Meet The Clean Beauty Platform Promoting Toxin-Free Self-Care
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4 days ago
Found Clean Beauty is our new go-to cosmetics destination
If there’s one industry buzzword that still gives us pause, it’s clean beauty. The term – which refers to products that are deemed safe, non-toxic and environmentally friendly – has risen in the beauty ranks over the years, despite hot debate over its defining factors and lack of certification. Attempting to set the record straight are Charlie McIntosh and Zoe Bulgin, founders of toxin-free beauty hub Found Clean Beauty. We sat down with the duo to talk brand origins, clean beauty screening processes and navigating greenwashing.
Q&A With Zoe Bulgin and Charlie McIntosh Of Found Clean Beauty
Zoe Bulgin and Charlie McIntosh
Hi Charlie and Zoe, how’s life going right now?
Zoe Bulgin: Life’s really good, thanks for asking. It’s not every day you get to work with your best friend and build a brand that we truly believe in and are so passionate about.
We are really proud of the wonderful community that we are building and are really glad that we are able to help so many people on their clean beauty journey.
Can you kick us off by telling our readers a bit about yourselves?
Both: We are Charlie and Zoe, working mums, long-time friends and clean beauty advocates. We met at university many years ago and after 20 years of pursuing our own careers in various parts of the world, we teamed up to create Found Clean Beauty.
Tell us about Found Clean Beauty – what is it and what does it offer?
Both: Found Clean Beauty is the UK’s first online retailer of truly clean skincare, haircare and makeup products, completely free from known human toxins. We’ve created our own screening system that is far more stringent than anyone else’s on the market, providing the UK’s first truly toxin-free product selection under one roof.
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What led you to found it?
Charlie McIntosh: A shock, stage three cancer diagnosis at age 45 made me completely rethink the way I treated my body. Before I started my treatment, I started looking at all the products I used regularly and was so horrified by the amount of really toxic ingredients in everyday products like shampoos, makeup and skincare. I just got a bin bag and threw it all away. From there, I started researching the ingredients and then set about finding toxin-free alternatives for myself and my family. I soon realised what a minefield this was and how much I didn’t know and needed to learn. It was a really frustrating process and there didn’t seem to be a legitimate source to find products that were actually toxin-free and safe.
Teaming up with my long-term friend Zoe, Found Clean Beauty was born out of joint frustration with the lack of regulation around the use of the word ‘clean’ as well as the lack of transparency about certain ingredients. We were also frustrated with the inability to source all the products we wanted to buy under one roof. We wanted to create a one-stop shop for truly clean beauty products that had been properly vetted – by us – without any compromises.
Which brands are available through Found Clean Beauty?
ZB: All our brands are true clean beauty pioneers and we are really pleased to be able to champion them. It was really important for us from the beginning to offer a wide range of products from the baby stage through to teen and adulthood, as well as products to suit all price points so that we could make clean beauty as accessible as possible to all. We stock a range of brands, from the more budget-friendly, everyday staples like Weleda, Handmade Naturals and The Good Zest Company, to splurge brands like Josh Rosebrook, Oskia, Odacité, KORA Organics and Juice Beauty. We also have a focus on truly clean makeup such as MG Naturals, Oceanly by Attitude and 100% Pure.
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Clean beauty is a bit of a buzzword in the industry – but it’s often susceptible to greenwashing. How can we navigate this dilemma as shoppers?
Both: You are right, so many beauty terms are completely unregulated, such as ‘clean’, ‘natural’ and, to an extent, even ‘organic,’ it can be really hard to navigate and it’s the reason we started the brand in the first place, to help take the guesswork out of choosing clean beauty. We have a ‘No-Go Ingredients’ page on our website that helps to educate and empower consumers about certain ingredients and their health risks.
There are also lots of great apps you can download that can be used to screen products – but they aren’t as foolproof, so it’s good to have a general idea of some of the chemical categories to avoid. It’s also worth noting that natural doesn’t always mean safe. There are lots of chemicals in nature that are very toxic to humans or can be cross contaminated with toxic ingredients. Ingredients mined from the ground, for example, carry the risk of cross contamination with heavy metals and asbestos. Certain lab-created, nature-identical chemicals can help to eliminate this risk.
How does Found Clean Beauty keep up with changing regulations around ingredients and eco-labels?
ZB: Before we even launched the site we spent over two years researching the beauty industry and the ingredients used. We first went to the source and read white papers and scientific testing reports on ingredients.
We also looked at cancer research blogs and articles, and websites such as The EWG and Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in association with the breast cancer prevention partners. We then followed up on the latest research from Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) who advise the UK Office for Product Safety and Standards, as well as research coming from the European Commission.
From this we compiled a list of over 150 chemicals that were used in our personal care products that had the potential to cause harm to human health. We then looked at all the different names these chemicals may present as in the ingredients list.
If a product has even one of those ingredients in, we won’t stock it.
This was just the groundwork for the business, though. Our work is ongoing, and we continue to check updates from both the UK, EU and US government bodies, as well as continue to research any new scientific findings that have been independently published.
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What does the team ‘clean beauty’ mean to you?
CM: For us, it’s simple: it means that the products we stock have no known harmful ingredients in them.
Why is clean beauty important?
ZB: First and foremost, it benefits to your health. Reducing your toxic-load and exposure to harmful chemicals is so important. There is unfortunately a misconception that the government won’t allow any harmful ingredients into consumer products. This sadly isn’t the case and we see many everyday products that contain harmful ingredients that have the potential to be carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, reproductive toxins and many more, so it’s really important that consumers are choosing products that avoid these chemicals. There is also the added environmental benefit. Most of what we use on our hair and skin ends up going down the drain and into our waterways, so going clean is also going green.
Are there any common myths around clean beauty that you can debunk for us today?
CM: Yes, quite a few! The main one is that clean beauty products don’t contain chemicals; everything is made of chemicals. Water, for example, is a chemical. Many are perfectly safe and even beneficial for our skin. Clean beauty focuses on avoiding harmful chemicals that can build up in our bodies over time and be detrimental to our health.
Another myth is that clean beauty products are not effective. Clean beauty products can be highly effective! So many of the harmful ingredients in beauty products are things like fragrance and preservatives that can be switched out for cleaner alternatives. All the brands we stock use clean innovative formulations and high-quality ingredients that deliver excellent targeted results.
Looking ahead to 2025, are there any beauty trends you see making a big impact over the next 12 months?
CM: Thrifting, re-using/re-cycling and vintage fashion are everywhere at the moment, and we can’t see them going away anytime soon. We love that all of our products tap into this too. It’s a slower and more conscious approach to beauty, with an emphasis on the benefits of rituals, slowing down and enjoying the moment, caring about communities and production methods. It’s also about moving away from the big players and supporting smaller, local brands who care. We really hope that this is a trend that sticks around for our health, wellbeing and the environment.
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Anything exciting in the pipeline, personal or professional? (That you can tell us about!)
ZB: The first thing is that we’re getting close to launching some amazing clean fragrance brands. Perfumes are a particularly difficult category as they are so full of horrible ingredients and brands get away with not disclosing what they are as it’s deemed a ‘trade secret’.
In other news, we’re about to launch in the new year some discovery sets to make it super simple for people who are either just starting on their own clean beauty journey or are looking for a really thoughtful gift. The first ones to launch are our Truly Clean Teen Set, perfect for any Tweens or Teens in your life, the Truly Clean Baby Set, a lovely gift for expecting mums or baby showers, and our amazing new Clean Slate Discovery Set, curated by us. It contains 17 of the very best, cleanest products, covering all your beauty needs all in one box (making it a really great place to start if you’re new to clean beauty).
How do you live a life in balance?
CM: Since my diagnosis and now being in remission, I am now so mindful of appreciating everything. I don’t let anything (even work) take away from precious family time. I embrace the outdoors more than ever and the simple pursuits in life that bring the most joy. For me, that’s gardening, walking, reading, eating and spending time with loved ones.
Making sure you prioritise things that fill you up rather than deplete you is so important. Life can seems so busy sometimes, making time for some little rituals throughout the day, even if that is taking 10 minutes first thing in the morning to do some stretches or lighting a clean candle and putting on some gentle music while you do your night time beauty routine to be present in that moment can help to restore the balance.
Anything else we should know?
Both: We would say that if you’re new to clean beauty, don’t be overwhelmed! Start simple: swap out a few products when they run out with a clean alternative. It’s not about giving up all your favourite products overnight, it’s about a manageable approach to slowly reducing the amount of toxic chemicals you’re exposed to. Enjoy the process.
Featured image: Polina Kovaleva, Pexels
