You took a shower this morning, right? Applied deodorant? Unless you’re a hurried mom of one or more children under the age of five (in which case you’d be lucky to run a comb through your hair before rushing out the door), you probably even applied a little bit of make-up & curled your hair.
You look good, you smell good, you feel good.
“Getting ready,” or as my Grandma would say, “Putting my face on,” is an essential part of anyone’s daily routine…and so are the products we use for the process. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been using the same deodorant for over ten years. It’s reliable, inexpensive and it works. Why change a good thing?
Recently, I threw it – and just about every personal care item I own – in a bin and chucked it to the curb.
This was after I learned that many of the body products on the market are essentially a toxic chemical soup. Each chemical and fragrance that adds to the product’s effectiveness and appeal can be hazardous to our health.
There are millions of products with millions of variations, ingredients, and side effects. But, depending on your sensitivity and usage, common health effects can include:
- Respiratory Irritation (for you and baby)
- Skin Irritations (for you and baby)
- Eye Irritation (watering, burning, itchy)
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Organ or system effects
- Ovarian & Reproductive side effects/issues
We’re not delusional. We cannot possibly eliminate every item from our daily routines (nor should we), but we can get smarter about what we purchase and apply to the largest organ of our body.
Thus begins our 3-part series on the best and worst in body care.
Our goal over these next few articles is to explore product ingredients that are hazardous to your health so you can limit your exposure to the worst offenders. We will also inform you on better skin care routines that will help you to honor your body (and the planet) with natural, safe, and beneficial products. And we will introduce a few companies whose passion for pure ingredients inspires us.
For now, check out TreeHugger’s top 20 most toxic ingredients commonly found in personal care products – and in my long-gone deodorant.
