The Reality Of Using Beauty Products - What The Industry Is Not Telling You

I wrote a post earlier, where I talked about toxic chemicals in beauty products. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, because though I changed all of my products to more organic and less toxic ones, I've come to realize that some of them may not be what they say they are. Just because something is labelled as organic or natural, doesn't mean that it actually is in the beauty industry. You really have to go over the ingredients with a fine tooth comb and if you don't know what to look for, you can easily overlook toxic ingredients. When I look at a beauty product's ingredients, I check them against the David Suzuki Foundation's list of the "Dirty Dozen Cosmetic Chemicals To Avoid." This is a great list to go by. But when you are at the health food store and you are looking at all of the products there that are "classified" as organic, it's easy to believe all of the hype on the labels and forget about checking the list. Just because it's at the health food store, doesn't mean it doesn't have toxic ingredients in it. I just found out today, thanks to my friend Mina at DeTox ... the devil in the details..., that my favorite face wash may not be as good as I thought it was. It's still a lot better than what I was using before, that's for sure, but it does have some questionable ingredients in it.

So here is a great video that talks about what's really going on in the beauty industry and how we need change from the government to stop toxic chemicals from being put into our personal care products. The products we use do not have to have toxic ingredients in them, there are better alternative ingredients out there that are not toxic or carcinogenic. We just need the government to put the proper regulations in place that force the industry to make a change for the better.

Toxic Chemicals In Beauty Products - What To Avoid

A friend of mine suggested to me tonight that I do a post on chemicals in our beauty products. I had been toying with the idea too and thought it would be a great one to talk about. I actually read about this last summer and it inspired me to switch all of my beauty products over to healthier ones.

There are twelve chemicals that are used in personal care products that are harmful to humans, and include things like carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, and hormone disruptors. The list of these chemicals is called the dirty dozen and you can find them in your soaps, shampoos, moisturizers and make-up, among other things. One of the scariest things about this, is that though each of your products may have only one or a two of the chemicals in them (but many have more), the combination of using all of your products together means that you may be using many or all twelve of them daily. And they get absorbed into your skin when you use them. I checked all of my beauty products and every single one of them had at least one, or more, of the chemicals on the list. Even my kids' shampoo and baby wash had these chemicals in them! I couldn't believe that these products specifically, which are marketed for children and babies, have toxic chemicals in them. The stuff that is label to be "gentle" and "pure," is not at all.

So go ahead, check out that list and compare it to your beauty products. Go and see what you are really using.  I bet it isn't what you thought. I went out and found some healthy alternatives at a heath food store. Even some of the big box stores are carrying organic and healthy product lines now, which aren't that much more expensive.  It certainly was a switch that I am happy with. To find out more, check out this great article.