The Largest Clean Beauty Retailer | Are They Legit? Credo Beauty Review

Credo Beauty makes shopping for clean beauty a breeze! But can you get a good deal?

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Don’t you hate having to research beauty and personal care products to find out if they’re actually natural or nontoxic?

I know I certainly do, and I’ve been on the clean beauty train since 2012! This Credo Beauty review is going to tell you all about the amazing perks of the biggest clean beauty marketplace out there.

I love that there are plenty of clean beauty marketplaces that do all the hard work for you. I really wish I had them when I first started my own journey.

But before you check out Credo and get super overwhelmed, I’ve got some things to look out for, so you can walk in there (or log on) like an expert.

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What is Credo Beauty and Who Owns It?

Credo Beauty was founded by two former Sephora insiders, and I absolutely love that about their history!

Credo is often called the Sephora of clean beauty, so it’s only fitting. There are several brick and mortar stores throughout the US, with their base being in San Francisco.

They also have locations, in Las Angeles, New York, Chicago and Boston. Plus a new location they just added near me in Denver!

The mission of Credo Beauty is to educate their buyers, as well as provide accessible products to those who want to be informed.

One major emphasis Credo makes about its products is that not everything has to be totally natural. Synthetic is fine, as long as that synthetic ingredient is proven to not be harmful.

And that’s a philosophy we should all get behind!

Shop Non-Toxic With a Non-Toxic Mindset

Just because an ingredient is made in a laboratory or shouldn’t be eaten, doesn’t mean it’s toxic. If it’s proven to be safe for its intended use and doesn’t endanger your health long-term, then I’m personally okay with it.

Of course, everyone can put themselves wherever they want on the clean beauty spectrum, but when you’ve been doing this for a few years, it gets easier to accept ideas like this. I tend to put too much pressure on myself, so it’s okay to loosen the reigns a tiny bit.

You can see what I mean in more detail on Credo’s “Dirty List” page. They have a very extensive list of ingredients they don’t allow, as well as ingredients they do allow that tend to be more controversial.

They do a good job of reasoning why they allow certain ingredients, which I can respect despite me disagreeing with them a bit.

Take phenoxyethanol, for example. It’s a preservative that we just don’t know enough information about yet. There have been studies that point to it causing skin and lung irritation, as well as long-term exposure causing organ damage.

But because there are reputable sources also saying that it’s totally fine, Credo allows it in their products. I disagree with this because I think that where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire.

People’s views might change in a few years, but I’d rather not become a statistic in the meantime. For me personally, I’m okay with it in a product as long as it’s in trace amounts.

What Makes Credo Beauty Unique—My Favorite Clean Beauty Tools

One piece of advice I’d like to give if you’re new to Credo Beauty is that you can get overwhelmed by the sheer number of products very, very fast. Even though everything is online, I still get overwhelmed if I’m not careful.

It’s still very fitting though, with Credo being the clean beauty version of Sephora. I can’t walk into a Sephora without getting major deer in the headlights. And I only approve of maybe 10% of their products!

Luckily, Credo seems to understand the overwhelm problem very well, because they have some tools that make it much easier to find what you’re looking for. They also have a couple more programs and features worth mentioning that I think you’ll love.

The Most Thorough Product Descriptions

My absolute favorite thing about Credo Beauty is that they have the most straightforward and easiest to read product descriptions out there. Every question you could have about a product is answered right there in front of you with no B.S.

Take a look at this luxurious scalp scrub by Innersense. If you scroll down a bit past the product details and how to use it, you’ll see a full list of ingredients with links for more information, all of the product’s certifications, and some explanation behind any questionable ingredients, particularly fragrance.

If you’re not aware of the dangers behind seeing “fragrance” on an ingredient list, listen up! It may be legal for companies to not disclose everything on their ingredient list, but there’s a sneaky loophole in fragrance.

It’s perfectly legal for companies to mask what makes their product smell so good with the word “fragrance” to keep it a trade secret. The only problem is, that tiny word can be a coverup of hundreds of ingredients that you’re trying to avoid!

I’ll automatically say no to trying a product if I see “fragrance” on the list. There’s just too many unknowns in that word.

But Credo Beauty really cracks down on the products on their platform by making them disclose all of their fragrance ingredients. It give me that peace of mind I haven’t had in a long time!

Honesty I Can Respect

You’ll see a little chart in the ingredient section of all products on Credo that disclose what kind of fragrance is in the product. As you can see in this scalp scrub, there isn’t any added fragrance at all, and is instead scented with essential oils.

If a product is made with synthetic fragrance, the company must prove to Credo that the ingredients are proven to be safe.

A better example is this perfume by Henry rose. Yes, you can actually buy clean perfume! I have the best ones here.

If you scroll to the ingredients, you can see every single one listed, as well as an explanation of the ingredient if you click on it. Each and every ingredient adheres to Credo’s high standards, which is fantastic!

Despite my saying that Credo’s ingredient standards tend to be a little lax, I still respect and buy from them for this reason. This shows me that they’re willing to hit both ends of the clean beauty spectrum and be completely honest about it.

And that’s exactly what the cosmetics industry needs right now!

By the way, if you’re wondering what I think of the scalp scrub by Innersense, I absolutely love it! My scalp doesn’t itch anymore, and I can go an extra day in between washings.

Just be careful that you don’t get it on your face or eyes when you rinse it out. It’s scented pretty heavily with peppermint essential oils, and the menthol really cools down your skin.

I accidentally let it drip down my face when I rinsed it out and most of my face had that cool tingly feeling for a few minutes.

Get the Help You Need Without Talking to Someone

Introverts rejoice!! Credo has one of my favorite ways to shop for something new online.

If you go onto Credo Beauty’s website just to browse, get ready for a huge sense of overwhelm! I don’t think I’ve seen all of the products they have to offer, not even close.

To combat this overwhelm, I highly recommend that you check out their “Your Product Finder” under the Stores and Services tab.

I love this feature because you can look for something specific and add things to make this product even more specific.

For example, say you’re looking for some facial serum. You’ve been meaning to try out hyaluronic acid, so you can narrow your search down to facial serums with hyaluronic acid.

And if you hate a certain ingredient, like grapeseed essential oil, you can add that too. I did this search combination and got 32 results for facial serums with hyaluronic acid but without grapeseed oil!

And don’t worry, you don’t have to have all three boxes filled out for this to work. It’s perfectly fine for you to search for a product without a certain ingredient and leave it at that!

Credo Beauty’s (Somewhat Decent) Recycling Program

Another great thing about Credo is that they take the packaging of their products very seriously. As in they won’t sell a potential clean beauty product if it isn’t in sustainable packaging and looks beautiful.

Sustainability is a huge value of Credo’s, which is welcome in my book. You can check out their full sustainability and recycling guidelines that they apply to every potential product.

If you’re an enthusiastic environmentalist, then Credo is a fantastic shopping resource for you.

And not only that, but you can actually recycle your product’s packaging if you live near a brick-and-mortar Credo Beauty.

It’s a great incentive to recycle and check out new products at the same time, because you can get points for every package that you recycle in-person. Which leads me to another great tool that actually worth looking into.

A Rewards Program That’s Actually Worth It

It can be super annoying to be solicited store-specific credit cards or rewards programs where the benefits are a complete joke. But I’m happy to say that Credo’s reward program isn’t a joke at all!

You can only find a good Credo Beauty sale once or twice a year, so their rewards program is definitely worth looking into.

I’ve been a part of reward programs where you get $1 off for every $100 you spend (not clean beauty related), but Credo’s reward program can actually save you some money.

You get one point for every $1 you spend, and there are levels of free products you can unlock if you get to 100, 200, or 500 points! I kind of see it as picking out a prize with tickets you won and saved up at Chuck E Cheese (does anyone even remember this?)

And the products you can unlock aren’t half bad either. There’s a little something for everyone from trusted brands we love.

The best part is that you can get points for more than just spending money. You can get points for leaving reviews, following Credo’s social medias, and recycling in-store.

I’ll admit that you could get the most out of this program if you lived near a store, but if you’re a clean beauty junkie like me, it’s totally worth it. There’s actually a lot more to this program, and you can check out the full details to learn more.

Before You Go!

I love to tell people new to clean beauty all about marketplaces like Credo Beauty because it makes the process of switching so much easier! When I first started my clean beauty journey, I had to look for products on my own and do extensive research on each ingredient.

And I don’t want you to deal with all the headaches I had to! Make things easier on yourself and check out Credo Beauty to see how they can help you on your clean beauty journey.

Shop Credo Beauty