Myth Busters Part 1: Flipping The Script On Big Beauty
How do you define clean, natural beauty products?
Are you trying to make the change to clean, green beauty but wonder about the efficacy of natural products because they look and feel different than major beauty brands? You see, Big Beauty has conditioned us to believe many things about what our personal care products should look and feel like. But, you don’t have to let them define that for you!
I’ll show you how you can open your mind to clean products and break through some of the barriers that hold you back from embracing them. If you are looking to make the change to natural products, here are some reasons to change your thinking around society’s conventions.
High Foam
Does soap with low lather seem strange to you? The effectiveness of our cleansers is often associated with the amount of lather they generate. Did you know that conventional, commercial products have added lather boosters, like cocamide DEA? These unnecessary chemicals have convinced us to think that lots of lather equals cleaning power. This is a misconception. The cleaning power of soap is NOT dependent on artificially created bubbles. Foaming agents, otherwise known as lather boosters, serve no purpose other than to artificially increase foam. Why rub toxins onto our bodies unnecessarily?
P.S. you’ll learn more about where the cleaning power of soap REALLY comes from in part 2 of this series.
High Viscosity
How do you feel about a liquid cleanser that is almost as thin as water? Does that cause you to question the power of the product? Big Beauty has trained us to think that a thick, substantial emulsion equals efficacy. In truth, viscousness doesn’t improve the performance of the product one bit. Therefore, added thickeners do not contribute to an effective product.
Perfume-y 
Over the years people have been conditioned to believe that clean has a smell. Slowly, we’ve been trained that clean should smell like over-the-top synthetic fragrances. To be effective, products don’t need to contain fragrance at all. In fact, fragrance can have upwards of 3,000 different constituents. Some of the chemicals used in fragrance can cause skin irritation, birth defects and liver damage.
Luster
Sheen, gloss, glitter, shimmer, whatever you want to call it. Additives like mica, glitter, and dyes, can be fun and can add to the perceived luxury of a product but in reality they add nothing to the potency or strength of the product. Nada.
Antibacterial
Triclosan and Triclocarban. On September 2, 2016 the FDA published a consumer update on the use of these substances. Read our blog post about the update here. In short, the FDA's recommendation: "Wash your hands with plain soap and water. That’s still one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and to prevent spreading germs."
If you’re going to make headway on your commitment to go with natural products you need to redefine your thoughts and expectations around what they are.
Each time you use natural soap remember the good you are doing to your body. Think about the clean water you are letting out of your bathtub or sink and out into the environment. A simple shift in expectations is needed to embrace clean and natural personal care products made with simple, plant-based ingredients.
Stay tuned for part 2 of this series and I’ll show you how your clean, natural products work without the added chemicals and unnecessary additives.
To your healthy skin,
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Liz K
September 08, 2019
Naomi, you’re right on the money here. Big Beauty has become a beast, with very bad consequences for people and the Earth. People! Make a change! If you haven’t done so yet, try just one of Naomi’s products. You’ll never go back, and your skin and the Earth will be better for it.