the most-Googled beauty brand of 2018.
The company has been pushing for the
proposed Personal Care Products Safety
Act in the U.S. and is also advocating for
reforms to the Canadian Environmental
Protection Act, which governs ingredi-
ents used in personal care products.
CLEAN GOES MAINSTREAM
Last year, Sephora launched Clean at
Sephora after noticing that consumers
have become increasingly concerned
about what’s in the products they buy. To
date, the Clean seal has been granted to
2,000 products made without ingredi-
ents that consumers say they want to
avoid, including parabens, formalde-
hydes, phthalates and certain sulfates.
One brand at the forefront of pop-ularizing the clean-beauty movement
is the aforementioned Beautycounter.
Everything it makes, from skincare to
makeup, is free of more than 1,500 “ques-
tionable or harmful” ingredients. The
majority of these blacklisted chemicals
are banned or restricted in personal care
products by the E.U., plus a hundred or
so ingredients that Beautycounter has
scrutinized in-house and deemed unde-
sirable. “We screen hundreds of new
ingredients each year, and only a few of
them make the cut,” says Lindsay Dahl,
the company’s vice-president of social
mission. “The rest are added to The
Never List.”
Beautycounter’s Never List is sweep-ing, including everything from formalde-
hyde (a known carcinogen) to retinol (an
ingredient that’s widely recommended by
Weleda Skin Food
Light Nourishing
Cream is a lightened-up
version of the original
Skin Food that’s
beloved by celebs
(Victoria Beckham is
a fan). $24, well.ca.Biossance Squalane
+ Vitamin C Rose Oil
is from a new
sustainable clean-
beauty brand that
uses only ingredients
it deems safe for
you and the earth.
$90, sephora.ca.Veriphy Skincare
Power Trip Facial Serum
features a plant-based
glycogen—the company’s
signature ingredient—that
was discovered at the
University of Guelph. $105,
veriphyskincare.com.Safer, more sustainable skincare
Volition Beauty Turmeric
Brightening Polish is
powered by turmeric to give
skin a glow. The company’s
clean-beauty motto is
“safe science,” so there are
thousands of ingredients
it won’t formulate with.
$48, sephora.ca.
Caudalie Premier
Cru Rich Cream has
the Clean at Sephora
seal of approval, and
the luxe French brand
never uses parabens,
phthalates or SLS.
$169, sephora.ca.Makeup (minus the sketchy stuff )
Nude by Nature
Contour Palette is
made with minerals
and Aussie-sourced
natural extracts, such
as kakadu plum. $32,
nudebynature.ca.dermatologists for smoothing wrinkles
and widely considered safe, though not
for use if you’re pregnant or trying to con-
ceive). This speaks to the real debate over
clean beauty: No one wants dirty prod-
ucts, but who’s deciding what’s bad or
toxic, and how? Like the term “natural,”
“clean” isn’t regulated either, and what it
means is just as subjective.WHAT’S ON THE “DIRTY” LIST?
Many beauty products, whether marketed
as “clean” or not, now advertise that they’re
free of certain ingredients. What are these,
exactly, and should you actually worry?
Here are the most commonly avoided ones,
decoded by concern.Parabens
Parabens are synthetic compounds used
as preservatives (these ingredients end in“-paraben” on labels). They’re controver-
sial because they are suspected endocrine
disruptors, capable of messing with your
hormones, but this remains a matter of
scientifi c debate. Nevertheless, according
to the research company Nielsen, beauty
shoppers are more focused on avoiding
parabens than just about any other ingre-
dient, so companies are increasingly nix-
ing them to ease concerns: Kiehl’s, for
instance, spent fi ve years retooling its
Ultra Facial Cream to make a paraben-
free version.Sulfates
Sulfates are cleansing agents most often
found in face washes, shampoos and other
foamy products. Sodium lauryl sulfate
(SLS) is one of the most common. High
levels of SLS are potentially irritating to
the skin and eyes, but Health Canada, theBurt’s Bees All Aglow
Lip & Cheek Stick,
new from the natural-
before-it-was-cool
brand, gives lips and
cheeks a pretty kiss
of colour. $21, beauty.
shoppersdrugmart.ca.Clove + Hallow
Lip Crème
proves cleaner
cosmetics can
come in bold
colours, too. $25,
thetruthbeauty
company.com.Sappho New
Paradigm CC
Cream was created
by a Canadian
makeup artist who
noticed sketchy
ingredients in other
cosmetics. $38,
thedetoxmarket.ca.APRIL/MAY 1019 • CHATELAINE 29
style BETTER BEAUTY