Does it seem like skincare marketing terms get more confusing as time goes by?
Clean, vegan, natural, cruelty free, organic, paraben free, fragrance free… and the list goes on and on. Marketers use these terms to get your attention and entice you to buy.
But what do they actually mean?
We get these questions a lot, so we thought we would help you decode and debunk some common skincare marketing terms. In this post, we are tackling the CLEAN marketing trend. Let's explore the myths and the truths behind this important movement.
Ok, let’s talk CLEAN.
The concept of CLEAN BEAUTY was created to inform customers about the integrity of the formula that you put on your skin and to prevent potential danger from using it. Essentially, when a brand or retailer tells you that a product is CLEAN, they are informing you of what the product does or doesn’t contain that could cause you harm.
That’s the intention anyway.
But intention and regulation are two very different things.
MYTH: The FDA Regulates CLEAN Makeup and Skincare.
TRUTH: CLEAN is a concept made up by marketers and the government does not regulate which ingredients are “clean” and which ones are not "clean."
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates cosmetics for safety — but it does not define or certify the word “clean.” There is no official government checklist that a brand must meet in order to print CLEAN on a box.
So unfortunately, when a brand says a product is “clean,” there are actually no universal rules or laws around that — and each brand’s version of “clean” can be different from another. Essentially… buyer beware.
Retailers vs. Brands: The Clean Difference
With the lack of US government guidelines, retailers have jumped in to help define their own CLEAN standards in an effort to help consumers tell brands apart. But each retailer’s “dirty ingredient” list is different, which creates an overlapping web of CLEAN definitions on top of what brands are saying. 🤯
And to compound this, retailers try to one-up each other:
“We have the cleanest rules.”
“Noooooooo, WE have the cleanest rules.”
So their lists change every year. 😅
Some retailers ban over 1,000 ingredients. Others ban 2,000+. Some focus heavily on endocrine disruptors. Others emphasize environmental persistence. Others focus on allergens.
There is no universal standard — just different philosophies.
What About “Free-From” Marketing?
In the last year especially, we’ve seen an explosion of “free-from” claims:
- Paraben-free
- Phthalate-free
- Sulfate-free
- Silicone-free
- PEG-free
- Fragrance-free
- Microplastic-free
“Free-From” is another way to phrase a brand’s “CLEAN” credentials. This is mostly a trendy new way to say a product or brand is CLEAN and to amplify the message more. Those crafty marketers! Next year, the beauty industry will be expressing the same thing in a different way.
Part of the reason for this is that consumers do naturally get bored with the way that information is presented. So marketers are always coming up with new ways to restructure the message to get your attention.
MYTH: CLEAN Formulas Are Natural.
TRUTH: CLEAN indicates whether something will potentially harm you. It could be natural, naturally derived, or completely synthetic. This is one of the biggest points of confusion.
Natural does not automatically mean safe.
Synthetic does not automatically mean harmful.
Poison ivy is natural.
Arsenic is natural.
So is cyanide.
Meanwhile, many lab-created ingredients are purified, stable, and less irritating than their plant counterparts. It just depends on how that ingredient affects the body.
A lot of brands also claim to be natural — and they are NOT.
Some will say they are natural if they use “naturally derived” ingredients. Some may decide that 90% natural is good enough to claim natural. Some may highlight one botanical to distract you from the rest of the ingredient deck.
Spoiler alert: the US government does not adequately regulate the word NATURAL either.
Crazy, right?
So Who Can You Trust?
Here at SKIN AT WORK, we use the published CREDO list. Credo Beauty is a retailer that only sells products that meet their rigorous CLEAN standards, and they have a fleet of experts that help them create these guidelines. Even though we are not sold at Credo, we believe they have some of the highest and most clearly articulated standards available — and we formulate with this in mind.
If you are on any retailer’s website, you can look for the CLEAN seal next to their products. Just remember: that seal represents what that particular retailer deems as CLEAN — not a government certification.
Here at SKIN AT WORK, we will never ask you to put an ingredient on your skin that we wouldn’t put on our own, and we take the idea of keeping you as safe as possible very seriously.
