As a mom of both a 12 and 14 year old, I’ve become keenly aware that there’s a pretty huge gap in the Safer Beauty market right now. There are now tons of clean personal care product options made for both adults and babies (which is great!), but the tween/teen market is still pretty sparse. There just aren’t a lot of brands specifically making and marketing clean beauty products for this demographic. And it’s a bit puzzling to me because this age group is just beginning to take notice of the cosmetics department. At least that’s what I’ve observed of my own kids in the last year or two.
(photo by Sarah E Dunn)
It’s like all of a sudden they’ve gone from not wanting to run a brush through their hair to asking for body scrubs, facial masks and hair spray (okay it’s mostly my daughter, but my son is interested in taking care of his skin too). And it seems to have happened almost overnight. Like a switch or something was turned on, and now their own personal hygiene is very important to them. And from this momma’s point of view, that’s not a bad thing. 😉
But what is bad is the lack of regulation in the personal care industry combined with the lack of safer beauty brands for their age group. My son and daughter are still growing, with hormones seemingly changing every day ;), and they are both now taking part in a morning and evening skincare routine. It’s important to me as a mom that the products they’re using everyday are safe but also affordable.
So today I thought I’d share a few of the products and brands I’ve discovered that are both mom and tween/teen approved here at Our Fifth House. I figured with gifting and stocking stuffing season upon us this post might be helpful. 😉
1. Beautycounter
To be totally honest one reason I decided to become a Beautycounter consultant was so that I could selfishly take advantage of the generous consultant discount. (email me at Carmel@ourfifthhouse.com if you’re interested in learning how you can join my team!)
Because I know and trust that Beautycounter is formulating their high-performing products with safer ingredients, I supply my whole family with these products. And in the last year I’ve been very pleased to see them come out with a skincare line specifically made to target acne-prone skin. The Countercontrol line is perfect for teens! My 14 year old son has been using it with great results! The nice thing about the Countercontrol line is that the packaging is very gender neutral. So my son isn’t embarrassed to be using these products. 😉
I also love that Beautycounter’s lip glosses come in a wide variety of lighter shades that are age-appropriate for my almost 13 year old girl to wear for special occasions. * The Holiday Mini-Lipgloss Vault would be such a fun gift for a teenage girl! Or break the set down and steal a few for yourself and put the rest in your teen’s stocking. No shame in your game mommas. 😉
You don’t have to be a consultant to earn some fun perks with Beautycounter. They are one of the only brands to offer a Band of Beauty Membership that affords members the ability to earn 15% product credit on every purchase plus free shipping on all orders over $100!
It’s just $29 for a yearly membership! And when you sign up and spend $50 you get a free welcome gift.
2. C’est Moi
(cheek palette, cucumber and aloe mask, shimmer body lotion, lip crayon, lipgloss trio)
Like Beautycounter’s Never List, C’est Moi has what they call a “No Way List” of over 1400 ingredients they’ve pledged to not use in their products. This is one of the only brands I’ve found that is specifically made and targeted to tweens/teens. Their packaging is so fun and youthful! And take note here mommas as you’ll not only feel good about the safety of these products, but the affordable price point will make you happy too! I myself have a couple of their lip crayons in my makeup bag! Does your tween daughter like to use face masks with her friends during a sleepover?! C’est Moi offers safe and affordable masks!
3. Dr. Bronner’s
(lip balm, sugar soap, bar soap)
I’ve been a fan of Dr. Bronner’s products for a long time. And while I wouldn’t really call this a tween or teen specific brand, it is a brand that my tween and teen both request. I think they like that the packaging doesn’t look “babyish”, like a lot of other safe body washes for kids do. I like that the products are made with clean ingredients. The 4-in-1 Organic Sugar Soap is what I use to refill all of our bathroom hand soap dispensers, and it’s often what I buy for the kids baths/showers. Because it can be used as a body wash and shampoo it cuts down on the number of bottles in the shower. Their lip balm is one of the only lip balms on the market that doesn’t list “fragrance” or “flavor” as an ingredient, instead they list the pure essential oils used to add fragrance to their product. I personally appreciate the transparency this company brings to the table.
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So those are the three brands I’ve found so far where I feel confident with their products across the board. It’s kind of sad that there aren’t more brands dedicated to making safer personal care products for our tweens/teens. On average, according to statistics, teens use 12 personal care products a day. The ingredients used in those products matter!
The Environmental Working Group’s Healthy Living App
I’ve mentioned this app before, but it’s worth noting again. The Healthy Living App makes checking the safety of products/ingredients very simple!
Join The Safer Beauty Tribe
As always if you want to learn more about how to detox your beauty routine, read product ingredient labels and find out which ingredients to avoid and which ones to seek out in your personal care products, you should sign up for my free Safer Beauty Tribe monthly newsletters. This is where I dive a little deeper, get slightly more science-y, and call out brands/products that are nothing but smoke and mirrors. I also have an instagram account dedicated to all things safer beauty. Come check out The Safer Beauty Tribe on Instagram!
Want to know what deodorants I recommend? Nail polish? Any questions? Let me know down in the comments section.
