Is "Clean Beauty" really clean?

Hi -,

Tomorrow is "National Clean Beauty Day".

And honestly, we have some feelings about it.

When we launched Wildling nearly eight years ago, clean beauty felt like a revolution. People were waking up, reading labels, asking better questions, and wanting more from the products they put on their skin. We were thrilled. But then clean became marketable. And the moment something becomes marketable, it becomes harder to trust.

Walk into almost any major beauty retailer now and half the floor is labeled “clean.” Green leaves, soft colors, words like pure, natural, botanical. There are bottles that look earthy and safe, but are still filled with ingredients we would never use. And that matters. We are living in a world where microplastics, PFAS, endocrine disruptors, synthetic fragrance, and undisclosed chemicals are now part of the daily conversation. What we put on our skin is no longer a small thing. A green leaf on a label is not enough.

We started Wildling because we are mothers. We wanted products safe enough for our babies’ cheeks, and potent enough to support the skin through real life, real stress, real aging, and real hormonal change. That is still our standard. We seek out farmers, herbalists, and suppliers who grow and source some of the most extraordinary botanicals in the world. Wild-harvested when possible. 100% natural when we say 100% natural. No filler. No synthetic fragrance. No shortcuts dressed up as innovation.

Many of the plants we work with come from long lineages of traditional herbal medicine, ancient beauty rituals, and earth-based healing practices that understood something modern beauty is only beginning to remember: the skin is not separate from the body. Every ingredient has a reason to be there. And that reason is your skin, your health, and the ritual of caring for yourself in a way that actually feels trustworthy.

Wildling is not clean by marketing standards, we are clean by our own.

And in nearly eight years, we have never compromised on that, not once.

We will keep doing the hard part, sourcing better, formulating slower, and asking more questions, so you do not have to.

With love,

Jill
Co-founder, Product Developer

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PS. If you relate to this email and haven't tried our skincare yet, experience the difference ♥️