In clean and natural cosmetics, there are a few classes of ingredients we tend to flag. Environmental toxins are those that cause harm to the planet, such as cyclic silicones, which have been shown to bioaccumulate in our water supply1 when they swirl down the drain. There are drying agents, like sulfates and some types of alcohols, that disrupt your skin barrier, damage the microbiome, and cause microscopic inflammation. Allergens and irritants can cause skin sensitivity over time, perhaps even leading to inflammatory skin conditions when you’re older. Then there are carcinogens, which despite having links to diseases and cancer, still show up in many traditional beauty products (albeit less so now).
