Everybody is talking about ‘clean’ beauty these days. For some its about non-toxic ingredients in their products, for others its about ethically sourcing and for yet others its about being cruelty-free or against animal testing. So it's important for us that you understand what we mean by clean beauty.
In Nikita’s opinion, clean is all-encompassing. “From sourcing ingredients to production and manufacturing, the entire process we follow is free from toxic chemicals, it's not just a blanket term.”
At Ilana, each time we work on products we examine our options from two main angles - whether something’s good for you and whether it harms the planet. We refuse to compromise on your safety and health and we make sure that we minimise our environmental impact - whether it's about the ethical sourcing of ingredients, the material for our packaging or the people who are affected by our manufacture.
By now, we know that there is no common standard for what 'Organic', or 'Natural' means though we're made to believe that they're always benevolent and good for us. In contrast, everything 'Chemical' is bad for us, should be avoided. Visions of evil factories with bubbling green acid complete the picture.
But to be real, everything in our skincare and our world, is a chemical, whether organic (like essential polyphenols found in fruit and vegetables) or inorganic (like salt or Sodium Chloride) and we need many chemicals in our bodies for them to work well.
At Ilana our commitment to clean beauty means we make decisions about our ingredients based on a rigorous series of parameters. Because Ilana is always about being transparent, we don't ever hide behind incomplete ingredient lists. If it's a chemical you shouldn't have on your skin, it won't go in the mix. Period.
Beetroots that we eat actually go through less stringent quality standards than those used in personal care products.. So why is that? Our digestive systems are actually far more resilient than our skin. Stomach acids and enzymes take care of a lot of impurities when processing food. On the other hand a natural material in skin care will need to be preserved in order to last as long as your bottle of serum.
We've had to choose between a naturally derived, processed ingredient that has a chance of causing reactions or its from a rare plant in the Amazon rainforest and the effective well-tested organic certified, safe, lab-derived alternative. No prizes for guessing which way we will go! And you can rest assured that when you use our products, you are being responsible about the environment as well as being risk-free about your skin.
Conscious - Meticulously sourcing from ethical and trade safe farms
Ethical - Uncompromising about quality and fair practices
Transparent - Whats on the ingredient list is what's in the bottle
Effective - Exceptional results through rigorously researched formulations
When deconstructing a formulation, the preservatives/ pigments/ emulsifiers are always listed at the end. This means its percentage in the formula is often 1% or less. We keep the lab derived synthetics in the lowest possible concentration, and use organic approved LAB DERIVATIVES in cases the natural alternatives can be harsh on the environment.
