Thinking about switching to a clean beauty brand, but you’re not fully convinced? Here are eight compelling reasons that first motivated us to explore clean beauty (and they’re the reasons we never turned back).

Natural ingredients are taking over the internet. Clean beauty influencers have you believing that you, too, could embrace a natural glow if only you switched to castor oil and tallow balm. And (spoiler alert) they’re not wrong.

But we get it. Sometimes switching to a clean beauty brand takes a little more convincing. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of compelling reasons to make the switch. Just remember to give us credit when you achieve the best skin of your life.

POV: You Switch to a Clean Beauty Brand (For These 8 Compelling Reasons)

The environmental benefits, unmatched skin glow, and happy hormones you’ll get from clean beauty will convince you to try natural products (and stick with them).

1. Your skin has never looked better

Chemical ingredients can’t nourish your skin like nature can. In fact, many chemical beauty products were created to mimic natural ones (for example, silicones are used to recreate the moisture of plant-based oils, and petroleum jelly and mineral oils are a substitute for tallow balm).

Because these chemical substitutes aren’t actually the real thing, they take longer to nourish and revive the skin. Alternatively, plant-based oils, animal-based skincare, herbs, and essential oils are usually fast-acting and more bioavailable. When switching to a clean skincare brand, it’s important to source high-quality products. But as long as you do that, you should notice positive changes in your complexion right away (sometimes, after a brief purging period).

2. Clean beauty is backed by science

Clean beauty products are rich in antioxidants, fatty acids, and minerals — the building blocks of healthy skin cells. Since nontoxic skincare and makeup products are minimally processed, they’re applied to your skin in their most natural form. This means they’re easily recognized by the skin and used by the cells to nourish and restore.

Scientific studies on some clean ingredients may be scarce due to restricted funding. This is often cited as a reason why castor oil, tallow balm, and essential oils don’t work. But there are other ways to understand how these ingredients benefit the skin. For instance, studies are available on antioxidants and aging or conjugated linoleic acid (found in tallow balm) and its anti-inflammatory benefits. You can also find current research on the benefits of natural products (and the downsides of chemical-based ones) from the Environmental Working Group.

3. You’re not paying for unnecessary ingredients (aka fillers)

One of the biggest reasons people don’t want to give up their drugstore beauty products is because of the price. Clean beauty brands are typically more expensive, it’s true. It simply costs more to source pure, minimally processed, and high-quality ingredients.

At the same time, the price gap between clean beauty and drugstore beauty might not be as wide as you think. Most drugstore products use chemical fillers to make up the majority of the bottle’s contents. An aloe vera lotion might contain mostly petroleum, water, or alcohol, while a foundation uses plastics and parabens.

These chemical fillers are designed to preserve the product and cheapen the formula. But they aren’t good for your skin, and they require you to use more product than truly necessary. On the other hand, clean beauty brands typically use natural oils and botanicals as a product base. These ingredients are highly nourishing and bioactive, so they perform well on the skin barrier. Since they aren’t watered down, the product tends to last much longer, too.

4. Your makeup doubles as skincare

Let’s get one thing straight: your makeup should always double as skincare. Any time you put something on your face, it should actively work to nourish the skin barrier, support skin cell health, and make you feel as good as you look. From foundation to blush to eyeshadow, the ideal makeup is the kind that works behind the scenes.

Many clean beauty brands embrace makeup and skincare hybrids. It’s easy to combine botanicals and natural oils with a little bit of pigment to create products that shimmer, reverse acne and scarring, and even fade fine lines.

5. Your hormones are thriving

Hormonal acne, unexplained fatigue, painful periods, and mood swings. If these symptoms sound familiar, you may be dealing with some kind of hormone imbalance. And you’re not alone. Many women today are looking for answers to help restore balance and calm to their monthly cycle. One effective way to do this is by switching to clean beauty and household cleaning products. Hormone disruptors (usually, chemicals that mimic estrogen) are found in drugstore beauty products, air fresheners, laundry detergents, air pollution, soaps, and other cleaning agents. Statistics show that American women are exposed to about 168 unique chemicals daily, which add up and can disrupt hormone function. Simply by removing these from our environment, we give our hormones space to heal and function optimally.

6. Your sensitive skin needs support

One of the biggest reasons people switch to clean beauty is because of sensitive skin. Your skin is your largest organ, and it was never meant to be exposed to chemical materials. Sensitive skin and frequent breakouts is just one way your skin communicates this.

7. You’ll support eco-friendly and regenerative businesses

The right clean skincare brand isn’t just eco-friendly, it’s also regenerative. This means the farming, agricultural, and manufacturing processes are actively positioned to leave the environment better than we found it. Simply by sourcing the right ingredients, your clean skincare brand contributes to soil restoration, plant biodiversity, renewable energy, and more. And yes, when you purchase clean skincare and makeup products, you’re allowed to take credit for it.

8. Ingredient transparency you can count on

Sneaky ingredients are the reason we had to create a clean beauty movement. The fragrances, plastics, hormone disruptors, and synthetics in our everyday products are starting to impact how we feel on a day-to-day basis, and they’re not easy to find on an ingredient label. The future of the beauty industry isn’t just clean, it’s transparent. It’s all about understanding exactly what we’re using on our bodies and why. A trustworthy clean beauty brand should be super transparent with their labeling, since they care about the purity of their products as much as you do.

Convinced? Start Clean Beauty the Easy Way

Clean beauty products don’t always look or function the same way that drugstore products do. And that’s intentional. These products are likely more nourishing, effective, and good for your skin. But if you’re not sure where to begin with your clean beauty routine, you may want some guidance. That’s why we create makeup and skincare sets: to pair down your shopping and beauty routine to just a few easy steps.

Begin Your Clean Beauty Era — Shop Curated Sets