Checkout

‘Clean Beauty’ Is All the Rage, But It Has an Identity Problem

While demand for natural skin products has built a $1.6 billion market, a lack of clear guidelines may open the door for a new kind of greenwashing.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

A lot has been said about how the pandemic is motivating Americans to be more discerning about what they put in their bodies. But the crisis may also be having a big effect on what they put on their bodies.

The concept of so-called clean beauty—makeup and skincare products marketed as free of harmful, artificial ingredients—is the latest catchphrase in a burgeoning world of items sold as sustainable, environmentally conscious or simply safer.