Have you ever wondered how you can make the transition to using cleaner products? We recently partnered with Type A: Deodorant to chat all about clean beauty: what it is, why it's important, and how to start the transition over to clean beauty!
Let's dive into it...
What clean beauty means to us
Three Ships: At Three Ships, we use 100% plant-based ingredients, with no artificial ingredients. We formulate according to strictest European Union standards, meaning we avoid more than 1,400 potentially harmful chemicals that the EU has banned. Clean beauty to us is all about safe, clean ingredients that you can know and trust.
All of our products are 100% plant-based, vegan, Leaping Bunny certified cruelty-free, and they will forever be free of parabens, phthalates, artificial scents and silicones.
Type A: Clean beauty is all about creating safer, beauty and body care products that don’t sacrifice on performance, so it’s a no-brainer to switch to something better-for-you and stick with it. To us at Type: A, clean beauty means not having to compromise on the safety of our products for reliability or results. It means creating products made with ingredients and formulas that can not only make it through rigorous, third-party safety testing- but ace those tests.
We are dedicated to making sure that our products are free from toxic ingredients, exceed performance expectations, and are safe for the whole family to use. For example, our sweat-activated aluminum-free deodorants are clinically proven to keep you fresh all day long and absorb moisture, without any aluminum salts or other harmful ingredients commonly used in mainstream personal care products.
How to start transitioning to clean beauty products:
Three Ships: We recommend starting small and not overwhelming yourself at first. Some easy, small starter tips:
- It's the same with food - if you try to cut out all junk food and follow every healthy diet, it's extremely overwhelming.
- Start with something you're about to run out of, like a cleanser or moisturizer.
- Read ingredients of 1 product and try to really understand it. At Three Ships, we link every ingredient in our Ingredient Glossary.
Type A: The transition to clean products can be slow. Start with one clean swap for a product you use every day… like deodorant or your soap. Start by taking a look at the ingredients and finding a product that ticks all the boxes for what you’re looking for. Sometimes you might need some time to transition over to a new product, especially when you’re eliminating the reliance on certain ingredients.
Deodorant is one of these categories. The transition to a deodorant from an anti-perspirant can take about two weeks. Antiperspirants work by using aluminum salts to plug the sweat ducts under your arms to prevent you from sweating. When you stop using antiperspirants, your body will likely need to “detox” from the aluminum salts and get used to sweating again.
No matter what product you’re swapping though, the key is consistency. You may need to try a few different brands or products before finding your go-to.
Clean beauty is effective!
Three Ships: We believe in the power of clean ingredients. At Three Ships, we are committed to providing quality plant-based skincare that is extremely effective, even when compared to chemical counterparts.
One of our core product philosophies is ‘Love the Lab’. We believe you cant make quality natural skincare products without loving the science behind them. Nothing goes to you before it’s been tested multiple times to create the most optimal products with scientifically-proven results.
Type A: Clean beauty can be just as, if not more, effective as “traditional” beauty products! The point of clean beauty products is to create products that you can use reliably every day, without the worry of unknown or toxic ingredients being included. At Type:A, we are adamant about creating clean products that do not sacrifice efficacy for safety.
Clean body care products are actually a great place to start making clean beauty swaps because you use them so often and they are applied directly to your body. For example, our moisturizing bar soaps, which use probiotics to reestablish the microbiome on your skin and makes for healthier, happier skin, as a replacement for your traditional hand or body soap and as a bonus, it’s an eco-friendly alternative to body wash.
Where should I start when building my skincare routine?
Three Ships: We believe that you do not need a 10-step skincare routine to take care of your skin. You’ll first want to identify your skin type and skincare concerns. Consider if you have dry skin, breakouts frequently, or excess oil. If you are not sure about your skin type, you can take our skin quiz here. From there you can start to build out your skincare routine. Got any questions? Send us a DM on Instagram :)
Photo credit: @satinandskin
Find resources you can trust
Three Ships & Type A: Finding resources you can trust makes a big difference in how easy it can be to make clean beauty swaps. Here are some of our top recommendations:
- EWG’s Skin Deep Database
- Leaping Bunny Certification
- Content creators on IG, YouTube, etc.: Skintellectuals will do the research so you don't have to.
Highlight ingredients you want to avoid (or you want to use)
Three Ships: Our skincare products will forever be 100% plant-based, vegan, Leaping Bunny certified cruelty-free, and gluten-free. Our products will never contain parabens, phthalates, artificial scents, and silicones. We encourage our community to #lookcloser at the ingredients that are going into their beauty products.
We believe we have a responsibility as a brand to help educate consumers on what is (and isn't) in their products. We do the research so you don't have to and proudly list every ingredient we use below including why they're in our products and where they are sourced from. You can view every ingredient in our products in our Ingredients Glossary.
Type A: We follow well-respected ingredient guidelines from those in the industry who set the highest bar for safety. Rather than create yet another ‘free from’ list, we get on the same page with the leaders in the space. We follow two of our retail partner’s guidance - Credo Beauty's Dirty List and @WholeBody (Whole Foods Market). This means we also exclude or restrict over 1500 ingredients that are banned in the European Union. Classes of ingredients we ban include aluminum salts, parabens, PEGs, pthalates, propylene glycol, formaldehyde donors, and many more.
We believe that in order to be transparent with consumers, first and foremost you need to share every ingredient that goes into the product, including fragrance ingredients. Often fragrance blends contain hidden toxic ingredients. Most natural brands still use ‘natural fragrance’ on the label, and as a consequence consumers cannot know exactly what is in the formula. Also, the brand may often not be aware of hidden ingredients and toxins that may come from third party fragrance suppliers.
What’s the big deal about aluminum?
Type A: There's a lot of buzz about the negative effects of aluminum, and unfortunately, not a lot of certainty. Aluminum is the active ingredient in antiperspirants and is the ingredient that differentiates antiperspirants from deodorants.
Here's what we do know: Aluminum salts work by plugging the sweat ducts under your arms thereby keeping you dry and odor free. The most commonly used forms are aluminum chloride, aluminum chlorohydrate, or aluminum zirconium.
Research suggests that exposure to aluminum, even in small amounts may be linked to Alzheimer’s disease and breast cancer. Although there is not yet definitive data connecting daily exposure to aluminum with these health threats, links have been found that should make you think twice next time you reach for a deodorant that contains aluminum.
In our opinion: there’s so much uncertainty about the effects of aluminum to your health, so why risk it? There are effective, reliable and SAFE aluminum-free deodorants out there (like Type:A’s sweat-activated deodorants) that makes switching to a safer deodorant, easy and fun!
Where can you learn more about Type A?
Find them online on Facebook or Instagram! You can also join our Facebook Group/Community dedicated to clean body care: Coming Clean.
Want to learn more about clean beauty? Check out our other blogs: 4 Tips for Transitioning to Natural Beauty, How To Read Ingredient Labels on Skincare and Cosmetics , and Common Misconceptions of Natural Beauty.
