When shopping for makeup products, you probably don’t want them to include harmful chemicals. You are putting these products directly onto your face, after all! The best way to ensure you aren’t putting something harsh on your skin without knowing is to shop exclusively for “clean” makeup and beauty products – meaning the products don’t include any chemicals or harmful ingredients. Luckily, more and more clean beauty brands and products are popping up on the market, so finding clean makeup isn’t as difficult as it once was. 

Clean up your makeup routine with these products

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Have you ever wondered if your fave skincare brands from the drugstore are free of harmful chemicals? Luckily, there are now popular brands that you can shop at the drugstore that are committed to making clean beauty products accessible. You’ll have one less worry knowing you’re treating your skin right with a more gentle routine because clean and affordable skincare is where it’s at!

Here are the best clean skincare brands to check out at The drugstore.

boscia 

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Since 2002, boscia uses ingredients rooted in nature—plant-to-bottle formulas that give you unreal results! Even if you struggle with sensitive skin, all boscia products are designed without irritating ingredients. The brand is revolutionizing beauty routines around the world. Not only are these products innovative, they actually work!

Filorga 

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Filorga is a French brand specialized in anti-aging products, through its patented MEDI-COSMETIQUE solutions. The brand’s focus is on developing a range of products with hyaluronic acid with the active ingredients used in injections to create cutting-edge cosmetics. All Filorga skincare is clinically tested and 100% paraben-free. 

HONEST

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HONEST was created by celeb, Jessica Alba, in the search to not have to sacrifice the items that work and what ingredients are actually good for you. The company produces clean, sustainable products that’ll make your skin glow all day long. So, if you spot this line at the drugstore, don’t hesitate to pick up a few products.

The INKEY List

The INKEY List was born from a belief that better knowledge powers better decisions. The world of beauty, and particularly skincare, can be confusing, so why can’t it be simplified? The brand offers high-quality products with straightforward ingredients that’ll satisfy your skin’s ever-changing needs.

VERSED

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VERSED is developed for you, with you, and with the planet in mind. It formulates to the highest standards in the world, European Union standards, avoiding over 1,300+ questionable ingredients. This practice ensures its products are safe for humans and the planet. Plus, Versed is committed to reducing waste, lightening its carbon footprint, and preserving Earth’s ecosystems.

RMS Beauty

RMS‘s mission is to offer healthy luxurious beauty with only the highest quality clean ingredients, meticulously sourced and tested for complete purity. Each product strikes the perfect balance of extremely clean formulas with professional, high-performance.

Cake Beauty

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Cake Beauty is definitely a clean skincare brand that you need to check out. Aside from the super cute packaging, the line is 100% vegan, cruelty-free, and has no parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and talc. Even better, this brand is made in Canada!

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Have you ever wondered if the products you’re using to treat and style your hair are free of harmful chemicals? With the help of Style Consciously by Chatters, you can choose clean products for all of your hair needs. You no longer have to worry about harsh ingredients and the negative impacts of the products you choose on the environment— just focus on creating beautiful hairstyles!

Here are the top clean hair care products to add to your beauty routine.

Shampoo/Conditioner

Hair Masks

Hair Oils/Serums

Hair Treatment

Styling

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If you or someone you love is a goop addict, then get ready to get really excited. It’s just been announced that Gwyneth Paltrow’s cult-fave brand goop will soon be available to shop at Sephora and on Sephora.com.

on February 28, the brand’s GOOPGLOW Beauty Collection will be launching at Sephora in stores and online and we can hardly wait.

“Sephora is a leader of global beauty innovation and always on the pulse of what their clients are searching for. With their clean initiative, they are building an exciting new category of business for the modern consumer who is looking for beauty that fits into their wellness-oriented lifestyle. goop is excited to expand our footprint in Sephora, as we have carved out a unique territory in the beauty space. We are offering clients a fully immersive experience that is clean, holistic, and results-driven,” said Erin Cotter, the general manager of beauty and wellness at goop.

While the GOOPGLOW will be the only goop collection available to shop right away, don’t worry because additional goop collections like goop Beauty, and G.Tox will become available in the near future.

We know that you can always purchase your beloved goop products at select retailers and goop.com, but it’ll be nice to shop them all in one place and score Sephora Beauty Rewards, too.

This new addition to the Sephora family proves that folks are coveting clean beauty more than ever.

“Gwyneth Paltrow and her team at goop have been innovators in the wellness and beauty space since they launched the goop platform. They were among the first to define ‘clean’ in beauty and take a strong stand for transparency and safety of the highest standards. With our Clean at Sephora initiative and the growing demand from our clients for clean products, we are thrilled to partner with goop to bring this incredible brand and products to Canadians,” said Jane Nugent, Senior VP Merchandising at Sephora Canada.

goop has been a leader in the clean beauty world and even though its price points are on the higher end, the results prove to be well worth the splurge.

A few of the GOOPGLOW products you can expect to shop at Sephora are The GOOPGLOW Powder Mix which gives you glowing skin from the inside-out, and The GOOPGLOW Microderm Instant Glow Exfoliator which is a great dual-action exfoliator.

In addition to all the excitement, goop will also be launching a new product that will be available exclusively at Sephora Canada.

The brands new 5% Glycolic Overnight Glow Peel Light is a gentle overnight acid peel that gives an effective yet mild level of glycolic acid that’ll help improve the look and feel of skin all while catching your zzz’s.

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It’s nothing new that our skin gets super dry during the winter. This includes our lips which happen to take the brunt of it. Dry, cracked lips are never cute, regardless of if you’re a girl or guy, and applying lip balm is the easiest way to combat it. That and of course making sure to drink enough water.

If you’re struggling with dry lips, I can’t recommend this Biossance Squalane+ Rose Vegan Lip Balm any more because it has literally saved my lips this winter.

As a beauty editor, I’m very diligent about my skincare routine and that definitely includes applying lip balm morning and night. However, I admit I had been slacking on applying lip balm during the day. I know, I know — no need to skin shame me. Even though I was applying a hydrating lip balm twice a day, I started to notice that my lips were still not as soft as I wanted them to be.

In December I brought a few different lip balms with me to the office to have on my desk, and I made a conscious effort to apply them throughout the day. While they all worked and felt nice on my lips, one stood out and no surprise here, it’s the Biossance Squalane+ Rose Vegan Lip Balm.

You’re probably wondering what makes this lip balm different from the millions out there and I can tell you in one word — squalane.

Squalane is the shelf-stable version of Squelene and it’s a natural hydrator that our skin produces and as we get older, our skin makes less and less of it. What’s unique about Biossance is that the brand found a way to create squalane as safely and effectively as the body does and its squalane comes from 100% plant based sugarcane. Then, its bio-fermented which results in highly stable, totally sustainable, and eco-friendly squalane.

In addition to locking in moisture, squalane improves the skins elasticity, calms and protects, and balances oil production without clogging pores.

So basically, if it’s not already, squalane should be your skin’s new best friend.

So back to my Biossance lip balm review. What I really love about this balm is that aside from it’s hydrating super powers thanks to the squalane, it’s vegan, cruelty free, and made with totally clean ingredients.

We all know how critical it is to know about what’s in the products we use, as they all eventually work their way into our bodies.

While switching over to clean beauty products is super important, I feel it’s even more important when it comes to products we apply to our lips because, well, you kind of end up ingesting them — not intentionally of course!

Wondering what the scent is like? We all know what it’s like to open a product and almost be knocked over by how strong the fragrance is. Well I’m happy to report that isn’t the case here because all you’ll get is a very subtle and fresh rose scent.

This Biossance lip balm is priced at $22, and while that seems high for a lip product, keep in mind that it’s all natural and that a little goes a really long way.

Trust me, your lips will thank you, and you’ll thank yourself when you start to notice how soft and kissable your kisser is.

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While your makeup may help you look more alive, it may be making you feel worse. An increasingly documented occurrence shows that certain types of makeup and beauty products may be what’s making you sick. We’ve all been told from the time we started wearing it that nasty eye infections can result from sharing mascara, but much worse ailments have resulted from wearing makeup and using other beauty and personal care products — some, potentially deadly.

The culprits are toxic chemicals that continue to populate products from some of the world’s biggest Makeup brands.

In a case that made headlines in 2012, the manufacturer of the hair-straightening product Brazilian Blowout settled a class-action lawsuit for about $4.5 million after the product was found to contain a dangerous amount of a known carcinogen that was making people sick.

In multiple multimillion-dollar settlements, Johnson & Johnson paid out to people who claimed that using baby powder for years resulted in cancer.

After claims that one of its products was causing hair loss, hair care company Wen faced a $26-million class action case.

The list goes on and likely, will continue to. 

A recent Canadian study by Environmental Defence tested personal care products to discover and an average of 14 “secret” ingredients per product were not disclosed on the list of ingredients. Generally, things like phthalates, lead, and PEG compounds are among the most toxic chemicals found in makeup and other beauty products.

“Green beauty has so much to offer on top of the health benefits.Some people might use conventional products their entire life, and not see any adverse effects. Other people have health conditions either already present, or that they are susceptible to, that may be made worse by certain chemicals found in personal care products,” said Merrady Wickes, Beauty Director of Toronto’s The Detox Market. 

“It also matters how many products you’re layering (women typically use at least 12 daily), and how much you’re using—think body lotion versus eyeliner. Some preservative systems mimic estrogen, which is not ok for those dealing with estrogen dominant illnesses like PCOS, endometriosis, and certain breast cancers. The hormone disruptors and endocrine disruptors in many products can be particularly bad for those with auto-immune conditions like Lupus or Hashimoto’s.”

Despite the potentially disastrous impacts on health, the problem is that cosmetic regulations haven’t been updated in the United States since the 1930s. The Food and Drug Administration has little control over the beauty industry, so the culprits persist. 

Thanks to a growing awareness, however, a growing number of people are turning to green beauty products.

A new study by Ipsos called What the Future: Beauty revealed that the features like natural, clean, and sustainable are ones that attract beauty buyers to try new brands and switch up their beauty regimes, with two-thirds of respondents reporting that “I would be interested in trying new products from other brands if they are natural.” With each new study or alarming headline, people everywhere are revamping their beauty regimes to make them healthier.

The good news is that we have more options than ever when it comes to healthier, greener beauty and personal care brands that won’t be making you sick.

“Switching out conventional products for natural ones should be fun,” said Wickes. “I compare it to food—If you eat birthday cake for every meal and snack, your health will likely suffer. But if you eat it at birthday parties, you’re good. Switch out your products slowly, as you run out of them. Aim to switch out products you use a lot of daily, or that you use on more absorbent body parts like your scalp and underarms.”

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From botanical skincare to zero-waste makeup, we now have countless options to go as clean and green as our heart desires in our beauty routine. That is, aside from haircare. Compared to the skincare and cosmetics industries, haircare seriously lags behind in the clean beauty game.

It’s not as simple as one would assume to find an effective shampoo or conditioner that’s free of sulfates, parabens, fragrances, and silicones. So, why is this the case?

Instagram/@taraleydon

“Green haircare lags behind green beauty because it is difficult to formulate good products with natural ingredients,” says Jessica Burman, Founder of Cocoon Apothecary, a Canadian natural and vegan skincare line.

“The chemistry of haircare relies on surfactants, emulsifiers and silicones, whereas skincare can be as simple as one oil to cleanse and moisturize. There is innovation in the industry, but the demand for green haircare isn’t as high because there is the perception that hair products don’t come in contact with skin.”

Let’s be honest: the reality is that hair is one of the first things you notice about someone and, historically, some clean haircare products just don’t cut it for some hair types.

Instagram/@yzellebeauty

Natural shampoos that lack chemicals, sadly, haven’t often been able to live up to its counterparts when it comes to lather, shine and lack of grease. “I’ve heard a lot of talks about brands going green and the industry is starting to see a shift in the products we’re using on our hair,” says Toronto beauty expert Allana Davis, who styles the locks of Toronto’s society page regulars. “The limitations some highlight often fall on how well green products can preform to remove product buildup – not so much how they can nourish the hair.”

The reality is that just because natural shampoos and conditioners simply don’t lather which is a side effect of being sulfate–free, however that doesn’t mean they’re not working.

Instagram/@pantene

The beauty industry is an innovative one, and the green sector is growing, albeit slowly; if you want to treat your locks to clean hair care products, it isn’t as difficult to do so as in was in the not-so-distant past. Sephora’s Clean at Sephora section, for example, features a whole section devoted to clean haircare.

The secret is also spreading about the benefits of the easy-to-execute reality of a green salon stocked with eco-friendly products.

Instagram/@greencirclesalons

Toronto-based company Green Circle Salons offers a turnkey program that allows salons to repurpose and recover up to 95 per cent of the resources that were once considered waste like hair, leftover hair colour, foils, colour tubes, aerosol cans, paper, and plastics.

While the commitment may seem like an ambitious one for business owners, at the very basics, salons and customers can start with using green products.

To fully make this work, more haircare brands need to not only innovate and adapt, but they require the support of retailers to stock their shelves with product.

Instagram/@courtney_andrea_

It costs more to produce green hair products, so they products (which is part of the problem) are inevitably going to be pieced higher than traditional ones. Recognizing the benefit of this, both customers and retailers should understand this.

While there may not be as many options in haircare as there is in skincare, one thing that is certain is there will be a demand for it, as conscious consumers increasingly seek sustainably produced products that are free from potentially harmful chemicals.

The good news is that the future of hair care is brighter and greener.

Featured Image: Instagram/@playa

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When it comes to natural beauty and skin care products, where does one go in Toronto?

While the tried and true stores like Shoppers Drug Mart and Sephora always have plenty of products to chose from, sometimes a visit to these trusted options can be overwhelming because of the never-ending selection. This is why you need to go directly to the source and head to the nearest natural beauty boutique. Luckily, when it comes to the eco-conscious beauty scene, Toronto is doing its best to stay ahead of the scene.

Trust us, you