my favorite products, real reviews, and uncomplicating the clean beauty industry

I always tell people one of the best years of my life was spent as a beauty editor at Elle Magazine. It was my first job out of college and I still don’t know how I pulled it off. I was the assistant to the beauty director and my days were full of product reviews, meeting brands, attending events, and trying new treatments all over the city. Let’s just say I've received my fair share of beauty products in my lifetime. I know what it’s like to be given tons and tons of products to try and also how easy it is to be swayed even unconsciously (read about the reciprocity bias here) when gifted free products. Absolutely no judgment here for bloggers and influencers that accept free products. I’m sure some people can fairly review products, but I know myself. I’ve thought I loved a product I received for free but found I wouldn't spend money buying it and I think that speaks volumes. While the beauty industry has come a long way, it’s still a multi BILLION dollar business with lots of influence.

Based on this experience, I wanted to be really transparent about the products I talk about and the guidelines I’m creating for myself. At this point, it’s easy for me to say because no one is offering me free products. If things change, I will update you, but this is what feels right at the moment. 

Product Requirements:

• I purchased the products originally

• Used the product for 1-2 months (or finished it, depending on the product)

• Considered “Clean” based on rating through the EWG’s Skin Deep and/or Think Dirty App (see how they rate products here) when possible

What my reviews will include:

• Cost per use

• How I use the product

• How the brand suggests you use the product

• My opinion on its effectiveness

• If I bought it again

• The specifics on what makes the product clean

My plan is to share the things I love, use, and truly believe work in the clean beauty space. Of course, these reviews are filtered through my personal preferences and history, but I wanted to share with you. When I started getting really into clean beauty, or at least cleaner products, it was hard to know what was actually clean and what was just greenwashed (this is a great article here about the definitions used in the clean beauty industry).

My big why for moving into cleaner beauty products was first and foremost my health and secondly my family. When I was pregnant for the first time, I started to get really aware of how many chemicals I was using every day and wanted to clean it up a bit. Even before that in 2013 when I moved back to Florida from New York, I dove in head first and slowly started cleaning up my beauty routine. It was a gradual thing but over the years, I’ve managed to be about 80-90% clean. I will share how I did this in a future blog. 

There is no formal government regulation of “clean beauty” so navigating the industry can be tricky as most of the time the “clean” is just marketing. Every company has a different definition of what clean beauty means which makes it all that much harder. I hope these reviews are educational and make it easier to figure out what’s important to you in the clean beauty category.

Take my suggestions as a place to start your clean beauty journey. If you have questions, comments, or want to start a conversation, I’m here for it. Comment below and/or find me on IG @polishingup and let’s chat.

Lots of love,

jodi x