r/cleanbeauty

Honest question- how organic and real are they?

What makes you believe that a skincare product actually works?

Update: A few weeks back, I sent 10 commercially available lotions to an ISO 17025 Accredited laboratory for heavy metal testing via ICP-MS. I was telling the story on Reddit, and lots of people had asked to see the results. Then, shortly after I tried to post them, Reddit suspended my account and removed all of my previous posts. I have some theories around why that happened (probably not "big lotion" acting in the shadows, lol), but the account suspension has passed and I don't want this update to become about the legitimacy of that action.

Instead, I'm doing some things differently here to maximize the chances that this stays up:

1. Not including any links to white papers or to previous posts (which were removed by reddit anyways) to try not to trigger the filter.
2. Not referring to users who made next step suggestions by name. Previously i though "give credit" but apparently Reddit filters may flag that.
3. Not naming brands/products. Possibly Reddit would flag that because of legal exposure.

I have a bigger write-up with cited papers, comprehensive methods, and more comprehensive results, but i think I'll have to create a little website to host that and share links or something. Let me know if you're interested.

Now for the Results:

• We tested for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, and Arsenic. The lab had a detection limit of 1 part per billion (ppb).
• Four products had at least one detectable heavy metal.
• The highest detection was 20.4 ppb Arsenic.
• The remaining 6 of 10 samples had no Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, or Arsenic detected (above the 1ppb lab reporting limit)

Note: This testing was one unit of each product from a single point in time. For this reason, it would be incorrect to say that this is indicative of all products from a company, or all units of a manufacturing lot or product line. This tells us just what a small lotion mass of each of those 10 units contained as evaluated by the laboratory.

Conclusions: Heavy metals aren't healthy and they serve no function in a lotion, so you'd obviously prefer they weren't present at all, but the detection we saw was overall pretty low.

Next Steps: A few people asked about phthalates and PFAS previously and I think that's what I'm going to test next. I did some research and found a whitepaper out of Spain that found phthalates in lotion products. In the US, "Phthalate Free" legally means "No phthalates added deliberately" but doesn't mean anything about phthalates that leach from packaging or come from the production process. I think that will be an interesting analysis.

An interesting challenge with these is that they are really diverse chemical groups. Should I test broadly, or should i look for specific members of each group that are noteworthy from a health or 'likely to be present' prospective? Anyone have an opinion on that? I have a call with the lab later today to design an approach.

Neutrogena dropped Hayden Panettiere after speaking up about postpartum depression and used her “moral clause” as a contract reason to drop her. Yeah no thank you. A brand that won’t support women on women’s health. Never support this brand — they show where they actually stand as a brand.

Suggest some good names for skin and hair care brand

Welcome to our weekly product thread. This is actually a catch-all thread for product recommendations, requests for products, surveys, and web content like videos, blogs, and articles. Essentially, sharing and promotion (as long as it's self-care related) is welcome!

I’m thinking about getting Green Flash gel polish because regular gel manicures are getting really expensive for me, and my current gel usually starts coming off after about 2 weeks.

I also have a baby now, so with the schedule and everything, it’s getting harder to keep regular salon appointments.

For those of you who use Green Flash or other “cleaner”/less damaging gel polishes:
Are you happy with them overall?
Do you feel like your nails are less damaged compared to regular gel?
How long does it actually last for you?
Is it worth the money and the hassle of doing it at home?

I’d especially love to hear from anyone who switched from regular salon gel to Green Flash. Is it actually a good alternative, or would you stick with regular gel?

Does anyone else use Dr. Lift body scrub and also their body wash? Together they are the best products I’ve found for exfoliating without drying my skin while being antibacterial which I like…and the smell of the body wash in particular my God I feel like I’m on an island lol it’s amazing 🤩

I def recommend this for my neurodivergent and executive dysfunctional pals on here who may find the pleasant texture/smells to be a positive pull. 🫶🏼

Photo of products in comments 🛁🧼

Hiiii

I have been losing some hair around my temples and hairline for a couple of years now, looks like breakage because I don’t get clumps of hair in the shower. So I’m looking for a hair care routine that is CLEAN and effective.

I’ve been using faith in nature for a while as it’s randomly the only shampoo and conditioner that doesn’t seem to irritate my scalp. I also use the conditioner on my scalp contrary to normal advice because it soothe it. But I don’t feel like this conditioner is rich enough to stop my breakage.

I have very thick, wavy and rather unruly hair that’s very fluffy and tends to get dry/not feel silky. It gets tangled easily.

Id love recommendations for a conditioner/mask or leave in product (also heat protection) that is clean, rich and good for hair breakage/sensitive scalp while I regrow some of my lost hair <3

Any recs or other thoughts would be super appreciated. I’d be interested in a shampoo that has similar effects to nizoral (for it’s anti inflammatory properties, less so dandruff tho I do get a bit in winter) as well but isn’t super heavy chemicals

Thank you xx

It’s really important to me to find clean deodorant that works. After years of trial and error, I was using Kinfield Baseline Deodorant. It was the best!! It went out of business (RIP, for real) and I’m struggling to find a new one.

I’m currently using Nala, Sandalwood & Bergamot Deodorant.** **But when I get sweaty (currently every day humidity in NY) it melts on me and leaves a white residue. Trying to find one that doesn’t do that.

Kinfield made it so I didn’t sweat, smell, or melt off.

Which one do you use? Please help!

Looking for a recommendation for a clean conditioner (particularly one that is free of known hormone disruptors) for my daughter. She has very fine hair, prone to breakage and a lot of tangles. We have been using “attitude” brand. But she definitely has lot of knots in her hair afterwards compared to the regular conditioner I use for myself. Even with the honest company detangling spray- it’s very knotted.

What are your favorite budget friendly, low-tox drugstore foundations and concealers?
I’m not looking for perfectly “clean” makeup or a 100% natural ingredient list. I mainly want to avoid fragrance, parabens, heavy metals, formaldehyde releasers, and phthalates as much as possible.

Looking for affordable drugstore options that actually perform well. Please drop your recommendations

I have combination skin with closed comedones, I also have sensitive acne prone skin with visible irritation on my cheeks and around my nose. I have a notable history of fungal acne.

My routine currently consists of the CORSX BHA CLEANSER, Neutrogena toner, Hyaluronic acid, Centella ampoule and the roundlabs dokdo lotion.

My current cleanser (CORSX BHA) leaves my skin feeling very squeaky and im looking to find a gentler cleanser for my skin type.

Any suggestions/recommendations?