Clean up your skincare

Just as we clean out our wardrobes, kitchen drawers or attics from time to time, our skin can also need a tidying up. One place to start is at home in the bathroom. What products do you have sitting around collecting dust? What's hiding in the drawers or at the back of the cupboard? Perhaps even more important is figuring out how to sort and tidy up your products. Is it by shelf life, cleanliness or usability?

In this Beauty IQ issue, we guide you on how to clean up your skincare products in 10 simple steps. In addition to helping your skin, cleaning up also invites more peace of mind, less spending, and a simple routine that you can better understand and therefore get done – every morning and evening.

10 good reasons to clean up your bathroom

1. Expiration date

Your skincare products have an expiration date. Of course, it's not like milk that gets too old, but you can still risk the products' preservation systems becoming unstable over time, especially because it's hot and humid in the bathroom. There's a chance that fungal spores will find their way into your skincare products and thus your skin. Fungal spores can break down your skin's microbiome, which we're big advocates of protecting and strengthening.

2. Water

Has water gotten into the product? This can happen, for example, if the lid is not screwed on properly, or you share products with other family members who forget to screw the lid on after use. If water has already gotten into the product, you have the same challenge as point 1 (except if it is a body or face oil, for example), as the product's preservation system becomes unstable.

3. Durability

Have you used the product within the last 6 months? Most products with natural ingredients have a limited shelf life after opening, typically 6-9 months. So there is no excuse for storing the products any longer. You can check the shelf life of a skincare product by looking for an icon with a cream jar with a lid on the packaging. This cream jar contains a number, often followed by an “M”, which tells you how many months the product will last after you first open it.

4. Effect

Have you experienced good effects from the product? If you don't have good effects, there is no reason to use it. Your skin care should make a difference to your skin. You should feel that your skin is softer, more supple, looks healthier and more vital. Can you do that? Unfortunately, we often tend to fall for the massive amount of marketing hype that all too often accompanies skin care products. It may say that 85% experience an improvement in 6 weeks, but how does the product work on your skin?

5. You are allowed to make demands

Would you give the product to your best friend who really needs self-care and the best of the best? If the answer is no, why should you “settle” for it yourself? In general, far too many of us place far too few demands on both the effectiveness and quality of our skincare. You can change that by cleaning up your bathroom thoroughly, ensuring that you only apply quality, effective products to your skin.

6. Trends

Do you still have products from the time you decided to try microneedling, take a fruit acid treatment, or only buy skincare that matched the tiles on the wall? Maybe it's time to make an update so that your skincare actually works with your skin and has an effect rather than being on the latest trend, or your skincare is color-coordinated with your bathroom.

7. The common thread

If you prioritize eating organically, sorting your waste or avoiding fossil fuel-based transportation, you have most likely also chosen skincare based on the same values. But do you have a handle on the natural products? Be curious and critical – is your skincare crammed into packaging made from virgin plastic or recycled plastic? Do you know how much of the ingredients in your cream are organic? Has time and resources been spent on certifications so you can be absolutely sure that you are getting what you think you are getting?

8. Production

Where is your skincare produced? This can have an impact on local working conditions. It also has an impact on transportation and thus the overall environmental footprint a company and ultimately you as a consumer leave behind.

9. Ingredients

Are you putting silicone on your skin every day without knowing it? You can see what a product consists of on the INCI list. If you want to know more about how to read the INCI list, and which ingredients to avoid or look for, you can read more in our Beauty IQ theme about ingredients here . ( https://www.yroli.com/pages/om-ingredienser )

10. Certifications

There is no official definition of “organic” or “natural” cosmetics and skincare. There are only guidelines from the Consumer Ombudsman, so that companies are not accused of false marketing.

The rule is that at least 95 percent of the product's ingredients, excluding water, must be organic. However, no one is monitoring this. Therefore, it is actually not possible for consumers to know to what extent skincare products and cosmetics contain natural and organic ingredients.

However, certifications such as Ecocert Cosmos can give you as a consumer greater security. In addition to having standards for which certification a product receives (organic, raw or natural), a company must also be able to document an ingredient and a product's journey from the place of origin and production to the final product and its distribution. You can read more about certifications here .

An additional recommendation

There are far too many manufacturers who are not serious about their skincare products. However, at Yrolí, we believe that your skin is far too important to just blindly trust what you are promised on websites and in advertisements, as fancy formulations are no guarantee of healthy and effective skincare. Does it seem a bit too green and good to be true? Is there serious documentation for the claims? If there isn't, it may not be true when it comes down to it.

Here are some clichés worth avoiding:

“Our packaging is recyclable, you can use it for vases afterwards, for example”. “We strive to choose ingredients that are as natural as possible”. “We are aware of the environment, which is why we make our products in 500 ml bottles, because then you use less packaging”. What kind of packaging are we talking about here? If the packaging is made of virgin plastic, more plastic is sent into circulation rather than recycling what already exists. “99.9% from natural ingredients”. If the product is without certification, there is absolutely no guarantee of a high natural content.

How to get started with cleaning

Find all your beauty products from drawers, cabinets and shelves. Start sorting:

1. Anything that has expired or the packaging is broken
2. Anything you haven't used in the last 6-9 months
3. Everything that doesn't really work for your skin
4. Everything purchased outside the EU
5. Anything that doesn't match your other values ​​and quality standards

Once you have reviewed your products, you will either be left with a small selection of high-quality, effective products or you will be left with a gaping void. If the latter is the case, you can be happy that your journey towards healthy skin with a sustainable focus is about to begin. We can recommend our Face Kit , which gives you a simple and effective morning and evening routine developed based on our One Layer skincare approach. ( https://www.yroli.com/products/face-kit )

Our checklist

Below we have collected some of the ingredients that we believe do not belong in skincare products:

Synthetic sulfates (SLS/SLES)
These foaming synthetic detergents can irritate the skin and dry it out.

Mineral oils
Ingredients like petrolatum and paraffinum liquidum can clog pores and hinder the skin's natural function.

PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances)
These substances are harmful to both health and the environment, as they can disrupt the hormonal system and accumulate in nature.

Silicones
Although they provide a smooth feel, they can create a barrier that prevents the skin from breathing and absorbing nutrients.

Allergens
Too much perfume, dyes and certain preservatives can cause allergic reactions, especially in people with sensitive skin.

Phthalates
Often used in fragrances and can be hormone disruptors.

Bisphenol A (BPA)
Found in some packaging and can lead to hormonal disruptions.