Online Censorship of Natural Skincare: What Consumers Need to Know

The Hidden Side of Your Feed

If you think your social feed shows you all the best skincare out there, think again. Some of the safest, cleanest, most natural products are never shown to you—not because they don’t work, but because they’ve been silenced.

We learned this the hard way. In 2020, during the height of the madness, our Facebook and Instagram shops were shut down overnight. Why? Because we shared how our Dry Hand Salve—made with just olive oil, natural butters and pure essential oils—could soothe hands cracked from constant sanitizer use.

We were flagged for “exploiting the pandemic.” Meanwhile, big-box brands were raking in record profits selling chemical-heavy products by the truckload. That’s when we realized: censorship isn’t about safety—it’s about control.

The Double Standard Nobody Talks About

Big Brands Get a Free Pass

If you’ve got billions, lawyers, and a global ad budget, you can sell almost anything. Even products that later get recalled or end up in court:

- Johnson & Johnson has faced tens of thousands of talc lawsuits. A U.S. judge rejected its ~$10B settlement plan in April 2025, and a Massachusetts jury awarded ~$42.6M in July 2025 in a talc-related mesothelioma case.
- In July 2021, J&J recalled select Neutrogena and Aveeno aerosol sunscreens due to benzene contamination.
- Unilever recalled multiple aerosol dry shampoos in October 2022—brands like Dove, Nexxus, Suave, TIGI (Bed Head/Rockaholic), and TRESemmé—after benzene was detected.
- Chemical hair relaxers from major brands, including L’Oréal and Revlon, are now the subject of thousands of lawsuits consolidated in federal court, alleging links to uterine and other cancers.

And yet, these products stayed on shelves, in ads, and all over your feed until the damage was undeniable.

Natural Skincare Gets Silenced

Now flip the script: a family-run business highlights olive oil, calendula, or chamomile. We say words like “soothe” or “calm.” Suddenly, we’re flagged as dangerous.

Think about that. Chemicals with lawsuits? Promoted. Olive oil and beeswax? Restricted.

Where the Censorship Started

This didn’t happen by accident. After years of criticism over online misinformation, platforms decided to crack down. When the madness of 2020 hit, the filters went into overdrive.

AI bots and outsourced fact-checkers became the gatekeepers. Without nuance, they lumped safe, centuries-old skincare remedies in with wild conspiracy theories.

The result? Small businesses like ours were silenced, while big brands thrived.

Why You Don’t See Certain Products

Here’s the truth: some of our products still can’t be published on certain platforms. No explanation. No real appeal process. Just silence.

For you as a consumer, that means:
- You’re missing out on amazing natural products because algorithms block them.
- Your choices are being curated—not by quality—but by what’s easiest for platforms to approve.

The Illusion of Safety

We humans trust what we see everywhere. A brand on every shelf feels safe. A product promoted in every feed feels legitimate.

But as history shows, visibility doesn’t equal safety. Some of the biggest, most familiar names in skincare have been caught selling harmful products.

Meanwhile, small-batch makers—who know their customers personally, use food-grade oils, and handcraft every jar—are censored into invisibility.

The irony? The products that are often the safest and most effective are the hardest to find.

What You Can Do

- Don’t assume silence means absence. If you don’t see natural skincare online, it may be censored—not nonexistent.
- Shop beyond the algorithm. Independent websites, and community shops are often where the best discoveries live.
- Support transparency. Trust the brands that list every ingredient and proudly share their process.

How We’ve Responded

Instead of letting censorship shut us down, we built our own space: the Clean Living Blog. A place where we can share knowledge without fear of takedowns.

We keep making skincare with real ingredients—because people deserve better than watered-down formulas and empty promises. And the best part? We’ve built a community of people who care as much about clean living as we do.

The Bottom Line

The online world is powerful, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Some of the best products you’ll ever try will never appear in your feed. Some of the most problematic ones? They’ll be everywhere.

So remember this:

Not all good products are visible. And not all visible products are good.

Sometimes the best things are hidden—made with integrity, love, and ingredients you actually recognize.

And we’re here to make sure you can still find them.