Don't trust the lingo...'clean, natural, green, non-toxic' - it can all mean nothing; it's really hard to know who to trust since there's no regulation on using these words.

• Yup we know the irony - we're telling you not to trust anyone but we use those words all the time. :) To clarify... many companies & brands say they are 'natural' but their ingredients don't reflect it all - they fill their products with cheap fillers in a pretty bottle and use all kinds of lingo to prey on women's insecurities; these brands know that many customers don't know any better and will buy their products without due diligence to see if they can back up their claims about being natural. Only trust brands who use this lingo and back it up with honest explanations and education.
• There are many companies who 'greenwash' by touting a natural ingredient they've used, but fill the rest of the bottle with cheap harsh ingredients that will negate any benefits the one natural ingredient may have provided.
• Unfortunately it's not as easy as deciding to only use certified organic brands in the hopes they are all great... we could write a book on this topic, but for now we'll summarize by saying that there are many different levels of certifying bodies (some are amazing and some are a joke), so unless you're familiar with them, this classification has limited value.
• Tip - any company that does not list FULL ingredients on their website is not transparent and 99.9% of the time not using 'clean' ingredients. This doesn't mean that all those who do list full ingredients are clean (definitely not always the case) but we've never seen a company who has truly natural ingredients hide their ingredient lists.

Unless you are really interested, most people do not have the time or interest in learning all the 'bad' ingredients. There are so many ingredients that it can be overwhelming (and certainly too much for us to get into in this guide); to top it off, it's not even always as easy as just knowing the ingredients to avoid.

• Be cautious about using some of the popular educational sites/apps; although well-intended, their info still often lacks the full story on any given ingredient (for instance - ratings often list 'fragrance' as a toxic ingredient but neglect to include that strong labelling laws in Europe (that many conscientious North American brands adhere to as well) do not differentiate between synthetic fragrance or essential oils; nor do these types of site show if an ingredient has been processed naturally or synthetically (some ingredients are good or bad depending on the extraction process)....you get the point; there's a lot to it all.
• Sometimes it's not about the ingredients - for example many brands use nano-particle technology (banned in some countries), but since it's a 'process' and not an 'ingredient', you'll never see it mentioned on an ingredient list. Ingredients aren't everything in skincare - processes affect ingredient quality a lot.
• Below is an example of how most people can identity the 'cleanest' brand without even knowing what the bad ingredients are. All three of these high-end vitamin c serums cost around the same - the first is from a mainstream brand everyone knows, the second is from a very popular brand that claims to be natural, and the third is from one of our brands. Aside from seeing that the first two are mostly water, it's pretty clear to most people which one you'd rather use on your skin and which has ingredients that are actually beneficial to your skin (even if you know nothing about what the ingredients actually are).

Make sure you know what you actually want!

• Clean - products that have ingredients that are very gentle on your skin and tend to come from nature.
• Efficacious - products that are successful in producing a desired result (i.e. reduce congestion, eliminate dullness, increase collagen, etc).

Some people have no skin issues to solve so may only be looking for clean/natural products, while others may also need efficacious products to solve a particular skincare concern. Before buying, ask yourself if you're looking for clean and natural skincare only, or are you also looking for a product to help a particular skincare issue?

Note - 'Clean' and 'Natural' are actually different, but the terms are used synonymously - natural ingredients are from nature while clean ingredients are those that are either from nature or from a lab, but are not harsh or toxic. Years ago any ingredients that were made in a lab were 'undesirable' - and while that's often still the case, some brands are creating synthetic ingredients that are not made from nature but are still very beneficial to the skin. It's a personal preference what your comfort level is - do you only want to use ingredients that come from nature or are you okay using ingredients as long as they're clean? Do you need ingredients/products that help solve a particular skincare issue? Your trusted source for products should be able to help you find the right skincare choices once you're clear on what you want.