What's actually in your skincare
Arthlings · Label Literacy
We run in-school sessions teaching kids to read a label before they trust it. Here's the same check, applied to our own products — three swaps we make in everything we bottle, and a 30-second habit you can use on anything in your bathroom cabinet.
Three swaps we make
Parabens are cheap and effective, which is exactly why they're everywhere — but they're also linked to hormone disruption and don't break down cleanly once they're rinsed away. Germall Plus and Geogard ECO do the same preservation job with a shorter, better-studied safety record.
Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate foam hard and strip harder — a common cause of tight, irritated skin and scalp. Our coconut- and plant-derived cleansers foam gently and rinse just as clean. Find them in our Shampoo.
"Parfum" is one word standing in for a mix a brand never has to disclose — sometimes dozens of compounds. Every scent in an Arthlings product is a named essential oil, chosen for that product — like the rose in our Rose Water.
Read any label in 3 steps
-
1
Read the first five ingredients. Ingredients are listed by quantity — the first five are most of what you're putting on your skin. Everything after that is mostly trace amounts.
-
2
Can't pronounce it? Look it up. Not every long name is a red flag — but it takes fifteen seconds to check, and that habit alone catches most of what's worth avoiding.
-
3
Short list, fewer places to hide. It's not a rule without exceptions, but a label with eight ingredients you recognize is usually a better sign than one with thirty you don't.
This glossary grows as we add more products — screenshot it before your next skincare buy, or come back any time. Have an ingredient you want checked? Send it our way.