Three Warriors On Why A Vegan, Natural And Organic Meaning On A Label Matters

You might have heard about the ‘clean beauty movement’ but what does ‘clean beauty’ really mean? And why does it matter?

Good question beauty, glad you asked!

The truth is, there’s so much more to these ‘trending’ words than meets the eye. In the words of GOOP (Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness site), clean beauty is defined as ‘beauty products made without ingredients shown or suspected to harm human health.’

Which means when you choose natural, vegan and organic tan it holds much more meaning than a label, it means you are investing in tanning products that will care for your health in the long term.

But to help you understand a little more about the meaning behind them all, let’s go back to where our brand began, shall we warriors?

Three Warriors first came about after our founder Corbin experienced symptoms he couldn’t explain (from migraines, high blood pressure, hives, brain fog, memory loss, anxiety, nerve pain and fatigue). 

After four years of extensive investigation, medical results revealed he was suffering from Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) as a result of toxin build-up in the body (read full story here).

To help overcome CIRS Corbin decided to completely revolutionise his lifestyle, strip back his diet and beauty regime and choose only the most pure, raw and clean products. According to Vogue Australia, our skin absorbs up to 60 per cent of the products we apply to it.

During this time, he realised just how toxic beauty products (including fake tan) can be and not long after, Three Warriors natural, organic tan was born.

Which is what brings us to this blog today, warriors. Why vegan, cruelty-free, natural and organic tan matters and the meaning behind each clean beauty tanning label (plus the benefits!).

To keep it simple, let’s go back to basics to help you understand more about the significance of each quality (cruelty-free meaning, natural meaning, organic meaning and vegan meaning) so you should keep your eyes peeled when reading labels and understand why it matters.

The meaning behind the labels:

What does vegan mean?
As you may already know, when it comes to a vegan diet, vegan means taking an ethical approach that involves only eating only plant based food sources and avoiding all animal products.

However, if we’re not eating it, what is the significance of a vegan meaning when it comes to fake tan? Well, here’s the thing beauties, as we’ve explained with Corbin’s story - your body still ingests them internally and most non-vegan (i.e. not plant derived) beauty products contain a lot harsher chemicals. 

So by choosing to opt out of animal based products, the vegan meaning ensures you are investing in products that look after your body, lessen likelihood of toxin build up and are supporting brands that are ethically aligned and cruelty-free (because in removing animal products it usually means they are not tested on animals either).

The best part is, by choosing clean beauty that uses plant-derived ingredients (aka are vegan meaning) the formulas also tend to contain more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to repair and hydrate the skin.

Side note: if you’re particularly passionate about cruelty-free we recommend always looking out for the ‘Not tested on animals’ rabbit logo.

What does organic mean? 

Okay aside from what we see written on fruit and veg labelling, an organic meaning on a label is really important. According to Beauty Crew, ‘organic refers to how an ingredient was farmed  - it must be prepared and grown without pesticides, chemical fertilisers, growth hormones or antibiotics.’

As part of the organic meaning it means it’s also highly regulated and all beauty brands stating ‘organic’ must comply with the rules and guidelines set by the Australian Certified Organic Association (ACO) in order to state they are an organic product.

To always ensure you’re purchasing clean beauty we can’t recommend looking out for the ACO logo enough. We at Three Warriors are proudly certified organic.

What does natural mean?

Now this is where beauty labelling can get a little sneaky. Just because it says ‘natural’ the reality beauties is, it doesn’t mean it is… at all. Yes, unfortunately labels and brands can lie.

Unlike an organic meaning on a label where you know it’s 100 per cent certified, any brand can unfortunately claim to use ‘natural ingredients’ but have no governing body regulate them.

So really, what whole ‘natural meaning’, according to Beauty Crew, ‘can mean any ingredients that are using a plant, mineral or animal by-product.’ However, the reality is, natural can still contain synthetic ingredients because no one is holding a brand accountable.

How can you tell then if a natural meaning on a fake tan label is honest in its nature? The fail safe way is to look at the ingredient listing, scanning from top to bottom.

The ingredients are listed in order of percentage from highest to lowest, so if you’re trying to limit synthetic ingredients, make sure they’re always listed towards the bottom. Or, if you find the names a little innocuous or foreign (i.e. not plant based origins) that might be your cue to choose another brand.

What does cruelty free mean?

We briefly touched on cruelty-free when referring to vegan labelling, but essentially a ‘cruelty-free’ meaning on a cosmetic or beauty label refers to the fact that no animals are harmed or tested on. 

While most ethical brands should state they are ‘cruelty-free’ if you’re still unsure we recommend either looking for the rabbit logo (associated with endorsing cruelty-free beauty) or searching the brands website (such as on our product pages on Three Warriors) for more information or even going to a direct animal rights website such as PETA or Choose Cruelty Free for listings of cruelty-free cosmetics and clean beauty brands.

Back to Blog