As the clean beauty movement is gaining momentum, it has become challenging to differentiate between science and marketing hype. I see numerous social media posts, blogs, and magazine articles about toxic skin care ingredients, while more patients are asking their dermatologists about clean beauty products. So, I decided it was time to dissect the issues and figure out what "clean" really means to me.
Dr Leslie Baumann
The problem is that no one agrees on a clean ingredient standard for beauty products. Many companies, like Target, Walgreens/Boots, Sephora, Neiman Marcus, Whole Foods, and Ulta, have their own varying clean standards. Even Allure magazine has a "Clean Best of Beauty" seal. California has Proposition 65, otherwise known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, which contains a list of banned chemicals "known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity." In January 2021, Hawai'i law prohibited the sale of oxybenzone and octinoxate in sunscreens in response to scientific studies showing that these ingredients "are toxic to corals and other marine life." The Environmental Working Group (EWG) rates the safety of ingredients based on carcinogenicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, allergenicity, and immunotoxicity. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (
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The Science of Clean Skin Care and the Clean Beauty Movement
Leslie S. Baumann, MD
April 29, 2022
As the clean beauty movement is gaining momentum, it has become challenging to differentiate between science and marketing hype. I see numerous social media posts, blogs, and magazine articles about toxic skin care ingredients, while more patients are asking their dermatologists about clean beauty products. So, I decided it was time to dissect the issues and figure out what "clean" really means to me.
Dr Leslie Baumann
The problem is that no one agrees on a clean ingredient standard for beauty products. Many companies, like Target, Walgreens/Boots, Sephora, Neiman Marcus, Whole Foods, and Ulta, have their own varying clean standards. Even Allure magazine has a "Clean Best of Beauty" seal. California has Proposition 65, otherwise known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, which contains a list of banned chemicals "known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity." In January 2021, Hawai'i law prohibited the sale of oxybenzone and octinoxate in sunscreens in response to scientific studies showing that these ingredients "are toxic to corals and other marine life." The Environmental Working Group (EWG) rates the safety of ingredients based on carcinogenicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, allergenicity, and immunotoxicity. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (
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Cite this: The Science of Clean Skin Care and the Clean Beauty Movement - Medscape - Apr 29, 2022.