Caring for your skin isn’t a trend. Despite marketing efforts by those promising you miracles with their service or product, skincare goals are achieved through routine & consistency. The Clean Your Dirty Face® philosophy is rooted in simplicity and consistency, not in gimmicks and miracles products. Find a few services & products that work for you, and use them regularly. That’s it. Let’s dive into the juicy stuff 😈
#1 Toxic Skincare Trend
Beef Tallow
What is Beef Tallow? It’s the fatty tissue that surrounds cows’ organs that has been heated until liquified and clarified. It’s sometimes called “beef drippings” and is typically used for deep frying, animal feed, and biodiesel.
Here’s our problem with it:
It’s an animal byproduct. Additionally, if it’s not from a direct source, it can be unclear where the fat is actually coming from.
Most beef tallow doesn’t contain preservatives. If stored incorrectly, it accumulates bacteria within the jar (and then to your face).
It stinks! Beef tallow has an earthy, meaty odor that can linger on your face for days.
In sum, we are not a fan of Beef Tallow — all of its dirtiness and animal byproduct characteristics. We prefer a safer/cleaner, vegan, more effective option to hydrate acne-prone skin. Green Monster Face Oil, with its hemp seed oil creates a protective layer to lock in moisture, while sage keeps acne from spreading with its antibacterial and anti-fungal properties.
#2 Toxic Skincare Trend
Single-use Plastic Packaging
What is single-use plastic packaging? It’s the most common type of packaging that serves as a container for goods such as toothpaste, face creme, lip balm, etc. Single-use plastic packaging is the most common type of packaging used in the beauty industry to package everything from face serums, cleansers, trial/sample sizes, lotions and more.
Last year, skincare companies actually increased their production of bright, single-use plastic packaging to make for cute skincare “shelfies” in an effort to increase social media engagement. Any act carried out purely for social media engagement has grave consequences, both to our sense of self & wellbeing and in this case, to our planet. Additionally,
Plastic packaging ends up in landfills or flowing through our oceans endangering our marine life. By using recyclable and refillable packaging, we minimize our environmental footprint and acknowledge that we must respectfully share our planet with all other beings. Read our full article 3 dirty secrets about plastic packaging here.
Plastic is more porous than glass, which can harbor bacteria and contaminate the products within.
Single-use packaging is more expensive to you. Each time you repurchase a single-use product, you’re not just paying for the product inside, you’re also paying for the box, jar, instructions, any additional packaging that comes with the product, and transportation/shipping. This translates to a pricier product to you.
At Clean Your Dirty Face®, we are unbothered by trends and instead, prefer to stay true to ourselves. Since inception in 2015, we have committed to using glass packaging & paper cartons for our retail products. In 2021, we rolled out our Glove Protocol across all locations and continue to monitor that program closely. In 2023, we launched our Refill Program. In just 12 months, we expanded the Refill Program across 6 skus (keep your eye out for even more in 2025)! Refilling keeps packaging out of our oceans & landfills, reduces multiple transportation expenses, and costs less per ounce to our clients.
#3 Toxic Skincare Trend:
9-Step Skincare Routines
What is a 9-step skincare routine? It’s another name for any skincare routine that requires multiple products, multiple steps and an overall lengthy process.
Here’s our problem with it:
Applying too many products and actives can damage your skin’s barrier and cause adverse reactions like dryness, redness, sensitivity and acne.
9-step skincare routines are expensive, unsustainable and unrealistic. The best skincare routine is one that you can stick to, and it’s unrealistic for most people to devote 1+ hour daily for an overly-complicated skincare routine.
In an effort to shorten a lengthy, complicated skincare routine, people often try to save time by combining products. Combining products can affect formulas’ ability to penetrate the skin. For example, if you apply a hydrating moisturizer before a thinner serum, the serum is essentially rendered useless because it will be unable to penetrate through the thicker moisturizer. Learn how to layer products for maximum absorption in our article Do you have Onion Skin? here.
Like Greenwashing, a 9-step routine is simply something beauty companies’ marketing & PR teams try to convince you need. The more products you buy, the more money they make.
The Clean Your Dirty Face® philosophy is rooted in routine and consistency, not in gimmicks and miracles products/services. Find a skincare routine that works for you, and engage in it regularly. If you need help developing a routine, you can book your first facial here.
