91: The "Clean" Brand You're Using Might Not Be So Clean | Melanie Petschke

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My Clean Beauty Guide: Your complete guide to choosing non-tox personal products.

Non-Tox Swaps Ingredient List Freebie

EWG Verified Website

Mari talks with Melanie Petschke, co-founder of Crunchi, about how she built a clean cosmetics brand, after not finding products that met both safety and performance standards. Melanie explains that “clean” has no legal definition, making greenwashing common, and describes Crunchi’s evidence-based ingredient screening approach. They discuss weak U.S. cosmetics regulation compared with the EU, how harmful ingredients can contribute to body burden, cancer risk, and endocrine disruption, and why “fragrance” can hide thousands of undisclosed ingredients, often involving phthalates. Melanie recommends using EWG Verified as a helpful tool, offers beginner skincare steps, and advises making gradual product swaps without overwhelm.

00:22 Melanie’s Background and Mission

07:39 Why Clean Beauty Matters

07:54 Defining Clean and Greenwashing

11:06 US Regulation and Consumer Burden

13:03 Health and Hormone Impacts

17:15 Label Reading and Fragrance Red Flags

20:42 Greenwashing Reality Check

21:28 EWG Ratings Explained

25:03 Verification Caveats

25:36 DIY Ingredient Checking

28:01 Skincare Starter Routine

30:59 How Long To Test

32:26 Purging And Acne

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