Week 3: Are Your Products Safe?

Welcome to week 3 of De-Toxifying Your Life! This email is coming out to you a little late, but it’s such an important one, I needed a little extra time to get it ready for you :)

You are still with me, so thank you!

So far we’ve tackled the dangers of glyphosate and the importance of organic food as well as how crucial it is to be putting high quality water into your body.

Today we talk about alllllll the things you put on your body: from skin care to beauty products.

As women, we put an average of 12 different beauty products daily. Imagine all of the parabens, toxic chemicals, and colorings used in those products seeping into your skin. Now yes, some products are able to sit on top of the skin, but even some residual product will get through.

Now imagine that those 12 (or more) products you use each (and your kids use!) haven’t been tested for safety. Imagine that there is no governing agency that is checking to make sure that these products don’t contain lead or other toxins.

For example, here’s what Harvard Health reported on not too long ago:

“…a study published online Dec. 3, 2019, by the International Journal of Cancer found a link between hair dye and breast cancer. Women in the study who used permanent hair dye at least once in the 12-month period leading up to the study had a 9% higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who didn't use hair dye. And when the study authors broke the findings down by race, they found an even higher risk for African American women. Women in that group who used any permanent dye in the previous 12 months had a 45% higher risk of developing breast cancer compared with women who did not use hair dye. It didn't seem to matter how often or for how many years the women had used the dye.”

It might have occurred to you, because you ARE brilliant if you are reading this newsletter, that perhaps these companies should have put their products through such rigorous testing before going to market?

You would be correct in your thinking. And yet, that’s not the standard in this country.

The list of ingredients not allowed in American cosmetics is a dismal 34. Europe, which generally has higher standards than the US, has 1328 banned.

Your jaw should have just dropped.

Let us not forget that this include baby lotions, creams, wipes, shampoos, etc.

So what do we do?

Well, first of all, vote with your dollars. There are tons of amazing companies out there that are changing the standard for quality products that don’t contain a vast number of toxic chemicals.

But you must also be on the look out for “Greenwashing.” Yes, this is a thing, and the only way to know is to become a connoisseur of label reading.

To make it easier for you, the EWG has a database not only of ingredients that are safe and not safe, but also of products that have been submitted to them to be analyzed. Here you can enter ingredients you don’t recognize as well as products you own to see their safety rating.

I have my own small list of companies I know that are committed to clean ingredients and safe products. You probably do too! This list is by no means exhaustive—I’d be broke if I tried all the companies out there!

1. Beautycounter. This is #1 NOT because I sell it (which I do-full disclosure!), but because they are the gold standard and are disrupting the industry, paving the way for all others. Beautycounter has banned 1800+ ingredients and thoroughly tests EVERY SINGLE batch themselves for traces of what they do not allow. They work closely with their suppliers to ensure purity it what they use. They also WORK. There have been A LOT of “clean” brands I’ve tried that just don’t do anything for my skin. Beautycounter also participates in lobbying at state and federal levels for product safety. Remember a few years ago when Hawaii banned certain sunscreens because the chemicals in them was killing the coral reefs? That was Beautycounter. They sell everything from cleanser and body wash to makeup.

2. Erin’s Faces. A wonderful woman-run business that puts so much care into its products. Erin is a makeup artist who decided she wanted to create her own safer version of beauty. This company makes the most amazing masks, peels, and makeup.

3. Babo Botanicals. This company has lots of safe products that are EWG certified for you and your baby. They are organic (as ALL baby products should be) and are made in the USA. I buy mine from Thrive Market, but they are available elsewhere as well.

4. Kosas is a new brand I’m excited to be playing around with! They ban 2700 ingredients and are committed to rigorous standards similar to Beautycounter. The reason I’m trying them out is that their makeup is also treatment based. For example, their undereye concealer also treats dark circles.

5. Primally Pure. This is another amazing company that is most well-known for disrupting the deodorant world. Underarm protection is KEY to keeping toxin free because what we apply there flows directly into our axillary lymph nodes and will travel throughout our body. There is a connection between breast cancer and the chemicals in deodorants and antiperspirants. They have also recently gotten into skincare and are definitely worth checking out!

So here’s your homework until next week:

Go through your beauty products, particularly the ones you use daily, and check them out at EWG.org/skindeep. Let me know what surprised you and if you need recommendations for replacements.

When we know better, we do better.

Here’s to your health (and also better beauty products),