Chances are you’ve heard of ‘green’ beauty buzzwords like clean, natural, and organic. But do you often wonder what these words actually mean when it comes to skincare? Are they all one and the same or do they differ greatly?

While demand for all-natural beauty is surging, there is still a lot of confusion around the definition of ‘clean beauty’. According to a 2019 report by Statista, almost 60% of women worldwide believe clean beauty equals natural ingredients, while 32% suggest it describes products with less harsh chemicals. 

Clean Beauty is Not Universally Defined

Clearly, we are divided about the meaning of clean beauty. But that may be because there is no single definition or standard for it. Clean beauty products are generally considered non-toxic and tested for safety, and can contain natural, naturally-derived or synthetic ingredients.

However, what constitutes a safe ingredient varies greatly across the world: Europe, which has some of the most stringent regulations, bans up to 1,328 toxic ingredients commonly found in beauty products, and ASEAN countries have been quick to follow suit. In contrast, the US’ cosmetics regulations only ban 30 toxic ingredients, while other countries only ban 14 of these harmful ingredients.

On top of discovering the fragmented clean beauty safety regulations, Shivam (my co-founder) and I learned a few more hard truths as we began to develop our products. We were quickly exposed to the world of ‘white labelling’ – the widespread practice of producing singular cosmetic formulas through unknown manufacturers, and distributing them to numerous brands.

We were shocked to learn how easy it is to source ingredients from unknown suppliers online. This means there is often no traceability, transparency, or safety and efficacy regulations in place for many ingredients that go into skincare products.

"Europe bans up to 1,328 toxic ingredients from beauty products, while the US only bans around 30."

Clean Beauty++: Building the New Standard

Thus, while there was no question that clean beauty had to be core to the brand, in light of all this, we felt clean beauty alone was not enough. So we decided to raise the bar and set our own skincare standard – Clean Beauty++. We searched across the globe for skincare labs that aligned with our brand values, and we ended up finding the perfect one in Switzerland which we have worked with very closely ever since.

While safe, effective and non-toxic ingredients are our top priority, for us it’s also important that they don’t have any impact on the environment. Before doing anything, we ask: where are these ingredients sourced from and how? What are the quality checks and safety tests in place to ensure sustainable sourcing and no adulteration during product formulations?

So, in addition to the 1,328 toxic ingredients banned by Europe’s stringent cosmetics regulations, we blacklist an additional 128 ingredients that are harmful to you and the environment, and we go two steps further (the ++ represents these steps) to ensure:
 

+ Total transparency throughout our supply chain. Each ingredient is sourced from suppliers we trust and meet with regularly, and not from unknown online suppliers. We also only work with clean, safe ingredients from the Swiss Alps and South Korea.


+ We test for safety and efficacy in our Swiss labs, at both ingredient and formulation level to ensure you receive the highest quality skincare. We also make sure all our ingredients are rated ‘safe’ by the Environmental Working Group, which is globally considered the gold standard in non-toxic ingredient ratings for cosmetics.

Back to Basics:
Introducing Cloud Factory & Bounce Back

This Clean Beauty ++ philosophy became the backbone of our very first product launch – a simple 4-step essentials set including a serum, a day cream, a night cream and an eye serum – as well as every product we’ve launched since (have you met Clean Slate and Sunny Side Up yet?). Now we’re excited to take it back to basics with two new essentials: meet Cloud Factory, a gentle everyday foaming cleanser, and Bounce Back, a nourishing toner.

Named after its thick, luxurious foam, Cloud Factory is not your average cleanser. It’s packed with sustainably-sourced Swiss ingredients that are Clean Beauty ++ approved, which gently remove dirt and impurities while maintaining your skin’s natural pH balance. It features Swiss red clover flower, which minimises and rebalances your pores, and Pinolumin (pine extracts) which reduces age spots and evens out your skin tone. On top of that it features botanical extracts from 5 fruit acids – natural AHAs which work to cleanse, gently exfoliate and restore your skin.

Since cleansers have a tendency to throw your skin's natural pH levels out of whack, we're also introducing Bounce Back, the ultimate nourishing toner to compliment Cloud Factory and rebalance your skin. Designed to reinvigorate, it’s hero Clean Beauty ++ ingredients include Niacinamide (Vitamin B3), which lightens dark spots and evens out your skin tone, and Vitamin B12, which promotes healthy skin cells and repairs damage. It also features unique ingredients which boost your skin's natural defenses: Epidermist a natural plankton extract, and ACB Bio-Chelate 5.