What “Clean Beauty” means at Eighteen B? 

At Eighteen B, we take our formulation philosophy and our ingredients standards very seriously because what you put on your skin is so important for your overall health and well being.  

While there are lots of different definitions for Clean Beauty between various beauty brands and retailers, the future of clean beauty is to have one unifying definition.  In the meantime, Eighteen B has a very specific methodology and definition that we want to share with you.  

Clean Beauty at Eighteen B is…

data-backed + transparent + solution-oriented

You can count on our formulations to be…

Let’s dive in on each of these points

Eighteen B is (data-backed) clean beauty.  

We use the best available data to make decisions on which ingredients to formulate with, so our products are the best they can be for you as well as the planet.  

Eighteen B is (transparent) clean beauty.  

It’s critically important that you know what we’re putting into Eighteen B products. Our mission to create clean beauty products starts with our product development process. We vet every single ingredient used in our formulations. 

WE ADHERE TO THE MOST REPUTABLE RESTRICTED SUBSTANCE LISTS:  When determining which ingredients to use in our formulations, we consult with +400 Restricted Substance Lists (RSLs) including those from the European Chemicals Agency and World Health Organization. 

WE INVEST IN TOXICOLOGICAL RESEARCH: RSLs are a helpful starting place, but many ingredients are not on RSLs by virtue of the lengthy process often required to classify them. Since we cannot wait for RSLs to catch up to the latest science we take it a step further using board-certified toxicologists to provide a high-level of assurity, and a clearer, more comprehensive picture of an ingredient’s impact. This means you can have confidence about the ingredients that are in Eighteen B’s products. 

WE INVEST IN THIRD PARTY SAFETY TESTING:  Once we have a candidate formulation in hand, before it ever gets sold, we perform thorough safety testing using third-party labs for irritation, sensitization, and toxicity potential. We don’t test on animals.

WE ARE CERTIFIED BY TRUSTED THIRD-PARTIES:   Certification is important to us because we know it adds a layer of trust to our brand and helps you trust our claims. Eighteen B formulations are third-party certified for having low toxicity scores (EWG Verified) and for being cruelty-free (Leaping Bunny Certified). 

Eighteen B is (solution-oriented) clean beauty.  

Problems are relatively easy to identify.  It’s harder to find the solutions. This is one of the many reasons we are so proud of B-SILK™ PROTEIN and the role it will play in Clean Beauty.  We saw a gap in the availability of materials to defend the skin barrier that were effective and biodegradable so we created B-SILK PROTEIN – which by the way, goes through our same strict validation protocol. 

> Rigorously tested for safety

> Biodegradable (and the degradation products are amino acids)

> Free of carcinogenic, mutagenic, reproductive, and endocrine disruptive contaminants 

> The inputs to the B-SILK™ PROTEIN production process are sugar, water, salt, yeast

> The  B-SILK™ PROTEIN  manufacturing process has a low carbon footprint

Ingredients we do not formulate with

We have removed +1,500 ingredients from our formulating tool box.  This makes formulation a challenge but a challenge we are up for. Below is just a short list of the categories of materials we do not formulate with.

We avoid formulating with hazardous CMR and ED ingredients.  Read here for more background on these ingredients.  

● Parabens

● Fragrance

● Formaldehyde

● Heavy metals

● Hydroquinone

● Mineral oils and petrolatums*

● Paraffin

● Phthalates 

● Siloxanes

● Triclosan

*the chemical itself is not toxic but can be contaminated with CMR and/or endocrine disrupting chemicals

We also feel very strongly about the non-biodegradable polymers commonly included in skin care formulations.  If you think about it, all of our skin care products eventually end up in the environment whether they wash down the drain when you cleanse your face or get washed away from your clothing and sheets. This might seem like a trivial amount of material getting into our environment, but in reality it adds up and it is impacting the ecosystem.  Here is a list of non-biodegradable polymers that we do not formulate with. 

● Petrolatum

● Silicones

● Polyethylene

● Polyethylene Glycol

● Polypropylene

● Polystyrene

● Polymethyl Methacrylate

● Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone

● Polyurethane