When you go to the store and purchase shampoo, lotion, soap, fragrance, makeup, or sunscreen, do you consider whether or not that product is safe to put on your body? Do you assume that because it is there for sale, it must be safe for use?
Your Skin
Your skin is your largest organ. It acts as a waterproof, insulating shield, guarding the body against extremes of temperature, damaging sunlight, and harmful chemicals. Your skin also functions as a medium through which toxins are removed from your body. Despite the amazing features of your skin, ingredients from skincare products are absorbed in minutes through your skin and into your bloodstream. Many of the ingredients in skincare products are already known, or currently being found, to cause cancer. Why are these dangerous personal care products allowed to remain on the market? Because the FDA, which is responsible for regulating these products, spends almost no time, money or effort actually investigating the safety of such products. Instead, the FDA spends the vast majority of its time approving new prescription drugs.
Partial list of known harmful chemicals:
- Aluminum
- Artificial fragrances
- Benzophenones (dixoybenzone, oxybenzone)
- Cinnamates (cinoxate, ethylhexyl p-methoxycinnamate, octocrylene, octyl methoxycinnamate - OMC)
- Dibutyl phthalate
- Diethanolamine (DEA)
- Digalloyl trioleate
- Ethylhexyl p-Methoxycinnamate
- Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives such as DMDM hydantoin quaternium-15, and diazonlidnyl urea
- Isopropyl Palmitate
- Lanolin and Acetylated Lanolin
- Menthyl anthranilate
- Methylisothiazoline (MIT)
- Mineral oil
- Nitrites (caution: their presence does not have to be disclosed)
- Octocrylene
- Oxybenzone, benzophenone, benzophenone-3
- PABA and PABA esters (ethyl dihydroxy propyl PAB, glyceryl PABA, p-aminobenzoic acid, padimate-O or octyl dimethyl PABA)
- Padimate-O (Octyl dimethyl paba
- Para-aminobenzoic acid, PABA
- Parabens - (butyl-, ethyl-, methyl- and propyl-parabens)
- Petrolatum
- Phenol
- Phthalates
- Propylene Glycol
- Polyethylene Glycol (PEG's with any number)
- Salicylates (ethylhexyl-, homosalate and octyl-salicylate)
- Sodium Lauryl and Sodium Laureth Sulfates
- Talc
- Triethanolamine (TEA)
- Urea, Imidazolidinyl, Diazolidinyl Urea and/or DMDM Hydantoin
- Urocanic acid
List from http://www.best-mens-skin-care.com/ingredients.html
Pick One Product
It can be daunting to try to weed out products that are unsafe for your use. My challenge to you is to investigate one product that you currently use. Go to Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews and check that one product and its ingredients. If it receives a low hazard rating, continue to use it. If you don't like what you see, use the above list to help you pick out a new product. Do your skin one big favor this week!
Products I use:
Aubrey Organics shampoo/conditioner
Avalon Organics hand/body lotion
Laef's natural and organic deodorant
Deep Steep organic hand soap
CitraSolve dish soap/multi-purpose cleaner
Seventh Generation laundry soap
Ecover stain remover
Badger sunscreen/chapstick
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