The two most important things you can do right now to avoid or minimize your risk of toxicity are:
1) Read and understand the ingredient labels on the products you currently use, or before you buy a new product
2) Throw away any products you have that contain toxic ingredients and replace them with authentic natural personal care products
Today I want to talk to you a little about the first one because learning to read and really understand labels and ingredient panels is critical to your ability to select products that are not just safe but effective too.
By law, manufacturers are required to list ingredients in descending order of their concentration. That’s why creams and lotions usually have water (or Aqua) listed as the first ingredient. However, manufacturers are not required to indicate how much of each ingredient is used, so if a product contains a lot of ingredients there is simply no way to know how much of each is used. That’s where knowing the difference between natural and synthetic ingredients comes in handy.
Many companies combine natural ingredients with synthetic ones and call them “natural,” to take advantage of the latest marketing trends. Even organic ingredients are sometimes combined with ingredients like mineral oil, petrolatum, propylene glycol (the main ingredient in anti-freeze), and parabens –to name a few. It’s a practice that’s called “Green Washing.” Be especially aware of lotions, moisturizers, or other products whose water content is high, that claim to be 100% organic since lotions are usually made up of around 70% or more water, there is no such thing as a lotion that is totally organic. In that case you should look to see how much of the non-water content is natural and/or organic to get an idea of how safe it is.
As you become more comfortable and knowledgeable with deciphering labels, your focus should be on learning to identify and avoid or eliminate your exposure to ingredients that have either been widely identified as risky or just appear to be iffy. You can learn more about this at the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics web site.
You can also look up specific products or companies on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep web site where you’ll find an extensive database that includes several thousand well known and lesser-known body care and cosmetic products. The Skin Deep database is the first attempt of its kind to catalog the ingredients in personal care products – the majority of which have never been tested for safety and whose impact on our health are virtually unknown.
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