5 Toxic Ingredients that might be in your Personal Care products, part 1

You’ve made the first step to clean up your health by eating organic whole plant rich foods. You’ve banned harsh toxic laden cleaning products from your kitchen and laundry room. Yes! You are on the right path to living a toxic free life, but there’s just one more area we need to tackle…

Personal Care Products!

What are self care products you ask? Wikipedia explains is all right here.

Soap, bath salts, bath salts, body wash etc
Fragrance
Deodorant
Makeup
Skin care
Hair care
Diaper care products
Toothpaste
Nail Polish
Wet wipes
Shaving cream
Sun tan lotion/ Self tanner

Ok you get the idea right?

This list might be overwhelming so I’m turning this post into a 2 party story. We have a lot of ground to cover! Be sure to stay tuned for more juicy tips to enhance and clean up your Personal Care products.

Let’s start with your makeup

Ladies, we use over 20 products a day. And each one of our personal care products is applied directly to our skin – our largest organ. One way or another, all those products you lather into and onto your skin find a way into your bloodstream. When you choose to live a toxic free lifestyle, where health is your priority you quickly realize HEALTH is so much more than what you eat and drink. Health includes your relationships, the products you use on your face and body, the thoughts in your head and the environment in which you live. Together we tackle all of this is my Total Wellness coaching program.

Swapping out traditional department or drug store makeup products for natural varieties can seem daunting and outright impossible. I get it. I spent 20 years as a celebrity makeup artist and believe me, I needed just the right mascara to define lashes, lipsticks to enhance the perfect pout, and foundations, powders and concealers to hide pimples, scars, redness and dark puffy eyes and to create that gorgeous youthful glowing skin you expect to see in magazines.

Makeup by Moi!

Under current FDA law, cosmetic companies are not required to disclose harmful ingredients, or even conduct safety assessments on their products and quite often label toxic laden ingredients as fragrance.

FACTS:

the last time congress passed a law regulating the cosmetic industry was 1938
Europe has banned over 1400 harmful ingredients, while the US has banned close to 30
There are over 80,000 chemicals found in most cosmetics – the majority have not been tested for safety
we absorb up to 60% of what we put on our skin
children’s bodies absorb 40-50% more than adults – they are at a higher risk for diseases later in life when exposed to toxins

No matter how much makeup you wear, it’s imperative to think about what you’re putting on your skin. Your pores absorb what you put on them – its their job! Lipgloss on your teeth? You just ate it.

Let’s talk about some of the toxic chemicals in makeup and how to make informed choices with our beauty care!

Choosing toxic free beauty products is easier than ever with companies like BeautyCounter (I’m not an affiliate)

FACT:

Women on average use 12 beauty products a day, resulting in exposure to over 100 chemicals before we even leave the bathroom in the morning!
Research has found on average 13 hormone hormone-altering cosmetics in the bodies of teenage girls
100’s of synthetic chemicals in umbilical cord blood of newborn babies, which shows what momma is exposed to, so is her baby

1. Phthalates

Phthalates are a group of chemicals that are disruptive to the endocrine system, which is responsible for hormone production. When we wreck havoc with our hormones it can lead to developmental, reproductive and neurological damage. Sadly, phthalates are found commonly in breast milk, umbilical cord blood and amniotic fluid as most common consumer products contain them. This has resulted in widespread contamination in almost all Americans.

In men, they interfere with the male sex hormone, testosterone, which is necessary for proper development and function of the male reproductive organs. Your hubby and sons are not immune!

So why are they used? Phthalates are used to plasticize products making them more flexible or better able to hold onto colour and scents. A lot of cosmetic companies label their ingredients “trade secret” and therefore don’t specify exactly what ingredients are use, or what exactly “fragrance” means.

Tip: Avoid products that list “fragrance” and choose ones that use essential oils.

2. Lead

We know lead is bad for us. We no longer use lead based paint, or lead in the pencils our children write with. So why is it still in personal care products? I’m talking whitening toothpaste, lipsticks and foundation ladies!

Lead is a proven neurotoxin linked to miscarriage, reduced fertility and delays of puberty in females. So how is it getting into our makeup you ask? Mostly through contamination and where the product are made. Colour additives are the top culprit. Lead might be banned in paint, but it’s not banned in makeup!! Scary stuff ladies!

Tip: Be educated on the products you purchase. Refer to the Think Dirty App. Purchase makeup from companies who avoid contamination and use natural pigments

3. Quaternium-15 (and other formaldehyde releasing preservatives)

When some chemicals break down they release the toxic gas formaldehyde, which is classified as a known human carcinogen by the U.S Department of Health and Human Researchers and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

The E.U (Europe) mandates that all formaldehyde-releasing preservatives in cosmetics be labeled if they exceed .05%. Here is the US we have no such law. Look for ingredients such as:

bronopol
DHUT (butylated hydroxytoluene)
diazolidinyl urea
DMDM hydantoin
imidazolidinyl urea
methenamine
Quarternium-15, Quaternium-18, Quarternium-26
Sodium hydrozymethylglycinate

Quaternium-15 is typically found in mascara, eyeliner and pressed powders

Tip: look for products that use rosemary, honey, tea-tree oil, grapefruit seed extract and vitamin E that can act as preservatives, conditioning agents, surfactants and germicides.

4. Parabens

Parabens are one of the more commonly known and used preservatives in cosmetics. These endocrine disruptors are incredibly gifted at penetrating our skin. The EU lists them as a Category 1 substance because of the evidence showing how toxic they are to our hormone health.

5. Carbon black

An ingredient found in eyeliners, carbon black is linked to cancer and organ toxicity. Look for its other names: channel black, pigment black 6, pigment black 7, acetylene black, froflow, arogen, arotone, arovel, arrow, atlantic, and black pearls.

I am NOT trying to scare you, only inspire you to take back the control of both your consumer spending and your health. How you spend your money matters, and by choosing natural solutions over commonly used toxic and harmful ingredients is how policy and companies will change their ethics.

Remember healthy habits are your best preventative measures towards a vibrant and healthy life. Look for quality and effective products that ideally:

Edible: if you product is considered edible (such as coconut oil – my personal favourite moisturizer), this would be the safest for your skin
Organic: aim for 100% organically. Be sure to purchase products that are USDA organically certified. Many companies use the words natural or organic in misleading ways.
Tested for safety: There are safe brands out there which are 70-99% organic and cannot use the certified organic label, however they have been thoroughly tested for safety by 3rd parties.

If you have any favourite toxic free beauty products, let me know your favourites. I’d love you to share all about it on Facebook. Post your story on Instagram (tag me @amandavs and #amandavs, #healthyissexy) I’d love to hear all about your healthy must have makeup products.

Share our little secret with your friends and family. Healthy is sexy! Be sure to subscribe to my monthly newsletter to receive health tips, recipes, motivation mantras direct to your inbox.

XO Amanda