Inspiration
As a parent and health-focused consumer, I grew frustrated with hidden toxic ingredients in everyday beauty products—especially when shopping for my kids and during pregnancy. I couldn’t find a simple tool to quickly check safety, so I built ChemicalFree Beauty to make clean beauty accessible for everyone.
What it does
It scans beauty product barcodes to flag 12 high-risk toxins (parabens, phthalates, etc.) with color-coded warnings, displays EWG safety scores, and curates non-toxic alternatives tailored to preferences like pregnancy-safe or fragrance-free.
How we built it
We started by mapping core user needs (in-store scanning, personalized filters) then integrated the EWG API for safety data. We built cross-platform mobile UI with React Native, set up SQLite for offline product caching, and used Stripe for premium subscription flows.
Challenges we ran into
Matching 900k+ product barcodes reliably offline was tough—we optimized caching to balance speed and storage. Also, curating relevant alternatives across price ranges required refining category-matching logic to avoid generic suggestions.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We hit 2-second barcode scan matching, accurate toxic ingredient flagging, and seamless offline functionality. Users love the pregnancy-safe mode—feedback from expecting parents confirmed it fills a critical gap.
What we learned
I mastered API sync for real-time EWG data and learned to balance free/premium features without compromising core value. User testing taught us simplicity matters—we stripped clunky features to keep the scan-to-results flow intuitive.
What's next for this project
We’ll expand the product database to include more niche clean beauty brands, add localized pricing for EU/US markets, and refine the alternative recommendation algorithm to prioritize user-reviewed safe products. We’re also testing a family profile feature for shared safety preferences.
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