Is Physicians Formula Clean?

Do you worry about the toxic ingredients in makeup? 

If so, you have probably heard of Physicians Formula makeup products as being a safer alternative to the regular makeup brands. But is Physicians Formula clean makeup?  What is the best safe cosmetic company?

Physicians Formula’s products have a lot of great reviews, and they advertise as a healthy makeup brand.  But are they more concerned about being a nonallergenic makeup brand or non-toxic?  Are their products chemical free?

Last week Lil Sis came home with a note from school listing all the things she needs for the play that she is in next week.  Of course, on this list was blush, lipstick, eye shadow, and eyeliner. 

All things that I do not own.

I used to wear makeup, but after having kids the daily getting myself all done up changed to just quickly putting on some eye shadow and mascara until even that was used only for special occasions. 

When I decided that revamping my life included purging all the toxic products from my home, all the make up I hadn’t touched in a couple years got tossed. I knew there were safer makeup brands out there, but at the time I had no reason to even look into it.

Then that note came home.

I will admit, initially, I thought about just grabbing some makeup from the dollar store and tossing it out once the play was over.  But we had been doing so good at replacing all the toxic products in our home with safer versions, I really didn’t want to bring any toxic beauty products back into my bathroom.

So, I decided I would do some research and see what options there were for safe cosmetics.

I had seen the Physicians Formula makeup brand in the natural foods section at the grocery store, so I figured they must be a safe cosmetic company.  But, with the price tag on their products, I wanted to look into it a bit to make sure their products really were nontoxic.

According to Physicians Formula’s website, they offer hypoallergenic makeup that is safe for sensitive skin and eyes and made without the many harsh ingredients found in most other products.  This is great for someone worried about a potential allergic reaction to makeup, but I wasn’t convinced by the “without many harsh ingredients” part.  This still left me questioning if Physicians Formula makeup is safe.

To figure that out I had to check them out on Skin Deep.

If you haven’t heard of Skin Deep it’s an online database that rates beauty products by hazard level.  They provide an overall rating for the company, an overall rating for each product and ratings for each ingredient in the products. Anything with a rating of 1-2 (green) is considered low hazard, 3-6 (yellow) is a moderate hazard and 7-10 (red) is a high hazard.  While not every product out there is listed on their site, they have a large selection of products that are. 

Despite Physicians Formula’s attempt to lead consumers to believe that their products are safe, by advertising that they don’t use many harsh ingredients found in other makeup products, their rating was not as good as I had expected.  Overall the company has a rating of 1-7 on Skin Deep, meaning that some of their products are actually in the red (High hazard) zone. 

With an overall rating that high, I decided I would have to take the time to look through product by product and see if I could find any safe cosmetics by this brand.

This is the breakdown of what I was able to find for Physician’s Formula’s safest rated products.

Concealer

The Physicians Formula concealers range from a rating of a 3 to a 6.  The lowest rated one is Physicians Formula Argan Wear Ultra-Nourishing Argan Oil BB Concealer.  While most of the ingredients in it are rated 4 or lower, one ingredient has a rating of 8! 

Price $20.  

Foundation

There are only a few foundations listed on Skin Deep for Physicians Formula, with the ratings ranging from a 3 to a 6.  Their Nude Wear Touch of Glow Foundation, with an overall rating of a 3, contains ingredients rated at a 4 and under.  

Price $20

Powder

There is a large selection of powders listed, with overall ratings ranging from a 2 up to a 7! The Gentle Wear 100% Natural Origin Pressed Powder Organics, with an overall rating of 2, has 1 ingredient rated a 3 with the rest rated a 2 or under.  

Price $22.

Blush

The Physicians Formula blushes listed on Skin Deep have overall ratings between a 2 and a 6.  The only one I could find to buy locally is the Powder Palette Multi-colored Blush, which is rated a 3.  It has 3 ingredients rated a 3, with the rest rated a 2 or under.  

Price- $16.

Eyebrow Pencil

There’s only one eyebrow pencil listed on Skin Deep and it is rated a 5.  Most ingredients are a 4 or under, but one ingredient has a rating of 9 and another a 7! 

Price $14.

Mascara

There’s a good selection of mascara’s rated, ranging from a rating of a 1 to a 6.  The lowest rated mascara is their organic mascara which contains no ingredients with a rating higher than a 2.  

Price $16.

Eye Shadow

Again, there is a good selection of eye shadows listed on Skin Deep, ranging from a one to a 4.  The lowest rating is their Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Extreme Shimmer Shadow with only three ingredients rated a 3 and the rest a 1 or 2.  

Price $16. 

Eye Liner

There are several eye liner’s listed with ratings ranging from a 2 to a 4.  The lowest rated eyeliner is the Argan Wear Ultra-Nourishing Argan Oil Kohl Kajal Eyeliner.  Most ingredients in it are rated a 2 or lower, but one ingredient was rated a 6. 

Price $13

Lip Gloss

Skin Deep only has two current products listed for lip gloss, the pH Matchmaker pH Powered Lip Gloss in light pink or natural.  The light pink has an overall rating of 2, with 2 ingredients rated a 4 and the rest a 2 or under.  The natural one has an overall rating of 3, with 3 ingredients rated a 4 and the rest a 2 or under.  

Price $13

So, is Physicians Formula makeup safe? 

While some of their products fell in the low hazard range, many of them were in the moderate hazard range, and some even contained high hazard ingredients.  While some of their products are safe, the same can be said about most regular makeup brands too. 

In fact, when I searched for other brands to compare the ratings of similar products, I found that some regular makeup brands that can be purchased at Walmart were even safer than Physicians Formula.

As I was searching for other brands for each product, I notice that there was one brand that I kept seeing with the safest ratings. 

e.l.f.. Studios.

For every makeup product, I searched for I was able to find an e.l.f. product with a rating of 4 or under, with most being rated a 1 or 2.  Best of all their products are super cheap. 

While e.l.f. doesn’t promote their products as being nontoxic, or advertise as a healthy makeup brand, they do promote themselves as being a vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics company.  And, of course, affordable.

Here is a breakdown of the ratings of the safest e.l.f makeup products I found.

Concealer

The overall rating on Skin deep for e.l.f’s concealer is only a 1.  Most ingredients in it are rated 2 or below, with one ingredient rated a 3. 

Price $4

Foundation

Their lowest rated foundation is their Flawless Finish Foundation with an overall rating of 3 and no ingredients rated higher than a 4.  

Price- $8.

Powder

E.l.f’s High Definition Powder has an overall rating of only a 1.  It contains only two ingredients, rated a 1 and a 2.  

Price-$8

Blush

Their blush ranged in ratings from a 2 to a 4.  The single color blushes in Candid Coral, Fuchsia Fusion, Mellow Mauve, and Tickled Pink all have an overall rating of 2, with ingredients rated at a 3 or below.

Price- $3

Eyebrow Pencil

The e.l.f. Instant Lift Brow Pencil has an overall rating of 2, with most ingredients receiving a rating of under 2, one rated a 3 and another a 4.  

Price $3

Mascara

E.l.f. studio Mineral Infused Mascara has an overall rating of 2.  There is one ingredient rated a 5, one a 4 and one a 3, with the rest being a 2 or under.  

Price $4

Eyeshadow

Their Flawless Eyeshadow line has an overall rating of only a1.  No ingredient in them is rated higher than a 3. 

Price $3 (for a 4-color palette)

Eyeliner

The Brightening eyeliner pencil has an overall rating of a 2, with one ingredient rated a 4 and the rest a 2 and under.  

Price $2

Lip gloss

Their lowest rated lip gloss is their Jumbo Lip Gloss sticks, which has an overall rating of a 3, but contains one ingredient that is rated a 7!  Another ingredient is a 4, with the rest being a 2 or under.  Unfortunately, I could not find a tinted lip gloss or lipstick by e.l.f that did not contain at least one high hazard ingredient.  

Price $4.

Since e.l.f’s lip products were rated too high for my liking, I ended up going with Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer instead (rated a 2, with no ingredients higher than a 2). 

Even though I had to go with a different brand for lip gloss, I was able to get everything else I needed from e.l.f.  Based on my research I consider them to be a safe cosmetics company and have no concerns lathering their products all over my 9-year olds face. 

Best of all, I bought my entire makeup collection for under $40!  Had I gone with the Physicians Formula I would have spent $150.  Even Cover Girl would have cost me $80.

So, if your questioning if Physicians Formula makeup is clean, the easy answer is not all of it.  While they do have some nontoxic products, they may not be worth the higher price for everything. 

Not only does e.l.f cosmetics have more safe cosmetics choices, but they are also far more affordable. 

Now that I have some safe cosmetic,s it’s time for this mom to go learn how to do stage makeup.

Have you used Physicians Formula or e.l.f. makeup products?  Are there any other brands of safer makeup products that don’t cost a fortune?  

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