1) WHY “FRAGRANCE” ISN’T AN INGREDIENT:
The FDA has little power over the personal care industry which is super upsetting when it comes to ingredient labels. Did you know that cosmetic companies are NOT required to disclose ingredients that are considered trade secrets? This loophole means that any skincare, makeup, or bath product can contain multiple toxic ingredients with no mention of them so long as they are considered part of the trade secret formula. Despite the lack of transparency to consumers, what is most upsetting is that trade-secret label terms like fragrance, perfume, and parfum are often cover up names for thousands of toxic ingredients that are commonly used by conventional brands. Please read your beauty product labels and be the most cautious when you come across these generic terms that typically mean bad news for you.
2) THE REASON ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS ARE SO SCARY:
Chemicals that have the ability to mimic the body’s hormones are classified as endocrine disruptors. They include the ingredient class parabens and chemical sunscreens (which often fall under the guise of fragrance). As the name suggests, endocrine disruptors mess with the endocrine system, which regulates our body’s essential rhythms (like our metabolism, mood, and reproductive processes). The reason that endocrine disruptors are particularly dangerous is they come in very tiny doses. It’s those tiny doses that allow them to simulate our own hormones, altering the production levels of our hormones AND the way they behave. Endocrine disruptors have been linked to severe, long-term health damage, including reproductive issues, birth defects, metabolic problems, and cancer. Please be careful when you see parabens and chemical sunscreens like oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, and octocrylene on the label. They can be much more harmful than good.
3) THE PRESENCE OF CARCINOGENS IN BEAUTY PRODUCTS:
Today, ingredients that are known carcinogens and many more that are considered possibly carcinogenic, are frequently put into personal care products, and it’s completely legal to do so. A known carcinogen to be aware of is formaldehyde, which is used as a preservative in makeup, hair, body, and skincare products. To make matters worse, formadelhyde is never listed on labels; what is listed is the chemicals in formulas that release formaldehyde (when added to water, they slowly decompose, forming molecules of formaldehyde). Kind of crazy beauty companies still hide behind this knowing it will take a lot of research to figure this out.
Here is what to look for:
• 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3 diol (Bronopol)
• diazolidinyl urea
• DMDM hydantoin
• imidazolidinyl urea
• sodium hydroxymethylglycinate
• quaternium-15.
6 THINGS THAT MAKE A GREAT ORGANIC SKIN CARE LINE:
1.) 100% Natural Ingredients - Give in to skin care lines that offer a complete skin care regimen (i.e. cleanser + toner + serum + moisturizer) which contains only 100% pure organic ingredients.
2.) Cruelty-Free - A company that does not test on animals: Indicated by either an official PETA Leaping Bunny certification or other third-party certification.
3.) Vegan - Denotes a skincare line that contains no animal products or may offer a few non-vegan products with full transparency as to which products do not meet vegan quality standards.
4.) GMO Free - A badge for companies that do not use any genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their line of organic skin care products; verified by a company statement or certification.
5.) Gluten-Free - Indicates that the skin care company has either earned a gluten-free certification or stated that their products are gluten-free based on quality control and pure ingredients.
6.) Certified Organic - A skin care company that has received an official organic certification by a recognizable authority such as the USDA, ECOCERT or ACO.
Some of my favorite non-toxic skincare lines:
Vintners Daughter Tata Harper Indie Lee True Botanicals Lavanilla Healthy Deodorant May Lindstrom African Botanics Barbara Sturm
Please educate yourself about non-toxic beauty products. We will all be better off if you do!
xoxo,
TT
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