Just as we remove thorns from a rose, we must remove the danger out of our beauty and health products. How do we do that? I’m glad you asked! The Environmental Working Group has made it possible thanks to an amazing resource called the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database.
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This database takes your everyday cosmetic and personal care products and rates them on a scale of 0-10, where 10 is the highest level of toxicity. They pair ingredients in more than 40,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases. It’s the biggest resource of its kind! Now there’s good news and there’s bad news when dealing with this database for the first time.
First for the bad news, for me it all started over a weekend, I took my products and entered them one by one into the database. Most everything I owned had a toxicity level between 4 and 8. The horror when I realized what I’ve been doing to my body this entire time – how can products I know, love and trust be so harmful? I nearly cried over a $20 bottle of shampoo because all this time, I thought the more I spend, the better the quality I would get. Well, WRONG!! Not so much. So I came up with a system. Anything with a toxicity level of 5 or higher had to be replaced. Anything at level 4 should be for products used infrequently and level 0-3 would be for my everyday products.
Now for the good news! The cosmetic database offers so many alternatives that I knew this change was going to be a fun challenge. So many amazing companies out there are making strides and really care to keep consumers and the planet safe. A few months have gone by and I have healthier and BETTER options for everything… even for my husband (for the moms out there – check out the baby section!!). The cherry on top is that so many options are recessionista friendly and the constant need to try the latest and greatest has been replaced with what’s tried & true and what works on you! Healthy beauty never goes out of style… even for those who think that green is not their color.
In the upcoming weeks, I’ll be sharing my favorite goodies! Give it a try!!!
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Great post! Very informative and a must read for everyone. I just want to elaborate on one comment in the post "The horror when I realized what I’ve been doing to my body this entire time – how can products I know, love and trust be so harmful?"
Most behavior change will only happen when the understanding or experience becomes personal. It is an empowering moment when you realize the harm you are doing to oneself. But with most of our industrial systems the end product and the harm to the consumer is only skin deep in comparison. As the manufacturing process is completely in violation of sustainability principles. From the systematic extraction of the energy input and heavy metals to the systematic manipulation and integration of synthetic materials that are not easily reabsorbed by the biosphere, to the exploitation of labor and all living things. We continue to systematically increase in concentration pollutants to the biosphere. Even for those individuals and living species that do not use body care products, we all are feeling the effects of the harm being done. Check out http://www.storyofstuff.com/
Steve,
So funny you should say that because that’s exactly where I was heading in my next piece. The Story of Stuff is sooo powerful.
Stay tuned!
VC
Vanessa, Thanks for such a thorough post showing readers how to put our database to good use! We appreciate you spreading the word so more people can easily identify safer personal care products.