There are some pretty amazing companies out there doing the right thing when it comes to being honest about claims of "natural" and "organic". A box with a list of simple ingredients is a welcome site. Many other companies believe that simply slapping the word "natural" onto a box next to a picture of a beautiful meadow filled with wildflowers is all it takes to turn a product green. However, this advertising trick does not make the ingredients any less toxic. This practice is widely referred to as "green washing". The term is generally used when more money has been spent on advertising that a product is natural or green, versus actually changing ingredients or creating environmentally sounds practices.
Whether you are a man, woman or child, on a daily basis, between lotions, bug sprays, cosmetics, deodorants and other products, you are applying an average combination of 126 ingredients. According to Skin Deep - Cosmetics Safety Database (CosmeticsDatabase.com), "The government does not require health studies or pre-market testing for these products before they are sold. And as people apply an average of 126 unique ingredients on their skin daily, these chemicals, whether they seep through the skin, rinse down the drain, or flush down the toilet in human excretions, are causing concerns for human health, and for the impacts they may have to wildlife, rivers and streams."
What Can You Do?
Right now, there is no green fairy hovering over us helping to choose the most natural and safe alternative. There are a few steps that can help in the journey to green natural product alternatives and a safer way to be beautiful.
- Check the safety rating on CosmeticsDatabase.com for products you are already using. Ignorance is not always bliss when it comes to your health.
- Use the CosmeticsDatabase to research a product before buying and make a list of ingredients to avoid and bring the list with you to the store.
- Find a few trusted on-line resources that make it a point to research and offer only natural and safe products. Some great places to start are FutureNatural.com, theEcoDiva.blogspot.com and AllNaturalCosmetics.com.
Some Key Ingredients to Avoid:
- Parabens - petrochemicals, estrogenic, carcinogenic, allergenic.
- Talc - can contain asbestos, do not use on babies, linked to ovarian cancer, respiratory toxin\
- Dioxin - powerful hormone disrupting chemical linked to cancer, nervous system disorders, miscarriages & birth deformity. stored in fat cells. contained in sulfates that provide foaming action
- Petroleum - (petrolatum, mineral oils, vaseline) acne producing, may be carcinogenic, causes long term dry skin, respiratory toxin
- Coal Tar - look for cade tar or pine tar instead low-level exposure is linked to cancer
For a full list of ingredients to avoid and products to choose, check Cosmetics Database before your next purchase.
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