From our very early years until today, Reviva Labs has been at the forefront of many clean beauty and safety movements. We’re constantly reviewing our product formulas and tinkering to make them better and cleaner. It’s a never-ending process but one we’re committed to.
Times change and so does the science. Parabens were once used industry wide as the preferred preservative, until the science began to suggest (and later confirmed) they were potentially harmful. Early on, Reviva began the process of removing these ingredients from our products. Likewise, today we’re working to remove phenoxyethanol from our products (even though it’s used throughout the industry) – since the science is indicating this preservative may pose a risk.
The term clean beauty means a lot of things to different people
First, let’s admit that clean beauty is really a marketing term coined by our industry that completely lacks any oversight. Essentially, anyone can claim their products are clean without having to offer any proof. Fortunately, today the internet provides a wealth of information and tools to delve deeper into skin care formulations. Sites such as incidecoder.com and ewg.org/skindeep and the goodfaceproject.com offer great breakdowns of product formulas and provide information about each ingredient.
So, should clean beauty mean all natural?
For Reviva, clean beauty doesn’t necessarily mean all natural. To us it means reviewing information on various ingredients and carefully formulating in a manner that is the safest for humans and for Mother Earth. We choose our ingredients carefully and lean towards more natural ingredients when possible. But we’re also not afraid to combine the latest cosmeceutical ingredients. Scientific research has provided an abundance of possibilities with peptides and antioxidants and it would be a shame to avoid these ingredients simply because they’re lab created – provided they’re shown to be safe.
Many botanical extracts also need to be processed and refined to remove contaminants and to guarantee stability and efficacy. Of course, there are safe and unsafe ways to process these ingredients, and we source from ethical suppliers that deliver safe, clean ingredients. So, clean beauty to us means selecting the best possible ingredients that offer both results and very low safety concerns.
For Reviva, clean beauty is safe beauty, formulated with safe ingredients. And that means safely sourced, safe for human use, and safe for our planet.
Should clean beauty be vegan?
This is a question we get a lot, since we do have some product formulas that contain animal products, such as beeswax, lanolin, or collagen. We receive both grief and praise for some of our ingredient choices. And we listen to both sides. Choices aren’t always black or white, even if we’d like them to be. But we do continue to review and iterate so as the science advances, we’re always ready to switch to synthesized alternatives in the future.
As a legacy brand with nearly five decades on the market, we’ve introduced and discontinued hundreds of products. Many of the products that contain animal-based ingredients have existed for decades. We evaluate alternative sources constantly – such as marine collagen – but it just doesn’t compare. And since to us clean beauty doesn’t equate to being vegan we lean towards efficacy and results.
Clean for the planet too
We’re constantly struggling to deliver products that are human safe and safe long-term for the planet. Again, we source form suppliers that “use” renewable supplies and that don’t test on animals. And we’re constantly trying to reduce our packaging or to make it more recycle friendly. It’s a difficult balance that we struggle with and agonize over. We switched our 1oz products from plastic airless pumps to glass bottles and we’re considering the same for our jars. We also eliminated our sealing discs and instead switched to a pressure-sensitive lined lid. We’re always trying to balance safety, affordability, and product preservation.
The U.S. has fallen behind when it comes to governing cosmetic safety
The United States lacks deep oversight of the cosmetic industry. The last big Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act was signed into law by FDR back in 1938. And in over 80 years, while the European Union has banned more than 1,000 chemicals from use in personal care products, the U.S. has banned just 11. Further, the FDA lacks both the capacity and regulatory control to effectively police cosmetics and skin care – for the most part. We also strive for compliance with E.U. guidelines. And of course, Reviva is inspected regularly by the FDA, and maintains and adheres to good manufacturing practices (GMP) policies.
Weak oversight has led to unscrupulous characters selling pseudo-science and questionable skin care online. Take for example the recent hand sanitizer debacle (during the 2020 pandemic). Nefarious characters used methanol as their alcohol, even though hand sanitizers are regulated as an OTC product. But when the FDA relaxed the rules, during a crisis, many ne’er do wells jumped in to make quick money without being safe. Caveat Emptor indeed!
Reviva Labs’ clean beauty is…
For Reviva, clean beauty is safe beauty, formulated with safe ingredients. And that means safely sourced, safe for human use, and safe for our planet. Further, it’s a commitment to continually evolving. To keep abreast of the latest research that will guide our decisions and formulations – now and in the future. To be committed to change when change is necessary – and sometimes earlier – when it might only appear it’s necessary. Because, after nearly five decades, we know things will change, and Reviva will change to make things safer when the science tells us to do so.
Related Reading:
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/skin-care/a28352553/clean-beauty/
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