Clean Up your Act

With equal parts science and nature, the oft-misunderstood world of green beauty makes a strong case for itself. Arjun Sudhir tells us where to start and what to avoid.

- Arjun Sudhir

My journey into green beauty was quite accidental. In my early- to mid-twenties, I used every product and procedure—from Accutane to laser—to treat my severe acne, but nothing worked. It hit my self-confidence and I was tired of trying to find a solution. Then around 2010, a big beauty chain in Australia (I live in Melbourne), began carrying a new ‘green’ oil-based cleanser that became an instant bestseller. Until then, I’d always believed that I needed to use foaming cleansers that gave that squeaky-clean feeling; it seemed counter-intuitive to use oil to control acne. Green beauty was also in its nascent stages at that point, but the oil cleanser turned out to be unlike anything else I’d ever tried. It didn’t foam or emulsify, and had to be wiped off with a washcloth—and it significantly cleared up my skin. This made me research its ingredients, and that led me down the green beauty rabbit hole.

So, what is green beauty? To understand this, we need to look at what goes into conventional skincare products. A lot of mainstream items only contain a small amount of active natural extracts; inexpensive fillers like water, mineral oil and silicones usually take up most of the formula. Celestyna Higgins, founder of American green beauty brands MOSS and Ambar, says preservatives are the primary differentiating factors between green beauty and the conventional variety. “Think about it—preservatives are supposed to kill bacteria that could cause the product to go bad. But they don’t discriminate, and go after the good bacteria on your skin too.”