A Beginner's Guide to Reducing Toxins From Your Beauty Routine

In the past few years the clamour for clean beauty has gotten stronger. If you have missed the bus and are wondering, what it means, then clean beauty can be defined as a skin care ritual that doe not have without certain chemicals such fragrance, preservatives like parabens and phthalates, and dyes, all of which can be irritating for the skin. Clean beauty also means adding natural products to your beauty arsenal, for instance using coconut oil as a body moisturiser. 

But then keeping your beauty regime toxin-free is not as simple as swapping a moisturiser with coconut oil. It can be tricky buying natural or herbal products off the shelves as just because something is organic or natural doesn’t mean it’s good. Organics still have ingredients that you might be allergic to. In a nutshell, you’re not guaranteed irritation-free skin because you picked something labeled as natural or organic. Confused? To help out of this we asked Naina Ruhail Co founder, Vanity Wagon, an online marketplace for clean beauty products, to tell us how to shop consciously and add clean, vegan, and non-toxic beauty products to your vanity bag. 

“The trend for toxin-free, vegan beauty is growing across the globe for its natural skin benefits and eco-friendliness. The soaring awareness has moved the radar towards clean alternatives that are free of harsh chemicals and animal cruelty. Now, if the terms like clean, cruelty free or vegan confuse you, and make you think, what is it? Then, this is for you! Clean skincare products are formulated using ethically sourced, nature derived ingredients which are toxin-free and are good for you and the planet. Similarly, the products that are not tested on animals or made without any animal by-products make them cruelty-free or vegan,” explains Naina.

Do you know how much toxic load your body is carrying? From a shower gel to your after-shower skincare indulgence contributes to a massive accumulation of toxic ingredients in our bodies. Personal care products are listed as one of the major donors of chemicals dwelling in our so-called “healthy lifestyle”.  Naina shares a few ways in which you can reduce toxins in your skincare regime to safeguard both your skin and the environment.

Look For Hidden Toxins 

Flip your skincare product over and thoroughly read all the toxic ingredients such as parfum (perfume or fragrance). Every fragrant product has parfum in it, and there are more than 3000 ingredients listed under this parfum umbrella, which you cannot be sure of putting on your skin. “Most parfum constituents like phthalates are responsible for the endocrine disruption that imitates estrogen in the body and can trigger allergy and asthma. Choosing skincare products that are naturally scented or formulated using essential oils can be a wise choice,” advises Naina.

Choose Multipurpose Products

It’s pretty simple! In this time of minimalism, adapting multi-purpose beauty or skincare products with less packaging can do the job for you. “Always look out for products that can multitask, like lip and cheek stain or maybe a beeswax lip balm that can nourish your lips and calm your cuticles too,” says Naina. This initiative will keep two products going to the landfills and will be twice as nice. 

Switch To Good Stuff

Ditch your comprehensive chemical-laden skincare steps with nature’s goodness. “Cutting back on skincare products means picking a routine with some hero ingredients that naturally work on your skin concerns, always focusing on nutrition-defense ingredients will leave your skin nourished and glowing,” adds Naina.  Essential oils, vitamins, and other organic elements that pack a punch of natures’ wealth are a great way to replace toxins from your skincare regime.