Until a few years ago, I never knew what the deal was with those unreadable labels on the back of skincare products. Did you?
When I started my personal search for 100% natural skincare, I really couldn't see the forest for the trees: ecocert, natrue, fairtrade... and many other quality marks. But I also read: Dimethicone, Allantoin, cyclowattes? And many more ingredients that were completely unrecognizable to me. Should I look them all up in a dictionary?
Oh yeah, and of course I also searched for vegan, cruelty-free, organic and 100% natural. But where can I actually check those statements?
We all put a lot of products on our faces and to be honest: I don't think most of us know what we actually put on our faces, what the quality marks stand for and what the terms 'natural based' do or do not mean.
Skincare quality marks
Do you ever pay attention to quality marks when you want to buy something? Well, I have delved into it thoroughly, because with Food for Skin we wanted to certify and I can tell you: there is a lot of good, unfortunately there are also quality marks of the type "We from WC duck advise WC duck", in other words: quality marks created by chemical companies. So really do some research if you think that a quality mark is really important and go to those websites and search for extra information. Personally, my research has completely disabused me of the fact that it is important to have a quality mark. I am absolutely in favor of high and clear standards, that could clarify a lot, but just like with chocolate (coincidentally my previous job) it is a tangle of quality marks for skin care at the moment.
As mentioned, standards and control are absolutely important. But even with the strictest certifiers, there can still be a certain % of ingredients in there that, in my opinion, do not belong there. Food for Skin is standardized (not yet certified due to high costs) on Natrue. Natrue is one of the strictest certifiers, but to be fair: there too, for example, you have categories, which means that category 3 is slightly less 'pure' than category 1. And the end consumer never sees that! Our advice is therefore: check your ingredients, ask your favorite brand where they come from, under what circumstances it is made. Because if we, consumers, do not 'ask', the Big Beauties (the big pharmas) will certainly not 'spin'.
Check cosmetic ingredients
Can you identify the ingredients on the back of your shampoo jar? I can't, still can't, even now that I have a lot of knowledge about it. This is partly because according to EU legislation, you have to use INCIs. INCI stands for: International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients, or the international naming system for cosmetic ingredients. And that is the reason why the backs are really not readable or recognizable, unfortunately also the back of our Food for Skin products. You have to use the official names of those ingredients. Did you know for example that Solanum Lycopersicum is 'just' a tomato? Neither do we!
When we started Food for Skin, we intended to only put 'recognizable' and 'edible' ingredients on the back, not knowing about the INCIs at the time. It is good that there is an international 1 standard for this, but does this really help consumers?
Food for Skin formulas are so pure, you could eat them. Curious? Start with a trial set.
Check ingredients skincare
Three ways to quickly see a list and the good and bad skin care ingredients:
1. The Beat the Microbead (BTMB) app
This one is from the Plastic Soup Foundation. With 1 photo of the label you know if your product contains harmful microplastics. We challenge you to scan your bathroom! Download here and read more about our collaboration here .
2. Website incidecoder.com
And, a bit more work, but the website incidecoder.com is great! You can search for your favorite product (if it's a big brand), or for a specific ingredient. You will then read what this ingredient does or doesn't do for your skin and what it consists of.
3. Download an INCI app
There are several apps that, after scanning your care product, show whether there are harmful substances or bad ingredients in your facial care. It also shows what possible irritants are in the product. You can also easily find lists of all harmful ingredients in cosmetics and read more about them.
Some options are:
Food for Skin wants to be transparent and honest and has therefore translated the INCIs in 'plain Dutch' for all products and added why this is in the product. You can find this on the product pages of our products.
Care products without harmful substances
It is our mission to 'clean up the beauty industry together'. Clean of confusion and without bad ingredients such as plastics in your facial care. That is why we want to start by making our readers aware.
If it's all too much work for you, we understand!
Tip: Then choose a clear route: 100% natural skin care. Not 'natural based', because then something has been done with the natural ingredient.
You certainly do not have to choose Food for Skin, but any other brand that is truly natural, provided it is professionally composed, professionally produced and checked in a lab. Unfortunately, as a consumer, you cannot see anywhere on the packaging whether this has happened. Many brands choose to stir the pots themselves and not have it checked. As a consumer, you cannot see this anywhere, unless the government comes to take a sample (and that chance is unfortunately not great). So also with natural brands: checking the ingredients of your cosmetics is not an unnecessary luxury and at least ask whether it has been approved according to EU cosmetic legislation.
For those who really want to dive into it: read the book by Robin van Wechem 'The anti-wrinkle complex - the back of the beauty industry'!.
Want to read more about the impact we make as Food for Skin? Click here !
