Personal Care Products: What to Avoid

How many of your personal care products — lotions, shampoos, conditioners, eyeshadows — smell nice? Weird question until you think about what is making them smell “fresh” or like flowers. Fragrance. When “fragrance” is listed as an ingredient, that can mean well over 3000 chemicals. You read that correctly: 3000 chemicals!

This fact was one of many that the Mamavation community discussed Monday night on Mamavation TV with our expert panelists, Dr. Jean Layton of Gluten Free Doctor, Alicia Voorhies of Earth Mama Angel Baby, and Sarah Johnson, co-founder of RawSkinCeuticals.

In the US, our personal care products do not have any requirements for listing ingredients. In fact, the regulations for labeling of these products has not been changed since the 70s. This is a frightening thought considering that there are multiple chemicals — think 1,328 — that are banned in Europe. Only ELEVEN chemicals are banned in the United States.

So, what can you do to protect yourself and your family from potentially harmful ingredients in items in your medicine chest or bathroom?

• Avoid fragrances – Since that simple word — “fragrance” — can mean more than 3,000 chemicals, it’s best to stay away all together. If you do find a product that has any sort of scent, it should come from an essential oil.
• Avoid Triclosan – Triclosan is often found in antibacterial soaps, and the FDA even encourages consumers to read labels and avoid it when possible.
• Avoid Phthalates – These can be found in your cosmetics, kids’ toys, hairspray, shampoo, and more. Phthalates are suspected to be a known carcinogen.
• Avoid Parabens – Parabens come in many forms (ethylparaben, methylparaben, etc.) and can be found in a variety of products like shampoos, lotions, and facial cleaners. Parabens are known as endocrine disrupters which means they can disrupt hormone function and can mimic estrogen.  They are often linked to cancer and reproductive toxicity.
• Look for items created with “organic” or “free trade” ingredients. Earth Mama Angel Baby and RawSkinCeuticals are great choices of products that use chemical-free ingredients and achieve the same (if not better) results.

Learn more about what to avoid and the dangers of other chemicals by watching the show (at the top of the post).

Be sure to join us next week when we talk about removing toxins from the air and water in our homes.