AS GREEN BEAUTY becomes an established trend, many brands want to position themselves as natural. Some are, some aren’t.

This is why we frequently see lawsuits against brands containing ingredients they claim not to, or misrepresentation around what a product actually is. Everyone from Tom’s of Maine to Neutrogena has fallen under fire, and an April 2015 piece in the New York Times even proffered the word “natural” may have lost its meaning completely. What’s more is that the confusion goes both ways, as some safe ingredients have truly unfortunate, misleading names.

“Take hyaluronic acid, which is actually completely natural,” DiPrima explains. “Or shea butter, which appears on labels as butyrospermum parkii.”

And too often, this is where people focus their attention: on brands’ mistakes. Pamer and DiPrima, however, wanted to flip the focus — wanted to spend their time promoting the benefits of synthetic- and filler-free beauty instead of pointing fingers.

“It’s pretty simple: Every ingredient should serve a purpose,” DiPrima adds. “And [we] should embrace a nutrient-dense spectrum of products… That the things we buy not only work, but are also safe, should be a given.”

Not only can you shift your routine toward clean beauty products, but you can also support small businesses like CAP Beauty. Like Gwen told us, these disruptions are really in the hands of the consumers.

“Ten years ago, a business like ours couldn’t have existed,” concludes Pamer. “And it’s because of our customers that we’re able to exist now.”

CAP Beauty is located at 238 W 10 St in Manhattan’s West Village neighborhood.