I don’t know about you but I never paid much attention to the products I was using until more recently. I’d stop by the closest drug store, grab the best deal on volumizing mascara or toss some Secret antiperspirant into my basket, and be on my way.

Little did I know that the products I was rubbing all over my skin every day were loaded with endocrine (hormone) disrupting ingredients. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until I started to struggle with chronic adult acne and walked through multiple back-to-back miscarriages that I began to pay more attention to the products I use daily. And what I learned about the beauty industry was absolutely devastating. 

Unfortunately, many of us (myself included) don’t think twice about what we use until we struggle with health issues or something terrible happens but it doesn’t have to be that way.

So if you’ve been on the fence about the whole clean living thing, allow me to share 3 reasons to make the switch to clean beauty – sooner rather than later. 

Reason #1: The Truth About the Beauty Industry 

Want to hear something crazy? Just because beauty products can be bottled up and sold to us doesn’t mean they are safe. 

In fact, there is very little (virtually no) regulation over the ingredients that can be used in the products we find on shelves today. Here’s a little history…

In the US, Congress created a law to govern the safety of beauty and personal care products called the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (called the FD&C Act) in 1938. 

 This act created the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) However, under the FD&C Act, from 1938 – 2016, the FDA banned only 11 ingredients from use in cosmetic products.

In 2016, 19 more ingredients were banned but all of them were used in antibacterial soap. Most importantly, neither the FD&C Act nor the FDA requires cosmetic products or ingredients to be tested for safety before they are sold to consumers.

Moreover, the FDA does not have any authority to recall products that numerous people complain about. For example, if the FDA knows that a product causes allergic reactions in a large number of people, the FDA cannot ban or recall the product.

There are over 10,000 ingredients used in cosmetic and personal care products and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Panel, an industry-funded agency, has only reviewed 13% of them for safety. Thirteen percent!

Plus, there’s no governing agency to ensure that the ingredients reviewed are used by cosmetic companies according to CIR safety limits.

In the meantime, an average American woman puts over 168 chemicals on her body each day and many of those chemicals are linked to cancer, infertility, miscarriage, poor infant and maternal health outcomes, obesity, asthma, sensitization, allergic reactions, and many other serious health concerns.

When I learned these facts, that convinced me to make the switch to a truly clean and non-toxic makeup brand. I couldn’t believe how long I believed that if it was sold on a shelf for human use, it must be safe. Wrong!

Reason #2: For Your Hormones 

Another reason I recommend switching to clean beauty? For hormonal health!

I can’t even tell you the amount of acne-fighting skincare and “non-comedogenic” makeup products I used thinking it was helping my acne. While many of those products claimed to be able to help or prevent acne, the irony is that most of them probably only contributed to the problem.

Why? Because while it is true that some acne is caused by congested pores (which most acne products try to address), in most cases, acne is really a symptom of an imbalance internally. 

In other words, hormones also play a big role when it comes to acne. The irony is that when I was slathering a bunch of products with hormone-disrupting ingredients, it was probably only contributing to the hormonal imbalance that was causing the acne in the first place.

Bless my heart. I tried. 

Anyway, whether or not you struggle with acne, it is worth making the switch to clean beauty to balance hormones – or keep them balanced!

Reason #3: For Your Long-Term Well-Being

Not only do a lot of beauty and personal care products have hormone-disrupting ingredients but many also include ingredients that are known to be linked to reproductive harm, cancer, and more serious health concerns.

At the very least, switching to clean beauty products that are free of those types of ingredients is a relatively simple way to take a proactive approach to your long-term health. 

Of course, we cannot control everything that happens to us but we can take preventative steps and invest in our future – ditching toxic beauty products and switching to cleaner options is a relatively easy way to do that! 

Swapping the products in your beauty routine may not remove all toxins in your life but it will significantly reduce the daily toxin burden on your body – and that is a huge step in the right direction!

The truth is, no one will care about your health more than you do. So you really have to be your own advocate and make the changes that will positively affect your future now (because no one is going to do that for you).

There you have it! My top 3 reasons for switching to clean beauty! Are you convinced yet? 😉 Let me know in the comments if you’re going to make the switch! 

If you need recommendations on where to start, what to swap first, and which brands are trustworthy, I’ve created a roadmap for you to ditch and switch. I put that roadmap (and all my best swap recommendations with budget-friendly options) in my Lifestyle Overhaul guide! 

You can grab a copy of that here.