Toxic Products
Toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, makeup, deodorant – Are these personal care products we see on the shelves safe?
Sadly, no.
Many of us (me included until recently) assume that any product on the shelf has undergone testing to make sure each ingredient is safe for use.
The scary truth? Industrial chemicals do not have to be tested before they are put on the market. Toxic chemicals could be lurking in the products you use every single day.
The regulation of chemicals is handled by the government, specifically the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA for short). The EPA doesn’t require any safety data when companies use a new chemical. Instead, the companies can offer this information voluntarily, which rarely happens. And if the company did know a chemical was dangerous, chances are slim to none they’d be handing that information over.
Yup, pretty frightening.
Is this a problem everywhere?
Europe has banned over 1,300 toxic chemicals from being put in cosmetics.
How many chemicals has the United States banned?
Eleven.
What can you do to protect yourself?
It’s not feasible to memorize the thousands of ingredients contained in personal care products.
Instead, I recommend downloading the “Think Dirty” app that will do the work for you.
Scan a product’s barcode and it will give you easy-to-understand info on the product and its ingredients. If any ingredients are dangerous it will even provide you with cleaner non-toxic product options!
DIY Products
Another option – make something yourself!
My non-toxic makeup brush cleaner recipe contains only two ingredients (ok three if you count water), takes seconds, and costs cents to make.
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp castille soap
- 3 drops high-quality tea tree oil
- 2 Tbsp water
How To:
- Grab two small bowls.
- Pour ingredients into one bowl and leave the other empty.
- Dip your brush into the cleaner, then swirl in the empty bowl for 15-20 seconds. Then rinse under running water.
- Repeat 8-10 times.
- Dry brushes in the sunshine! The sun has antibacterial properties and dries the bristles quickly.
My Favorite Non-Toxic Products
Want to check out the non-toxic products I use? Here are the products I love!