By Becky Raspe
Beauty trends offering something new, different and refreshing to our routines come and go every year, but one trend is promising this in a big way: products that keep you beautiful inside and out.
Enter “clean beauty,” which Kait Turshen, founder of SLFMKR in Shaker Heights, describes as any personal care product made without harmful or potentially harmful ingredients. Her shop, which touts itself as a modern apothecary that focuses on clean beauty and self care, only carries products that don’t contain ingredients like parabens, PEGs, phthalates, SLSs and SLESs, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes or toluene.
“Questionable ingredients like these have been linked to hormone and endocrine system disruption, among many other health concerns,” Turshen says.
But why is clean beauty blowing up right now? Turshen says it’s because there has been a major reckoning in the beauty industry over the ingredients used in our favorite products and how they can negatively impact the health of the consumer.
“The U.S. Food & Drug Administration currently only bans 11 ingredients in cosmetic products and just 30 ingredients in all personal care products,” Turshen says. “As a point of reference, the European Union bans about 1,400 ingredients. I know I was personally shocked by these statistics when I started my clean beauty journey and that knowledge empowered me to shop in a more conscious way.”
Not only is it a current trend, but Turshen says it is the best way to shop and can be a continued beauty commitment long after a new trend hits the collective consciousness.
“I love that the movement has encouraged more accountability for both consumers and brands,” she says. “Every day we have people stop in our shop to chat about their journey of transitioning to a cleaner regimen. People are shopping in a more conscious and empowered way.”
Feeling overwhelmed and wondering where to start? You don’t have to create a whole new beauty routine from the jump, Turshen says.
“For those ready to start their clean beauty journey, I love to direct people to deodorant as their first stop,” she says. “If you’re someone who has been using aluminum-based deodorant for decades of your life, it is a great first product to switch to clean.”
SLFMKR is at 20146 Walker Road in Shaker Hts.