Deadly Cosmetic Myths and the Lies of 'Clean Beauty' Marketing ☠️🧪

➤ SUPPORT MY WORK

➤ PODCAST
for extra content every other Wednesday 😈

➤ PRODUCTION
written by Mina Le, Ella Gray, and Sophie Carter
edited by Charlee Reiff

➤ SOCIALS

➤ CONTACT

➤ SOURCES

0:00 - intro
2:20 - history of deadly cosmetics
12:56 - the birth of clean consumerism
17:18 - from diy to buy
28:27 - conclusion

[endoakira]

as a chemistry student, i find a lot of the information online infuriating. sometimes you even need to take doctors advice with a pinch of salt online, a lot of people just want to sell you a product

[wangofree]

The phrase I hate is "dermatologist tested." All it means is that it was indeed tested, but what were the RESULTS of the test? The derms would have tested it and said, "This is crap."

[sighcantthinkofaname]

I remember at one point hearing a YouTuber talk about ingredients being the most important thing and I was like "makes sense" and then a biochemistry I follow pointed out that the ingredients all interact with one another and you can't just take each thing separately to understand it.
It made more sense but man, what a bummer.

[gattogateaux]

Im so irritated at products that lie about being for sensitive skin!

[queenofhorror]

The way the makeup industry went from being full glam, full coverage foundation, heavy contour, cut crease, etc. to clean/no makeup look is very interesting and it goes to show that no matter how much the beauty trends and products change, the intention is still the same. You have to hide your insecurities that make you “unattractive” in society, just using products in a different way.

[Bwahahahablast]

I totally agree with the idea that the glam look is a lot less dysphoric than the clean look. Let’s be fr here, you have to be naturally beautiful (societal expectations of beauty anyway) to pull off the clean look. As Mina said, it’s one thing knowing you are wearing a mask, it’s another to try to act like you’re not

[sammiedunn]

I used to work for an ingredient led skincare brand and I can’t tell you how many customers I had coming in with questions like: “Is this natural, organic, chemical free?” I’d be like What do you think a chemical is? Girl water is a chemical, chemicals are everywhere. Everytime I’d ask them what they meant by organic and natural they’d have no clue, “just on the label?” Kids asking for retinol “because it’s good for you”, women wanting harsh exfoliating products but “don’t believe in sunscreen”. Over consumption of skincare is at its highest and it’s absurd.

[chayam]

I love how you’re careful with your words like saying ‘carcinogens’ instead of ‘chemicals’

[Ileaveangrycomments]

Can we also talk about how stupid the notion "if u can't pronounce it, it's bad for u" is, like people will be saying that 2-hydroxybenzoic acid is bad for you (cuz it has a complex name or whatever) when it's just salicylic acid, the "poster child for acne-free skin"


Edit: Ah my most liked comment till date

[mimmixoxo]

The way I was shown multiple “clean” or “simple” product ads while watching this, just proves so much 💀😭

[emmyandboo]

So many rich celebs are getting mini facelifts now and I'm so sick of them denying it, except Grimes she has admitted it. But when they deny it and then try and sell beauty products to us poor folk, it is such a scam, makes me sick.

[sumlem]

As a biology major pursuing toxicology that's also a Sephora employee, I am so tired. So. Very. Very. Tired. Of. Chemophobia. EDIT: Lab Muffin Beauty Science is a channel that's a really cool introduction into cosmetic chemistry and production.

[djdjdjdsjsjejne]

Its a pity that the lives of peasant and working class women are not well recorded because most toxic make up info we know now are of Royal or bourgeois women. I kinda wanna know how lower class women dealt with Beauty standards and what their struggles were

[obscurerants]

As a chemistry student, I have to construct my own lab and I’ve really tried to hone in on cosmetic science. Specifically, I wanted to look for the concentration of hydroquinone (a common skin lightening ingredient), hidden in makeup and skincare. However, the methods of existing labs aren’t publicly available, so even a student chemist can’t even find if the concentration matches the label (which often does not, with a 2% max in over the counter cosmetics) in their own products. Chemically, cosmetics need to be a lot more transparent, especially with safety concerns. I learned a lot! Overall, very well organized, and I always love your essays!!

[emmy]

The new push of expensive skincare onto young people as they buy less make up makes me think of a variant of Dolly Patton’s self-satirical line, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap." In this day, it takes a lot of money to look this "clean" (what a loaded word, too).

[raquelnunes]

Tyyy! I hate the whole "clean makeup" trend. Its mostly just marketing. Also active ingredients used in a lot of makeup are used in such low concentrations that its just useless.

[LilyLewis]

My favorite perfume company has a whole section on their website where they address this stuff and talk about “why our perfumes aren’t all-natural” and it’s basically all the usual reasons- ‘natural’ doesn’t mean ‘safe’, etc. but also when it comes to perfume, a lot of scents if derived naturally would be unbelievably expensive, damaging to the environment, or not animal-friendly; such as musk or ambergris. I’d much rather have a synthetic version of those!

[PrincessFairyGirl]

My fiancé is sensitive for smells so I tried TIDE FREE AND CLEAR detergent and he broke out in the worst hives and was so itchy for days… it was marketed as safe for people with allergies!

[darkydoom]

Yes, the "natural, no makeup makeup" look emphasises the point that we don't look good enough without makeup. If we looked "good enough" then we wouldn't need the makeup, compared to something colourful or sparkly or unnatural hues being OBVIOUSLY unreal and artistic. It's pretty much why I only ever do colourful looks, because if I want to be natural then I will wear nothing.

[revepower]

crazyyyy how fitting this is amidst the black friday sales and how tempted i've been to buy skincare products i really don't need. this is really informative!