What's The Difference Between Clean & Organic Beauty?
Clean vs. organic. Sounds like the same thing, right? Eh, not quite.
There is a lot of confusion in the lingo out there when it comes to defining the green beauty space. There’s a lot of buzz words, lies by omission, and green washing, so we took it upon ourselves to clear a few things up so that we all have a better grasp on what is being marketed to us when we are shopping.
Clean vs. organic. Sounds like the same thing, right? Eh, not quite. Clean beauty typically means that they are free of potential toxins or harmful ingredients, which is obviously a major win. This means no parabens, carcinogens, petroleum or paraffin, animal byproducts, harmful stabilizers or preservatives, EDTA, and fillers. It also means that these products strive to be eco-friendly, sustainable, and cruelty-free. Best case scenario, your favorite clean brands can promise all of these things.
Now while all of this sounds pretty amazing, “clean” does not necessarily mean “natural,” and thus, not organic. They usually contain some sort of safe synthetics, meaning nature-mimicking compounds that will work the same way as natural ingredients, yet are typically more stable on their own, and more sustainably produced. No shade to natural ingredients. We love you nature.
Organic beauty on the other hand, also deemed “natural” beauty, contain pure ingredients that our mama Earth gave us. Because natural usually sounds more acceptable than synthetic, synthetics get a bad rap, however we can still totally have a poor reaction to natural ingredients, as many natural compounds react with each other. Many natural products contain essential oils, which are super potent and powerful, and not for everyone’s skin, all the time.
The bottom line is that neither clean nor organic are necessarily more effective than the other, so it just depends on your preferences and your skin type. When using any product, it’s always smart to do a test patch, but it’s especially a good idea when giving a natural product a go that has essential oils in it if you don’t know how you react to that specific oil.
Double check to see if there are essential oils hidden in a product’s fragrance. And if the word “fragrance” appears on its own on the label, the product is typically not going to be clean nor organic.
Shop Clean Beauty
Shop Organic Beauty
Written by Nicole Lesmeister
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