So for a long time I have kept telling myself that the next time I need a new cleanser, moisturizer, shampoo, etc. I’m going to really do my research and find products with safer skincare ingredients for both my body, and the environment. I’ve heard about how lots of skincare ingredients in our everyday products are pretty harmful, and considering how many products we all use, it was important to me that I start cleaning it up.
Well, ingredients lists are confusing to say the least. I don’t recognize, nor can I pronounce, any of the terms, and I didn’t know where I could turn to get some answers. I finally came upon the Environmental Working Group website, which has been a really helpful resource, and I encourage all of you to go check it out.
It allows you to research not only ingredients, but you can also search for the products youse to find if they are deemed safe. They also have a special mark they put on products that are verified by the EWG which recognizes products that meet EWG’s strictest standards for your health. SO you know which products don’t contain chemicals of concern. I found this especially helpful, and now am striving to only buy products that are EWG verified. Here’s what the mark looks like:
I like to keep my standards high, and this seems like it will help me, without hours of frustrating google searches.
So with this new information right at my fingertips, I decided to check on three of the products I use on a daily basis (I use more than 3, but to avoid an extremely long post, I kept it to 3 so you could see how it works).
Product #1: Dove go fresh deodorant (cool essentials scent)
This one came back with 12 ingredients of concern (yikes!). The highest concerns include contamination concerns, irritation, persistence, and bioaccumulation.
Score: 4/10 (moderate hazard) *just for reference the higher the number, the higher the hazard*
Top 4 Suspect Ingredients
- Fragrance– skin irritation, organ system toxicity, ecotoxicology
- BHT– Cancer (WTFFFFFF), organ system toxicity, endocrine disruption, developmental/reproductive toxicity.
- Cyclopentasiloxane– organ system toxicity, neurotoxicity, cancer, endocrine disruption, ecotoxicology.
- Steareth-100- organ system toxicity, ecotoxicology.
Product #2: Obaji Medical Gentle Rejuvenation Soothing Cleanser
This one came back with 4 ingredients of high concern, and 7 ingredients of moderate concern. The highest concerns are Endocrine disruption, Multiple, additive exposure sources, Contamination concerns, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Miscellaneous, Occupational hazards, Persistence and bioaccumulation
Score- 6/10 (on the high end of “moderate” hazard”)
Top 4 Suspect Ingredients:
- Fragrance-allergies/immunotoxicity, irritation, organ system toxicity, ecotoxicology.
- Isobutylparaben– use restrictions, allergies/immunotoxicity, endocrine disruption, developmental/reproductive toxicity, biochemical or cellular level changes.
- Bropylbaraben– use restrictions, allergies/immunotoxicity, endocrine disruption, developmental/reproductive toxicity, ecotoxicology
- Butylparaben– use restrictions, allergies/immunotoxicity, endocrine disruption, developmental/reproductive toxicity, ecotoxicology
Product #3: Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Moisturizer Sunscreen SPF 30
This one actually game back pretty good with a low overall concern (7 ingredients of moderate hazard,and 10 ingredients of low hazard)
Score: 2/10 (low hazard) woop woop!
Top 5 Suspect ingredients:
- Thiethanolamine-use restrictions, allergies/immunotoxicity, organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), contamination concerns
- Homosalate-use restrictions, organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), endocrine disruption, ecotoxicology, contamination concerns
- Octisalate– use restrictions, allergies/immunotoxicity, ecotoxicology
- Phenoxythanol– Irritation, use restrictions, organ system toxicity, allergies/immunotoxicity
So, luckily nothing came back in the severe hazard range, the the Obagi facial cleanser was just one point away from it, which is upsetting because I got it from my aesthetician at a medical spa and paid a pretty penny for it. I expected it to be the best one, alas, it wasn’t. Either way it’s a eye opening experience to see the chemicals that I am putting on my body every day.
In the next post in this series I’ll share about the ingredients you DEFINITELY don’t want in your products and how to start finding safer products.
Until next time!
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