The science behind what we leave out.

Most skincare brands make ingredient claims. Few cite the evidence behind them.

We built Sorrel & Co because the gap between what skincare formulations contain and what most people actually understand about those ingredients is enormous. Walk into any beauty aisle and you'll see hundreds of products labeled "clean," "natural," or "free from" — terms that mean almost nothing under US labeling law. The FDA does not regulate the term "clean." Manufacturers can call almost anything natural.

So instead of marketing claims, we publish citations. Every ingredient we exclude from our 17 formulas, we exclude for documented reasons — and on this page, you can read the actual studies. We use PubMed links so you can verify everything yourself.

The seven ingredient categories below cover the most consequential exclusions. We've graded each one by evidence strength — because not every "free from" claim is equally supported, and pretending otherwise would betray the trust of the customers we want most: the ones who read labels.