To decipher an INCI list we often have the impression that we need a doctorate in chemistry... but it is this which is the key to a clean routine! The INCI list corresponds to the exhaustive list of ingredients in a product... and after testing your memories of chemistry class, you will see that it also tests your language level. And yes, the INCI lists are bilingual: they display the names of natural ingredients, in Latin, and synthetic ingredients, in English.
Promoting clean beauty, as you will have understood, means understanding the INCI list in order to be able to choose with full conscience.
The one who talks about it best was with us for a Skin School: Candice Colin, co-founder of the Clean Beauty application.
(to share with those you wish well!)
1.To quickly decipher the INCI list of a product, focus on the first ingredients because they are classified from most to least concentrated.
2. Every day, we apply between 150 and 200 chemical ingredients to our skin. But this only represents part of our exposure to chemicals and that is the problem, particularly concerning our exposure to controversial ingredients that we also find in food, household products, furniture, etc. Their cumulative and cocktail effects participate in what we call the exposome, the set of environmental factors to which we are subject from our fetal life to our death.
3. Among the most controversial ingredients we find endocrine disruptors, considered by the WHO to be one of the main threats to human health in the 21st century. They should absolutely be banned during pregnancy so as not to expose babies. French health authorities are also closely monitoring phenoxyethanol. Other ingredients, such as mineral oils, are controversial for healthy skin (always to be distinguished from skin requiring specific treatments) due to its occlusive nature and its lack of biodegradability.
4. The definition of clean beauty is the absence of controversial ingredients for health and the environment.
5. Nobody is perfect and perfect solutions do not exist! Some products are still difficult to formulate in an “ultra clean” version. This is the case for sunscreen products (essential), hair coloring, varnishes... because they are also more difficult to formulate than skincare products. The main thing is above all to make informed choices and without dramatizing
6. Like Candice Colin, we believe that the beauty of tomorrow will call on science in all its virtuous aspects. Natural ingredients of course, but not only that... Imagine the impact it would have on the planet's resources if all cosmetic brands decided to go 100% natural. Science is in constant motion and that is what is important.
