Everything you need to know to understand a non toxic beauty label

May 10

So you want to have safer, less toxic beauty and cosmetic products, but how do you do it? How do you know if your products are non-toxic? Here are a few things to look for on your beauty and cosmetic labels.

#1 - Navigate Greenwashing! Greenwashing is a marketing tactic used to persuade consumers that products are more environmentally safe and less toxic than they really are. Labels are NOT regulated. This means a company can print anything on their label and it doesn’t have to be true, or it barely has to be true. For instance, green sea kelp collagen face scrub can have less than .01% sea kelp and collagen in it actually but they use those flashy terms to grab your attention. Take inventory of what you have in your cabinet. Notice any terms, images, labels, colors etc on the front of the packaging that might be there to make you think it is a healthier product. Before you even worry about decoding the marketing, it can be so helpful to just start training yourself to notice it as you look in your cabinet or browse the shelves.

#2 - Identify Fragrance. Fragrance in an ingredient label is very important to avoid. Most ingredients are required to be listed on the ingredient list, however “The Fragrance Loophole” allows companies to use the term “fragrance” to lump in thousands of unnamed or unknown chemicals without listing them on an ingredient label. Most of these have not been tested for health at all. So basically, fragrance is a concoction in and of itself. We want to avoid these concoctions because we do not know what's in them and brands should be held to a higher standard of transparency. Additionally, artificial fragrance requires phthalates to carry the scent…so you have a cocktail of unknown, untested chemical ingredients AND phthalates which we know cause harm to the human body. On an ingredient label, fragrance can be seen as “fragrance”, “parfum”, “eau de parfum”, “natural fragrances”, “essential oils” (if they aren’t specifically listed), etc.

#3 - Identify Parabens- Parabens are great to learn to recognize because they are fairly easy to recognize if you know what to look for. Parabens can contain endocrine disruptors, which can replace hormones in the body and really throw off the delicate hormone balance in the body, having both short-term and long-term effects on health and have been linked to breast cancer. On an ingredient label you can find them with “-paraben” as the end of a long word like methylparaben, butylparaben, polyparaben, and more.

#4 - Expiration Date - The expiration date is actually listed on the product in the image of a little jar with a number inside of it like “12M” for 12 months. This is very important, especially if you are using very natural and under processed products since they might not last as long and you certainly don’t want to be smearing mold and bacteria on your face in your night cream! The expiration date can also speak to the efficacy of the product…even if it's well preserved it might not work much after the expiration date, so it's worth paying attention to so you get the most bang for your buck!

#5 - Third-Party Certifications - I mentioned in the first point that there are not many regulations for cosmetic products, however there are some third-party certifications that are regulated by the third-party to ensure brands are doing at least part of what they say they are doing. It’s important to remember that the best certifications are usually quite difficult for brands to earn- so if they have some badges know they work hard for that! Also know that having one badge doesn’t mean they are non-toxic, animal friendly, eco friendly, etc. It usually represents ONE facet.

Here are a few you might see when searching for safer cosmetics:

USDA Certified Organic- products must be made of 95% organic ingredients, meaning they are grown free of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, dyes, and other synthetic additives, and are not genetically modified.
ECOCert: products are sustainable and safer
Cosmos: a natural and organic certification using sustainable practices (a lot of things that are natural actually hurt the earth)
MadeSafe: non-toxic verification
EWG Verified: a strict standard for safety
Certified B Corp: committed to best practices economically as well as socially and environmentally
Leaping Bunny: product has not been tested on animals

Hope this helps you find safer cosmetics without being fooled by sneaky marketing!