What to Expect When Switching to Clean Beauty

Hi Y’all! I have had a lot of people asking me about clean beauty recommendations (and I LOVE to give them!) but I also feel like people need to know what to expect when switching from conventional beauty to clean beauty. This industry space has come so incredibly far in the 5-ish years I’ve been shopping in it, but I still think these little nuggets can be really helpful if you are just beginning to tip toe in the cleaner waters.

First off, I want you to understand that preservatives/chemicals/toxic ingredients are put into conventional products for several reasons:

1.     They want to either stop your body’s natural processes (because they are inconvenient or pose a problem to you) or they want to secretly exacerbate the issue you are trying to fix so you keep buying their product in the hopes that things will get better.

2.     They want things to last on the shelves as long as possible so they can keep making and selling products without worrying about expiration dates and issues due to production and shipping conditions.

3.     Companies want things to be made as cheaply as possible, the cheaper they can make them the more money they can make.

Keep all this in mind as I explain what you can expect!

Let us start with natural body issues. Sweating, oily skin, dry skin, dry lips, oily hair, dry hair, unbalanced skin, the list can go on and on with all the little things we try to fix. A more well-known example of this is armpit sweat (gross, I know, but also, we are human so it’s FINE and normal). Conventional deodorant typically contains aluminum and other substances that literally block your pores so that the sweat does not come through. It does not make your body produce less sweat; it just unnaturally stops that sweat from showing). Natural/ non-toxic deodorant does not do that. It uses natural substances like baking soda to aid in sweat absorption and essential oils to help with odor but obviously the end result will be different. I think when people start switching over, they expect it to be a 1:1 switch, and that is not always the case. The substances that you are trying to get away from (rightly so), hide an issue but don’t treat it and once you remove them, you have to deal with that issue. You might have to address the true reason you have oily hair or dry skin instead of just covering it up (but isn’t it better to fix the actual problem anyway?). Now, clean beauty has come a long, long way in how well the products work but manage your expectations depending on what the products is and be prepared for some trial and error. I will do my best with this blog to make that process shorter and easier for you than it was for me!

My tangent to the point above is this: Clean beauty truly relies on the ingredients in the formula. Because there is not a standard chemical base that is the same across all “variations” of a brand, the products truly reflect the components in them. This is great because you can find things that really truly work for your specific needs and your specific body, but it also means that one brand can have some products that are great for you and others that don’t work at all. One version of a brand’s shampoo may be terrible for your hair and dry it out, but another formula from that same brand could be the PERFECT solution to all your hair woes. Again, this takes patience, trial and error, and grace for you and the products as you starting making changes. Don’t get me wrong, no matter what, some brands are not so great, and not a single thing they make will work for you, but don’t discount an entire brand because one product wasn’t “the one”. I love learning about the ingredients that work for me and discovering products that contain them. For example, I love rose/calendula/chamomile extracts in my skin products. They smell amazing, reduce my redness and help calm and smooth my skin. In clean beauty they are so much more than just scents, they are substances that have been included for a specific purpose and goal.

Shelf life. This is a small thing, but also surprised me when I first started switching over. I had a face mask I loved, that was one of those ready-to-use ones with moisture already in it, but I used it slowly and had kept it for maybe a year(?), went to use it one day, and it was all moldy. Turns out preservatives do actually help preserve (who knew?!) products and extend their shelf life, but they can also be very dangerous for your body and I avoid them when possible. You will have to actually use your products, pay attention to expiration dates (because ingredients will start breaking down), be aware of the storage (moisture, heat, sunlight) of some products and find work-arounds. It’s not as hard as it sounds, just don’t leave like, a hair oil in a clear bottle out on a window sill all day. Keep it in your bathroom cabinet and don’t over-complicate it. Here is my example, I use face masks periodically, and I like having a few on hand at one time to choose from. To prevent said event from happening again, I buy dry powder masks that you pour into your palm and add water to as needed because without moisture, they last astronomically longer before going bad- no more mold and problem solved!

Lastly: cost. This is a big one for people and, on this blog, I will do my absolute best to recommend products from ALL price ranges (there really are great products at all prices) so that everyone feels like they have attainable options. I started using clean beauty when I was paying my own way through my second degree and had ZERO extra money. I had to find a way to make it work, and I get the struggle. Luckily, I have more financial flexibility now, but I still try to be as economical as possible. I also have a bit of a soap box to stand on when it comes to this. Clean beauty (and actually, clean food too) will typically be, at least a little, more expensive than conventional beauty. I get that that is a turn-off/ deterrent for some but hear me out. I am not a millionaire, I am not getting free things sent to me, I very much have a budget (as much as my husband might not believe that I know it) and I have to make choices. I prioritize my health because I have to, I have lived the consequences of not choosing my health and decided that it is the most important thing to me. I actively choose to spend more money on cleaner food and products for me and my home because the health of my body and my family long-term is worth the investment. It also means I don’t get coffee out every day, I don’t buy lunch at work every day, I don’t routinely get my nails professionally done, we cook at home more than we eat out. More than likely, you have the money, you just have to choose your priorities.

All that being said, I KNOW plenty of people are already making hard choices and struggling with money so here is my advice. Please remember that this is not, and will never be, all or nothing. Any small change, no matter how small, makes a big impact your life and health. If you truly cannot afford to (or don’t want to) buy all clean/natural beauty (and I do understand I promise!) pick one thing. For example, the things on your skin get absorbed into your bloodstream no matter what you do. The longer it stays on your skin, the higher chance and percentage of absorption there is. If you can only pick one thing, pick something that you put on your skin every day, and that stays on your skin for a long time (a serum, a moisturizer, a foundation, a sunscreen, a body lotion). That ONE change, if you change nothing else about the other products you use, will make a such a big impact on health of your body. That one change is a HUGE accomplishment and a giant step in the right direction.

I hope you feel ready to go tackle cleaner beauty and all the quirks that come along with that space! I have loved getting to learn, and be a part of this whole world I didn’t even know existed. It is constantly growing and expanding and improving, and I hope you get as excited and passionate about clean beauty as I am!