Only The Good Stuff

More than just another passing fad, clean beauty is here to stay.

- Annabel Tan

We’re calling it now – a revolution is coming. Of clean beauty, that is. No longer is it meant for tree huggers or something concocted in a fellow hippie’s backyard, while everyone else maintains a sceptical squint. Enter 2017: science is ever advancing, perceptions are changing more quickly, and consumers are more interested than ever in adopting cleaner practices. A 2015 report by Transparency Market Research found that the global demand for organic personal care products is on the rise: It was over US$7.6 billion in 2012, and is expected to reach US$13.2 billion by 2018.

What exactly is clean beauty? Experts offer varying definitions, but the key criteria is this: The products are free of harmful or potentially harmful chemicals. We may not observe immediate negative effects, but the skin is our largest organ and absorbs about 70% of substances applied to its surface. Another powerful statistic to keep in mind: According to a 2017 survey by beauty e-commerce site SkinStore, the average woman wears about 16 beauty products a day. If these are conventional chemical-laden products, the cumulative effect can lead to many health problems like hormone disruption, cancer and birth defects. Let that sink in.

Cleaning up