Our quick perspective on "clean beauty"... We would say that the "clean" beauty movement has your best interest in mind, but we don't think it does. Behind the movement are a handful of advertising-filled blogs and skincare brands that are making millions from the movement every year.
The idea of a "clean" beauty product is based on a misunderstanding of basic science and biology. The concept suggests that certain ingredients or molecules are "toxic" or otherwise harmful by nature and thus should not be included in skincare products. Interestingly, both the clean beauty movement and the scientific community agree that an ingredient is "toxic" if it harms a human cell when it comes into contact with it. By this "definition" however, Vitamin C, water and many other natural nutrients should also be defined as "toxic." Like almost every demonized ingredient in the clean beauty movement, water and Vitamin C, when applied in the wrong doses are harmful to human cells. In fact, every year people die of water and Vitamin C "toxicity" by exposing their bodies to too much of either. As we say in the science world, "the dose makes the poison." This is the case for the vast majority of ingredients that are condemned by the "clean beauty" industry: they are harmful only if there is too much of them resulting in their becoming harmful to cells in your body. There are certain exceptions, of course like lead, arsenic, mercury, etc. which are harmful even in extremely small doses. However, these elements are very well known and mostly banned (even in the unregulated skincare industry).
We love the impulse to do research and to know what's ACTUALLY in your products! But we encourage you to do that research with your doctor or at least an online dermatologist like Dr. Dray or Doctorly, two of our favorites. But yes, our products do not contain harmful amounts or types of any ingredient and certainly not super toxic chemicals like lead or mercury. Our ingredients are also vegan/plant based. Our key ingredients are in their naturally-occurring/bioavailable forms, unlike many of the synthetic molecules included in top "clean" beauty products. (Side note: technically the ingredients that are condemned by the clean beauty industry are "toxicants." "Toxins" are, by definition, compounds that are created by living organisms, e.g., botulism toxin or "botox" or the toxin that causes tetanus.)