The New Guard

How to Read a “Clean” Beauty Label: The New Guard
A long, far-off, much simpler time ago, back in, you know, the '90s, the simple phrase all-natural was enough for people to feel like they were putting something, well, all-natural on their faces, and in their bodies. No more. Hello, gluten allergies! And that's just the tip of the (likely melting) iceberg. As it goes with the state of the world, labels are a bit more layered and loaded these days, and for good reason: With semantics, caveats and sneaky verbiage galore, it’s easy to feel like a word is just a word. Since we can only speak for ourselves, that’s exactly what we’re going to do: Just like with our products, U Beauty is intent on keeping our messaging simple, streamlined and right to the point. So everything you see here is for good reason, no fine print required. Actually, for the record, we're taking a stance as anti-fine print.
No Fillers: By definition in this context, a filler is “any inert ingredient used to create bulk, texture or lubrication.” Fillers aren’t typically essential to the active part of a formulation and they don’t make a product more effective. They just might make it feel better on your skin, making you think you’re getting added benefit. Every raw material used in U Beauty products has a specific cosmetic function. But while we’re on the topic of fillers, the Resurfacing Compound visibly improves the appearance of your own collagen and hyaluronic acid levels, which is why you’ll be less likely to crave artificial, injectable fillers in your face.
Non-GMO: GMO is code for genetically modified plants. It’s very common for skincare brands to carry plant-based ingredients that are technically all-natural, even though the plants’ seeds were modified on a genetic level to be super-powered, so to speak...which isn’t really natural at all. (Genetic modifications means they might be more resistant to drought or less likely to break down during transportation, for example.) The phrase non-GMO is how you know the product you’re using comes from plants that have not been modified, not even on a genetic level.
Non-Toxic: Non-toxic means the product doesn’t contain ingredients that have been linked to toxic responses, like hormone disruption and cancer, in people. Toxicity is simply based on dose and concentration. Even necessary elements like water and oxygen can be toxic if you have too much.
We only used tested, safe-proven ingredients in non-toxic concentrations. Enter toxicology testing, along with microbial, patch and eye safety testing: Our products must pass a strict toxicological examination according to US and European legislation to ensure the best safety that current scientific knowledge is able to give us. We’ll never release a product without performing tests on the finished formula to assure the product is non-toxic.
Gluten-Free: A term we throw around increasingly often and question less and less. In case we’ve forgotten, gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and other grains. Like in food, gluten-free skincare doesn’t contain any gluten or any gluten byproducts. So why gluten-free? Our skin is the body’s largest organ, so those with severe allergies to gluten definitely don’t want it in their daily products.
Environmentally Friendly: As a brand, we believe you can’t genuinely claim to be environmentally friendly without taking the environment into account on every level. These days, as we all know, our world is more fragile than ever, so it’s on us to take responsibility for our impact and the materials we choose to use. That’s why all our products are manufactured in a 100% CO2-free facility. Our bottles are made of recycled, recyclable plastic, and we keep the lights on with complete free energy.
The Resurfacing Compound is confirmed to be non-toxic to the environment, which means if you wash the formula down the drain (not that you would ever dream of doing such a thing!), we can assuredly say none of the raw materials used cause environmental toxicity. Of course, our formulas are non-toxic to the environment and the skin, and we never use endangered ingredients, either.
Sustainable: While environmentally friendly and sustainable are similar, they’re not one and the same. When Tina Craig was inspired to create U Beauty, she was equally motivated to figure out how we can minimize our environmental impact when it comes to the beauty products we use. Enter sustainability. We’re all about replacing excess with efficiency. When we say “do more with less,” it applies to both our skincare routines and our lives, and includes doing more with less waste.
Products should be as conscious as they are effective. In addition to using recyclable, light-weight packaging and sustainable, non-toxic ingredients, our multi-functional hero product is designed to eliminate the need for many products. And when you prevent the need for more products, you reduce your level of waste.
Sustainability also means looking outward. We’re expanding our ongoing initiative with One Tree Planted, a non-profit dedicated to reforestation. Every time you place an order on U Beauty, one tree will be planted. Our ultimate goal is to plant one million trees...and hopefully more.