Gilbert shop offers healthy makeup products, services

Jul 01, 2023

Tracy Trellis Flores, owner of CLEAN(er) Beauty in Gilbert, said her 20-plus years in the cosmetic industry has shown her the lack of makeup regulation and ingredient transparency. (The Know Women)

For Tracey Trellis Flores, a professional makeup artist and skin therapist who owns a Gilbert beauty shop and salon, makeup is just not a daily routine but a lifestyle.

Her CLEAN(er) Beauty Shop just doesn’t make a mission out of having clients look their best but also focuses on healthy ingredients.

Trellis Flores opened her first storefronts in Raleigh and Apex, North Carolina, in 2018 and in June opened her first southwest store in Gilbert.

Her focus on ensuring that healthy ingredients are contained in anything clients put on their face derives from her 20-plus years in the cosmetic industry, which she said lacks ingredient regulations and transparency.

She also took note of the rampant use of forever chemicals in many beauty products, creating a threat to the health of people and the planet.

“The industry really had no regulation and because there was no protection, brands could put anything into their products,” said Trellis Flores.

“A third of the contents of U.S. landfills are personal care products,” she noted. “So many chemicals could be in a product that you would not necessarily know about. Let’s say you don’t use all of your face cream. When you throw it away, it inevitably ends up sitting in a landfill.

“The chemicals in that cream can damage the environment and have a trickle effect. They can go through our water systems and negatively affect ecosystems.”

To bypass the few existing regulations, beauty product manufacturers mis-categorize ingredients to keep consumers in the dark, according to Trellis Flores.

The Food and Drug Administration requires that brands disclose their ingredients in an “ingredient declaration” on a product’s packaging.

But Trellis Flores said, “If a brand wants their product to feel a certain way, the manufacturer can mark it as a ‘trade secret’ and simply list the ingredient as a fragrance on the ingredient list.”

The composition of a ‘trade secret’ ingredient does not have to be disclosed publicly, meaning only the manufacturing company and the FDA truly know what is in it.

“In reality, a trade secret fragrance could be a blend of 10,000 elements that combine to make the desired texture a company is looking for,” Trellis Flores explained.

“Just because something is documented as a trade secret fragrance does not necessarily mean it is used to create a smell. The fragrance could instead be a diverse medley of ingredients meant to concoct a unique consistency.”

Also, she added, “these ingredients haven’t necessarily been tested for human health safety.”

After discovering how the industry is riddled with harmful chemicals and secrecy, Trellis Flores catapulted into learning more about “clean beauty.”

She dove deep into understanding terms like “organic,” “vegan” and “non-toxic” in the context of cosmetics.

“Around 2015, customers were beginning to ask for cleaner, more natural products, and unless you were in a big city like New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, these products were virtually inaccessible to the average consumer,” said Trellis Flores.

Trellis Flores dreamed of bringing clean beauty to the suburbs in an effort to promote ingredient transparency and environmentally sustainable products among average, middle-class consumers.

It was with this vision that CLEAN(er) beauty was born.

She describes the business as an education-based retailer and service provider first.”

“We want you to leave our shop feeling empowered with more knowledge about the importance of skin health, feeling good about yourself,” she tells people on her website, adding “our brands are carefully curated by our team of field experts and tested before hitting our shelves.”

In addition to products, CLEAN(er) Beauty also boasts a beauty steam bar with three types of treatments, an acne boot camp, wax bar and facial treatment bar.

It also offers makeovers and makeup lessons and can arrange a special program for private parties.

CLEAN(er) Beauty Shop

1661 S. Val Vista Drive, Unit 105 Gilbert

480-825-1130

[email protected]

cleanerbeautyshop.com

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