Skin Deep Beauty

There’s an old quote that says “Beauty is only skin deep”. It basically means that no matter how much makeup you put on to up your appearance, it’s only surface level. This quote is to encourage you that beauty comes from within.. your kindness, generosity, empathy, etc.

I agree that beauty can be conceived as superficial and you have to be a good person too. But the problem is, in the cosmetic industry, beauty is skin deep. Everything you put on your body, your skin absorbs. Your skin is your largest organ. Think about your skin supporting years and years of makeup, lotions, perfumes. Are you being kind to your skin?

Our skin absorbs about 64% of the chemicals it comes in contact with. Your face absorbs 5-10 times more than your body! Women may absorb 5 pounds of cosmetic chemicals per year. That is shocking and scary. We are taught from such a young age that ladies wear makeup, perfume, use hairspray, scented lotions.. all the things. It is ingrained in us from such a young age that we don’t even question it.

Y’all, we need to question it.

Over the past few years I have made a serious effort to reduce all the toxins I expose myself to. I’m not gonna lie, cosmetics were the hardest switch. I just straight up abandoned hairspray because where do you even begin with that? I experimented with different “natural” makeup brands but it took me so long to find CLEAN makeup that actually performs like traditional makeup. I will say, I am proud of some of these new makeup companies taking the clean beauty industry by storm. Even your long time pros are starting to introduce cleaner options.

The problem is, the beauty industry is largely unregulated.

Tips and Tricks to help you pick better products

Natural doesn’t always mean better - this term is not regulated by the FDA
Fragrance - this sneaky little shit can hide in items labeled “unscented”. The really scary thing is, fragrance can be made up of whatever to get that scent and the company doesn’t have to list the potentially harmful ingredients because it is “proprietary to their formula”
Marketing can be misleading. If you really want to know if a product is safe, you’re gonna have to read every ingredient.

The EWG Skin Deep website is largely helpful. The website gives ratings to products / ingredients so you know how safe they are. Not everything is listed, but it can help you during your learning curve. Check it out here.

I have another post linking my favorite clean beauty products and you can always check out my favorites for more! As I try different clean products, I will always be honest with my review so be sure you are following along. I would also love to hear what products you love. Remember that when you are on this journey, it can seem so overwhelming and discouraging but I promise, it is worth it to take care of our bodies.