We care. We care deeply. And because we care deeply, we ask questions.
Given our decade of experience, we know that it’s worth poking at an industry so colossal and under-regulated. Because we are truly committed to caring about beauty, and caring about the impact of our industry, we ask questions and take what we learn to drive change.
What do we mean by clean beauty?
Credo clean means that we ask about the source of the ingredients, as well as potential safety, sustainability and ethical concerns.
We are pushing for greater transparency and more available information in a supply chain that is often murky and full of marketing claims.
Product
We strive to understand the safety of ingredients on the market to help ensure safer, better consumer products.
Packaging
Our Sustainable Packaging Guidelines require our brand partners to reduce the use of single-use items, virgin plastic and non-recyclable materials.
People
We believe that the just treatment of humans should be a part of the clean movement.
Planet
Sustainable sourcing means doing as little harm as possible to the environment to meet current needs, without compromising the needs of the future.
Explore our standards
Want to dig a little deeper?
Photo by Ivan Bandura. Wastewater runoff.
our restricted substances
The Dirty List™
We believe everyone deserves safer, better products. The Dirty List™ is the foundation of the Credo Clean Standard and contains over 2700 chemicals that we prohibit or restrict, usually due to safety and/or sustainability concerns. Credo brand partners do not use our restricted ingredients in their products.
safer products
Testing
Because overall product safety is of utmost importance to Credo, our Clean Standard goes much further than our Dirty List. We require and guide brands through a variety of raw material and final product testing. Our brand partners regularly test for contaminants, heavy metals, preservative efficacy, irritation potential, ocular safety, and more. Prior to launching, brands run this testing and some relevant tests are also conducted at regular intervals to ensure product integrity.
understanding what’s inside
Labeling and Claims
We believe everyone deserves to be able to easily compare product Ingredient Lists (IL) and understand which ingredients work well for them. That’s why we require that all brands use INCI names in ILs, both on product labels and online. INCI, or the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients, is an internationally recognized and consistent naming convention for cosmetic ingredients.
pushing the industry forward
Fragrance Transparency
Fragrance companies are not legally required to share the ingredients in their “fragrance mixtures.” Yet, fragrances may contain dozens (or more!) ingredients. We believe everyone has the right to know exactly what’s in the fragrances they breathe in and apply every single day. Our brand partners are required to categorize the source of their fragrances for every product and are celebrated when they fully disclose all fragrance ingredients in a product.
working towards circularity
Sustainable Packaging Guidelines
The beauty industry has a packaging waste problem. We introduced industry leading Sustainable Packaging Guidelines in 2020 which requires our brand partners to meet specific standards meant to reduce the use of single-use items, virgin plastic and non-recyclable materials. We also offer our brands best practices from packaging design to end-of-life management, and connect them with preferred packaging suppliers so we can reduce barriers to implementation and spur innovation.
The actress tells us about her science-backed, award-winning hair care line — now at Credo.
The actress tells us about her science-backed, award-winning hair care line — now at Credo.
