There is no such thing as “Chemical Free”

Have you ever seen “chemical free” printed on the bottle of your cosmetic products, such as skin and hair care? It’s a very odd claim to make, especially considering that everything in the bottle as well as the bottle itself is made up of various chemicals.

Unfortunately, there are many brands, businesses and individuals alike that will try and convince you that their products are chemical free. It’s quite common in the “clean beauty” space.

Unless you’re buying an empty bottle, we assure you, your product contains chemicals. There is simply no such thing as ‘chemical free’ cosmetics. In fact, there is no such thing as ‘chemical free’. But this is not a bad thing – and it’s certainly not as bad as some make it out to be.

Even if it’s the most natural, organic product on the planet, it still contains chemicals. From the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe – all loaded with chemicals that are impossible to avoid.

So if chemicals are really present and there is truly no way to avoid them, isn’t it misleading to label a product as ‘chemical free’?

Absolutely it is, yes! It’s a simple way to scare you… and fear sells. This is the entire point of those misleading claims.

Welcome to the world of fear-based marketing (aka. fearmongering) – a very common trend and sales tactic in the world of cosmetics, and especially in the realm of clean beauty.

Claiming something is chemical free is nothing more than a marketing tactic. When you hear or see the word ‘chemical’ you generally associate that with something bad or negative. So by placing the words ‘chemical free’ on the bottle, you are ‘tricked’ and misled into thinking that you’re buying a better, safer product when in reality, you are not.

Chemical free products are also commonly labelled with other misleading and deceptive claims like “preservative free”, “toxic free”, “all natural” and so on.

Human emotions are exploited, and it can be a very effective marketing tool. After all, if you’re made to believe that something is going to harm you, you’re generally not going to associate yourself with it.

Do not fall victim to this nonsense. Products labelled as ‘chemical free’ are no different to any other product on the market. If they were truly chemical free, then your bottle would be empty!

Personally, we like our products filled with all sorts of chemicals (and so should you) including vitamin A’s, B’s, C’s, peptides and so on because it’s those chemicals that encourage positive change in the skin and body. Without those chemicals, there can be no change.

‘Chemical free’ labelling is fearmongering – plain and simple. Don’t fall for it.