Clean up, simplify and embrace a more sustainable beauty routine
Simple Ways To Detox Your Beauty Routine
Written by Lynn Power
With so many parts of our lives feeling a bit out of control these days, we’re all about wrestling some control back in places where we can. Of course, some things are easier than others. One way you can influence and feel more in charge of your day-to-day life quickly is by detoxing your beauty routine.
Did you know that the beauty industry creates a massive amount of waste each year -- a staggering 120 billion units of packaging waste!? And while the U.S. might be leading the world in electric cars and cryptocurrency, you might not have realized that the U.S. is far behind our European counterparts when it comes to regulating harmful ingredients in the beauty industry.
For perspective, the EU bans 1,328 chemicals found in beauty and cosmetics products. These chemicals (including sulfates, parabens and phthalates) are known to have toxic effects on the human body -- and can even cause cancer, reproductive harm, allergic reactions, genetic mutation, or birth defects. It’s time to ditch the toxic chemicals and clean up our beauty routines.
Just understanding the reality of what you are putting in and on your body is one thing, but what do we do about it? It’s hard to know what all of the ingredients on beauty labels are and do, but you don’t need to figure everything out all at once. Start with the basics -- the known three offenders: sulfates, parabens, and phthalates that pretty much everyone can agree on.
Sulfates, parabens and phthalates are known to contribute to many health problems, from allergies to, irritation and can damage your reproductive system and disrupt your endocrine system. So what does clean beauty mean? For most, it’s about clean ingredients, transparency and simplicity.
One watch out is fragrances. In the U.S. (and many other countries), manufacturers are not required to disclose what’s in our fragrances, so it can be a place where phthalates often lurk. At MASAMI, my clean premium hair care brand, we’ve clarified our fragrance label on our packaging to say we are “naturally derived and phthalate-free”. Look for brands that are transparent about their entire ingredient label. If a brand is not disclosing what’s in or out of their formulations, it’s probably because there are harmful ingredients that they don’t want to call out.
The clean beauty movement has taken hold and skincare has been at the forefront, but haircare is not far behind. Most people understand that your skin, as your largest organ, absorbs the products you put on it. We have our clean skincare favourites -- like ThreeShips, Romer Skincare and Ellis Day Skincare. But clean haircare is just as important, too. Your scalp is one of the most absorbent parts of your body, so if you’re still using haircare with harmful ingredients and detergents, you’re still putting toxins on your body regularly.
Expiration dates are another key element of detoxing your beauty journey. It’s important to check expiration dates because formulations can change over time. Not just in terms of their effectiveness, but they can also “go bad” (change color, lose smell). Check your products every year and get rid of any that have outlived their expiration dates. If anything is older than 2 years, as a general rule, it’s time to toss it. This is especially true for eye makeup.
There are also other upsides to detoxing your beauty -- you can take the opportunity to simplify, declutter and find multi-tasking products that can do more with less. The beauty industry has marketed to us that we need unique products for different parts of our face and body, but there are some excellent multi-tasking products that will help you simplify your routine too (like a moisturizer with SPF and concealer that hydrates). Embracing a mindset of simplicity helps you focus on the products that perform well while getting rid of complexity and will make it a lot easier to navigate your day-to-day routine, not to mention, save you time and money.
Finally, while you’re at it, embrace products that truly believe in sustainability and offer packaging that won’t find its way into landfills. In May 2021, we launched 32 oz sustainable refillable shampoo and conditioner bottles for MASAMI that are meant to last a lifetime. As tempting as samples are, try to avoid using single-use products (like sample sachets) that can’t be recycled. As part of taking back control, we hope you will evaluate your beauty routine and look for ways you can detox and make it healthier. Your skin, hair and body will thank you! And we think you’ll find that simplifying your beauty routine can feel very liberating.
