Less Than 2% of Beauty Products Meet EWG-Verified® Clean Standards
Most beauty and personal care products on the market today are made with chemicals introduced decades ago. Since then, scientific research has linked many of these ingredients to serious health concerns, including cancer, asthma, fertility issues, endocrine disruption, and developmental harm.
What’s more confronting? Many of these chemicals appear in products we use every single day — shampoo, soap, skincare, makeup, deodorant, even household items like furniture and mattresses. In many cases, manufacturers aren’t required to disclose every ingredient, leaving consumers unable to fully understand what they’re being exposed to.
This lack of transparency is exactly why the Environmental Working Group (EWG) created Skin Deep® — now considered one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive clean beauty database.
What Is EWG Skin Deep® and Why Does It Matter?
Launched in 2004, EWG Skin Deep® is a free, public database that evaluates the safety of personal care products and ingredients. It currently includes safety data on nearly 9,000 ingredients and reviews products using independent scientific research and regulatory data.
As of February 2026, EWG has analysed:
- + 138,101 personal care products
- + 6,331 beauty and personal care brands
Yet despite this enormous volume, less than 2% — just 2,441 products — have earned the EWG Verified® mark.
That statistic alone highlights how rare truly clean, transparent beauty products still are.
What Does “EWG Verified®” Actually Mean?
The EWG Verified® mark represents the highest possible standard for ingredient safety and transparency. Every product on the Skin Deep database is labeled from EWG verified (lowest hazard) to 10 (highest hazard)
To earn the EWG Verified® mark, products must:
- + Contain no EWG chemicals of concern
- + Fully disclose all ingredients, including fragrance components
- + Meet strict health and transparency criteria
- + Avoid known or suspected carcinogens, reproductive toxins, and endocrine disruptors
When you see this mark, it means the product has been independently assessed and meets EWG’s most rigorous standards — not just “clean-ish,” but genuinely non-toxic.
Reviewing some of the products on their database highlight some of the big brands with red high hazard.
Why Was Skin Deep® Created — and Why Is It Still Needed Today?
Personal care products are formulated using more than 10,500 unique chemical ingredients, some of which are known or suspected carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, or reproductive toxins. Yet many consumers are unaware of this exposure because ingredient transparency in beauty remains limited.
In the United States, cosmetic regulations are still outdated. Brands are not required to conduct pre-market safety testing on cosmetic ingredients, despite the fact that exposure is daily, cumulative, and long-term. As a result, ingredients such as coal tar, formaldehyde, and lead acetate — all linked to serious health concerns — can still legally appear in beauty products.
EWG created Skin Deep® in 2004 to address this gap, giving consumers access to independent, science-backed information about the ingredients in their personal care products. Nearly two decades later, the database remains essential — because full ingredient transparency is still not guaranteed.
Why EWG-Verified® Is the Gold Standard in Clean Beauty
As concerns around cancer rates, fertility challenges, allergies, and chronic health conditions continue to rise, many consumers are looking beyond marketing claims and demanding proof.
The EWG Verified® mark identifies products that meet EWG’s strictest standards for ingredient safety and transparency. It means:
- + No hidden ingredients
- + No regulatory loopholes
- + No greenwashing
Only products that exclude all EWG chemicals of concern and fully disclose ingredients earn this mark — making it one of the most trusted clean beauty certifications globally.
While not every brand has the resources to pursue verification, the mark remains globally the clearest signal that a product meets the highest clean beauty standards available today.
Notably, Epicutis is currently the only fully EWG-Verified® skincare line exclusive to the professional luxury beauty channel, combining medical-grade, clinically backed science with uncompromising ingredient integrity.
Clean Beauty in Australia: Why Standards Still Matter
In Australia, the term “clean beauty” is unregulated. This means any brand or retailer can label products as “clean” based on their own definition — often without meaningful ingredient scrutiny or defined standards.
While Australia’s cosmetic regulations are stronger than those in the U.S., there remains a significant loophole: brands are not required to fully disclose all ingredients.
“Fragrance,” “parfum,” or “perfume” can legally contain hundreds of undisclosed chemicals, including allergens and endocrine disruptors — and still be marketed as clean.
This is where EWG standards and BAMBII’s clean beauty criteria align.
How BAMBII Applies Clean Beauty Principles
At BAMBII, clean beauty isn’t a marketing label — it’s a set of strict standards.
We curate products that:
- + Fully disclose ingredients (no hidden fragrance blends)
- + Exclude known harmful or questionable chemicals
- + Meet ethical, cruelty-free, and sustainability criteria
In previous reviews of the Australian clean beauty market, we found that many retailers still stock products that would not meet BAMBII’s standards — often due to undisclosed fragrance ingredients or outdated formulations.
Our approach is intentionally aligned with EWG principles, even when products are not formally EWG Verified®, ensuring transparency and trust at every level.
The Takeaway
Less than 2% of the beauty products analysed by EWG meet the highest standard of clean, transparent formulation.
That’s not meant to alarm — but to empower.
When you understand what’s in your products, you can make choices that support not just your skin, but your long-term health. Clean beauty isn’t about fear — it’s about informed, conscious decisions.
At BAMBII, we believe you deserve clarity, honesty, and products that truly earn your trust.
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