The average number of components we slather on our skin or use to clean or beautify ourselves is substantial.

Unless you are a minimalist, you probably use several products daily: toothpaste, face wash, face lotion and/or sunscreen, body lotion, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, body soap, shaving cream, maybe some perfume or cologne, and then maybe some makeup (a whole other list). We absorb some chemicals through the skin.

One survey by EWG (Environmental Working Group) showed that on average a woman uses around 12 personal care products a day and a man around 6.

While this doesn’t seem like a lot, remember how many ingredients are in each of these products!!! That significantly changes the concept of what we are exposing ourselves to. The same survey showed, on average, the woman was exposed to about 168 unique ingredients and 85 unique ingredients for men.

What’s the big deal?

Personal care product safety is not very rigorous in the United States, therefore it’s up to us to figure out what is safe and not safe. I personally use the EWG (Environmental Working Group) website as my go-to reference.

What happens when we are exposed to ‘fragrance’ in one product every day. Maybe nothing. Maybe the fragrance in that product is essential oils or something other than the several chemicals that can be ‘fragrance’ in a product. Let’s multiply that by 12. Then what happens. Everyone is different so maybe nothing that you can see. Maybe for someone else they itch or have a rash or an internal impact.

This is my favorite article to use as an example of how these products impact us and we don’t even know it: https://news.berkeley.edu/2016/03/07/cosmetics-chemicals/

The girls daily products were switched to products that don’t contain known harmful chemicals for 3 days.

“The shampoos, lotions and other personal care products you use can affect the amount of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in one’s body, a new study showed. “

“There is growing evidence linking endocrine-disrupting chemicals to neurobehavioral problems, obesity and cancer cell growth.”

“Metabolites of diethyl phthalate, commonly used in fragrances, decreased 27 percent by the end of the trial period. Methyl and propyl parabens, used as preservatives in cosmetics, dropped 44 and 45 percent respectively. Both triclosan, found in antibacterial soaps and some brands of toothpaste, and benzophenone-3 (BP-3), found in some sunscreens under the name oxybenzone, fell 36 percent.”

NOTE: Triclosan has been banned in some products since the writing of this article.

So, what can we do?

Read labels, educate ourselves, shop more carefully.

Swap out items all at once or one at a time to cleaner options!!!

Love your skin and your health. Start making changes today.

Here are my favorites!

I spent a lot of time ‘trying out’ more natural or cleaner products from Whole Foods. Whole Foods does encourage returning items you don’t like or cause a problem. I don’t like the waste of that but the representative in the skin care section did say they donate most items that are returned.

I’m pretty happy with what I’ve compiled over the years. After relative safety, the next most important factor for me is whether I like it! I like it if it works.

Toothpaste: I alternate here. Currently using Himalaya Botanique Neem & Pomegranate Toothpaste. I’ve also used Earthpaste, Tom’s of Maine, Theodent kids which we call chocolate toothpaste, and various powders!  Some of these, like Tom’s of Maine have fluoride options, which I avoid, so I make sure to read labels.

Deodorant: Right now, I’m using Pretty Frank Lavender (used to be Primal Pit Paste), have previously used their lavender scent. Other brands I’ve heard are good are Schmidt, Native, Piper Wei. There are a ton of do it yourself videos or blogs to make your own. Don’t be intimidated! Go for it!!

Body Soap:  Kiss My Face Olive Oil bar soap. I feel bar soap just works better than liquid.

Shaving Cream: I use face soap. Weird? I use this one: Everyday Coconut Face Wash It’s also the liquid soap I use for my hand soap at my bathroom sink. And I travel with it as an all purpose wash (face, body, dishes, shaving, etc!!) 🙂

Skin Care/Cosmetics: For almost all of my other skin care and cosmetic needs, I use Beautycounter! I wish I could recommend a bunch of other products that I had found at Whole Foods or my local health food store, but I gave up trying things when I found Beautycounter. 🙂

This includes face wash, face lotion, treatments, masks, sunscreen, body lotion, shampoo, conditioner, makeup(mascara, foundation, lipstick, etc)

Other brands of makeup I’ve heard about are 100% Pure, Jane Iredale, and Lemongrass Spa

Sunscreen: I use Beautycounter. I have a whole post on sunscreen, Click here for Sunscreen Blog

Perfume: I haven’t found perfume that I like yet, for years perfumes gave me a sore throat so I would avoid trying them. But, Skylar brand looks interesting!!!!  ( UPDATE: I tried it! No sore throat!) Comment with any others you like!

More info

A friend just posted on budgeting for clean home and body care. She’s a wonderful writer and always has ALL the info!  Link to Sara Russell’s blog post: Budgeting for Clean Home and Body Care. I believe it will be a series of blogs and I will update if she posts more.