The Verdict
Look up any ingredient or product.
We rate every cosmetic ingredient against The 0% Standard — our public framework for what skincare should and shouldn't contain. Search an ingredient or check a product you already own.
Understanding the rankings 0% Approved Acceptable Borderline Fails
PrimalBasics-grade. Ingredients we'd put in our own formulas.
Cold-pressed plant oils, single-source essential oils, traditional clays and minerals, simple plant esters. Minimally processed. As close to nature as possible.
Reasonable but not PrimalBasics-grade.
More processed than 0% Approved, but the feedstock is clean and there are no documented safety concerns. We wouldn't formulate with these, but they're not a red flag on a label.
Documented concerns. Worth knowing about.
Synthetic or significantly processed, with at least one documented issue — endocrine signal, allergen status, sensitization, or regulatory history. Not banned, but flag-worthy.
Excluded under the 0% Standard.
Hits one of the 14 Exclusions, has substantial documented harm, or serves a non-essential function that clean alternatives fully cover.
The most-asked offenders
Ingredients people Google most. Each fails the 0% Standard for a specific, named reason.
The most-asked offenders
Ingredients people Google most. Each fails the 0% Standard for a specific, named reason.
How we rate every ingredient
Every ingredient on every product we examine gets one of four verdicts. Here's what each one means.
PrimalBasics-grade. Ingredients we'd put in our own formulas.
As close to nature as possible — cold-pressed plant oils, single-source essential oils with clean chemistry, traditional clays and minerals, simple plant esters. Minimally processed. Defensible at every level of ingredient literacy.
Examples: Squalane, jojoba, beeswax, peppermint EO, non-nano zinc oxide.
Reasonable but not PrimalBasics-grade. Not a red flag on a label.
More processed than 0% Approved, but the feedstock is clean, the chemistry is well-understood, and there are no documented safety concerns. We wouldn't formulate with these — cleaner alternatives exist for our category — but if you see one on a label, it's not a problem.
Examples: Cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium cocoyl glutamate, sucrose esters, xanthan gum.
Documented concerns. Not banned, but worth knowing about.
Synthetic or significantly processed, with at least one documented concern — an in-vitro endocrine signal, an EU-26 fragrance allergen status, contact sensitization, or a regulatory class history. FDA/EU-allowed at typical use levels, so not banned outright, but enough smoke to flag. We never formulate with these.
Examples: Avobenzone, octisalate, phenoxyethanol, lavender EO, tea tree EO.
Excluded under the 0% Standard. Avoid in your daily routine.
Hits one of the 14 Exclusions, has substantial documented harm, or serves a non-essential function that clean alternatives fully cover. We never use these. We don't think you should either.
Examples: Synthetic fragrance, parabens, sulfates (SLS), silicones (dimethicone), PEGs, mineral oil, synthetic dyes (Blue 1, Red 40).
Two questions every verdict answers
We don't ask "is this ingredient safe?" — that question rarely has a clean yes/no answer. We ask two questions instead:
1. Is it OK to encounter on a product label?
0% Approved and Acceptable — yes.
Borderline and Fails — no.
2. Would PrimalBasics formulate with it?
Only 0% Approved.
The line between Acceptable and Borderline is the line between "no concern" and "concern worth knowing about." The line between 0% Approved and Acceptable is the line between "as close to nature as we can get" and "more processed than we'd choose for our own formulas."