What does clean skincare really mean?

Is “clean” a regulated term?

No. US cosmetics law defines what a cosmetic is and how its label must list ingredients, but it doesn’t define “clean”. FDA’s page on label claims says claims must be truthful and not misleading, but it gives no definition of “natural”. FDA also says “organic” isn’t defined in the cosmetics laws it enforces; the USDA’s National Organic Program sets that standard for agricultural ingredients.

The biggest change to US cosmetics law in decades, the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA), added facility registration, product listing, safety substantiation and serious adverse event reporting. It didn’t define “clean” either. So any brand can print the word and mean anything by it, which is why we spell out exactly what we mean.

What does clean mean at Mystic Hollow?

Here is our standard, point by point. Most of it can be checked against the full ingredient list printed on every label and shown on every product page. Where a point can’t be read off a list, as with how we choose fragrance, we explain it in plain words.

How do we choose fragrance?

Fragrance is where “clean” gets most confusing, so here is exactly what we do. Some of our fragrances are synthetic. Every fragrance is researched before we use it, and each one is free of known carcinogens, mutagens and organ toxicants.

Those words have precise meanings. They are hazard classes used to classify chemicals worldwide, including in US workplace safety rules: carcinogenicity (causing cancer), germ cell mutagenicity (causing heritable changes to genes) and specific target organ toxicity, or STOT (harming a particular organ). EU cosmetics law sets a related rule for every ingredient, fragrance or not: substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction, known as CMRs, are banned from cosmetics, with narrow exceptions that the EU’s scientific safety committee must review.

When a formula contains fragrance, its ingredient list will say so. US rules let a fragrance blend appear as the single word “Fragrance”, because, as FDA explains, fragrance formulas are complex mixtures of natural and synthetic ingredients and are often trade secrets. Essential oils are usually listed by plant name instead, such as Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil.

Natural and synthetic don’t sort scents into safe and unsafe. FDA notes that the law treats ingredients from plants the same as those from any other source, and several well-known fragrance allergens occur naturally in essential oils (more on that below). What matters is what each material is, how it’s used, and whether it has been checked.

Why leave those ingredients out?

Because the formulas don’t need them. A cleanser can lift oil without a sulfate. A cream can feel smooth without silicone. A colour can come from a mineral.

Leaving something out isn’t a claim that it’s dangerous. FDA says it doesn’t have information showing that parabens, as they are used in cosmetics, have an effect on human health. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel judged alkyl glucosides, the cleanser family coco-glucoside belongs to, safe when formulated to be non-irritating. We would rather explain each choice than sell fear of chemicals. Water and honey are chemicals too.

Is natural skincare safer?

Not automatically. Most of our ingredients come from plants, clays, the hive and the sea, and a few are made in a lab on purpose. Synthetic mica, listed as fluorphlogopite, is made rather than mined. Its flakes are consistent, and it avoids the problems tied to natural mica mining, where child labour has been documented, for example in India’s mica supply chain. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel has judged synthetic fluorphlogopite safe as used in cosmetics.

The iron oxides in Main Character Energy are synthetic too, because US rules require iron oxides used to colour cosmetics to be synthetically prepared. Panthenol, provitamin B5, is lab-made as well, and its page says so.

Some natural ingredients are also common causes of skin reactions. A review in the journal Dermatitis describes essential oils as a recognised cause of contact allergy. Lavender oil is rich in linalool and cinnamon bark oil in cinnamaldehyde (“cinnamal” on EU labels), and EU rules require both to be named on a label above set levels, because they are known fragrance allergens.

Which formulas contain common allergens or animal ingredients?

If your skin is sensitive, test anything new first. The American Academy of Dermatology suggests applying a product to a quarter-sized spot, such as the bend of your elbow, twice a day for 7 to 10 days, and using it only if no reaction appears.

What doesn’t clean promise?

Results. Under US law, a cosmetic is for cleansing, beautifying or changing how you look; a product meant to treat or prevent disease, or to change how the body works, is a drug. Ours are cosmetics. They cleanse, polish, moisturize and change how skin looks and feels, and we describe them that way.

Certification. We’re not a vegan brand, and we’re not certified cruelty-free yet. Cruelty-free matters deeply to us, and we aim to be certified as we grow. Shroom Therapy’s ingredient list marks its mushrooms organic, and we repeat that footnote exactly as the list gives it.

the certificates behind “*Organic”

Good skin isn’t magic. It’s good formulation.

Mystic Hollow