Questions About Clean Beauty & Black Women's Health
When it comes to the topics of clean beauty and Black women’s health, it is to be expected that a lot of questions will follow.
We all know the saying “Beauty is more than skin deep”, right?
What if we expanded that to include health? Our skin is so often overlooked as an organ - but that doesn’t change the fact that it is an actual organ.
Now if you knew that a certain lotion or wash had a toxic ingredient in it, would you put that product on your liver? Or your heart & lungs?
Of course not, because we all inherently know we do ourselves a favor when we treat our organs with care.
That line of thinking needs to include your skin.
Here are some common questions we hear about Black women and clean beauty:
Why are Black women’s products worse?
We could speculate about the Westernized standards of beauty, but it doesn’t matter. All that truly matters is the data. The data shows that cosmetics and hair products marketed to Black women were found to have more toxic ingredients in them when compared to products for other demographics.
What does that mean for Black women’s health?
This is multi-layered. You see, Black women also buy more cosmetic & personal care products than other groups. Black women make up 7% of the population, but account for 22% of the spending in this category. So our exposure turns into a double-edged sword fast.
What are the worst products?
Hair care products - especially those products that have an intended use to color, bleach or relax hair. In fact, none of them tested by the EWG were reviewed to be entirely safe. Not one.
How do these products and/or ingredients affect Black women’s health?
Many ways, such as: disruption of hormones & hormone production - baldness - cancer - low infant & premature births - fibroids - allergic reactions - and the list goes on.
What does “clean” beauty mean?
It basically means a product that is free of ingredients that have been scientifically proven to be harmful to human health. In other words, a clean product has been scientifically proven to be safe for human use. *Remember, though, just because a product has the words: organic, clean or non-toxic on it, does not mean that is true, due to lack of FDA oversight & authority.
What ingredients should I start avoiding?
We get that starting out can be overwhelming, so Clean Beauty for Black Girls suggest starting out with (even just) watching & avoiding 5 ingredients. We even have a free download for you here!
Where can I get clean beauty? And how do I know if a product is clean?
For starters, that’s why we list brands on our website - to make things easy for you. You can also ask a company to be transparent & share the sources they use and what ingredients they use. And as always, the EWG Healthy Living App gives you the ability to scan the barcode on your products to see how they rate based on the ingredients listed.
I’ve heard that clean beauty is just a marketing ploy based on fear tactics.
It’s not. That’s the simple truth. On top of that, your health is never something to gamble with. And don’t worry, you don’t have to give up quality just because you’re choosing a clean-er product. Everything is a work in progress.
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Clean Beauty for Black Girls believes beauty is more than what’s on the surface. So we’re asking you - When do you feel the most beautiful?
#CBFBG Selfie Challenge
Take a selfie & show us by using the hashtag #CBFBG - Then take a picture of the ingredients listed on your favorite (or most used) product & share that, too!. Let’s decode those ingredients together.
Your health is a beautiful thing & we care about you.
*We are currently raising money to expand our programs, to include:
Education workshops on HBCU campuses
Information resources for local communities
Safe Brands To Shop Database
Please consider donating & sharing with your networks. Donations can be made here.