparison with the food industry, regulation in the beauty industry lags behind, especially when cosmetic enthusiasts with sensitivities or certain health conditions enter the picture. This is where clean beauty can help: by filling in the void it leaves. For example, sulphates’ powerful cleaning properties make them popular ingredients, but according to Eric, “can exacerbate skin conditions such as eczema.” Formaldehyde is banned from cosmetics in some regions because of its carcinogenic properties, but it was and to a small extent, still in use as an additive, so products containing it are unsuitable for individuals at risk of developing cancer.
In an email interview, Eric explains, “There are a lot of clients we see who are dealing with sensitivity issues after chemotherapy, and most clean beauty products are able to relieve their symptoms without causing further irritation.”
By providing products free from problematic ingredients, clean beauty helps give choices that won’t jeopardise the health of vulnerable consumers or those with specific needs, such as consumers looking to conceive.
What can you do?
After considering everything, is clean beauty the healthiest option for everyone? In short, your mileage may vary. Given how the beauty industry doesn’t always take consumers with health concerns into consideration, clean beauty helps by providing alternatives to these individuals. However, it’s also misleading to jump to conclusions about ingredients or assume clean beauty is inherently an universal option. The variation of skin concerns means that a clean product can work effectively on one person and trigger allergies in another, so it’s important for the beauty industry to provide diverse choices for everyone to choose from.
Ironically, this environment creates fertile ground for these simplistic claims to proliferate.
“The lack of regulation in the clean beauty industry can further mislead consumers into believing these products are inherently safe,” claims Eric.
This begs the question: what can you do when shopping for your next product?
“A bit of this does fall on the user to do things such as patch tests before they use any product,” Dr Tabitha advises. She also says, “My advice is read the ingredients list if you already know what you’re allergic to, and if you don’t, that’s fine.”
When you see a product with the clean label, research the brand or retailer’s criteria. What ingredients do they exclude? What is their stance on allergens? By doing so, you can decide whether their approach suits your concerns. When in doubt, see your doctor or a dermatologist for advice on whether an ingredient will not exacerbate existing health conditions. Unsure on what allergies you may have? They can also help identify yours to help you know what to avoid.
Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to Dr Tabitha Lee as “National University Singapore professor and lecturer. This has been amended at the university’s request.
