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I recommend natural beauty, baby, and cleaning products that are just as effective as toxic ones.
I recommend natural beauty, baby, and cleaning products that are just as effective as toxic ones.
All in Blog
Clean marketing labels seem to be popping up everywhere. The labels make us feel like the products we are buying are safe but what really matters lies in the fine print on the back of the box: the ingredients. The truth is, “clean” is not scientific or foolproof, and there is a lot of gray area. Avoid ingredients that are used even in clean beauty products like fragrance, PEGs, phenoxyethanol.
A stocked pantry is the foundation to preparing simple, healthy, and delicious meals. Buy organic whenever you can to avoid pesticides and unwanted chemicals. Choose extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil over canola oil. Sprouted grains make for nutritious and satisfying breads. Steel cut oatmeal is the ultimate breakfast food and sweetened ketchup is a thing of the past.
Most dark black pigment in eye makeup comes from carbon black, or a version of it. Carbon black is made from the incomplete combustion of petroleum products. It is toxic, possibly carcinogenic, and the FDA has even found carbon black unsafe for cosmetics used around the eyes. A source of concern for carbon black in cosmetics is the dermal absorption of these impurities, particularly PAHs, which have been classified as genotoxic carcinogens. Check the ingredient label for either carbon black, D&C black #2, or black 2.
Hand sanitizer has become a necessity for everyone in the post-COVID world. You can buy it just about anywhere, but you might not be aware that some are safer than others, and some work better than others. It’s worth noting that while washing with soap water is always a superior option, there are occasions that you simply can’t use soap and water, and you need a safe hand sanitizer to reach for. In June and July of 2020, the FDA issued warnings about hand sanitizers that contained methanol or were contaminated with methanol.
Shopping for personal care and beauty products while picking up groceries can be so convenient, that its tempting to just grab whatever you see. The personal care and beauty items in Whole Foods must meet certain requirements determined by Whole Foods. The requirements include a ban on over 100 ingredients like parabens, phthalates, formaldehyde donors, oxybenzone and EDTA. Additionally, organic claims must be backed up by a third-party certification. There are ingredients that are not Whole Foods banned list, but can still be harmful and should be avoided like fragrance, phenoxyethanol, and polysorbate 20.
Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint comes in a dropper and it’s thin, spreadable consistency allows for a feathery fingertip application. Skin tint uses the safest available sunscreen ingredient, non-nano zinc oxide. This natural and non-toxic makeup has a truly unique serum formula and beautiful medium coverage.
When it comes to cleanliness, we associate a strong chemical smell with being clean, when in reality “clean” has no smell at all. Fragrance is one of the 5 common allergens found in cosmetics and can trigger asthma attacks, skin irritation and skin allergies, and allergic reactions. Fragranced products can cause adverse health effects including respiratory, neurological, cognitive, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, immune, and musculoskeletal problem to migraine headaches, mucosal symptoms, and asthma attacks. Despite these facts, companies are not required to disclose the fragrance ingredients in their products. Studies have revealed toxic ingredients in fragrance such phthalates, octoxynols and butylphenol methylpropianol. In addition, fragrances emit harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
In the pandemic era, safer cleaning alternatives have been pushed aside in favor of bleach and strong antibacterial disinfectants. Disinfectants play a role in preventing the spread of germs; however, disinfectants come with additional risks and/or health problems so learning how and when to properly use them is especially important. Safer and non-toxic disinfectants include hydrogen peroxide & EPA approved disinfectants like Force of Nature and Clean Republic which use sodium chloride and hypochlorous acid.
Food and drugs are regulated for safety by the FDA, but did you know that personal care products do not need government approval? For cleaning products, the EPA only requires a company to list active disinfectant ingredients. Over 40 countries have banned over 1,400 ingredients that are believed to be harmful in personal care products and cosmetics, whereas the US has banned merely 11. Many of the banned ingredients have been linked to cancer, disruption of the endocrine system, and organ toxicity, and can cause allergies and other negative health effects. Switching to natural products in which companies not only strive for safety and efficacy, but maintain transparency with customers, helps you ensure a safer and healthier lifestyle and home.
Most lip gloss on the shelves contain heavy metals, even though you won’t see them listed in the ingredient label. Luckily, there are non toxic lip gloss options sans heavy metals that you’ll love the look and feel of just as much as the others. Fitglow Lip Serum is my favorite non toxic lip gloss. They not only look beautiful, but contain organic, plant-based ingredients.
Bon Ami powder cleanser is an excellent cleaner to keep around the house because it is non-toxic and has many uses. Since 1886, Bon Ami has remained committed to its non-toxic formula by not using bleach, fragrance, or dyes. It will not scratch or damage most surfaces yet is effective at tackling difficult stains.
Parents are left to decipher long ingredient lists in kids toothpaste and decide if their children need fluoride or not. It’s important to know flouride, artificial dyes, artificial sweeteners, flavors, and other potentially toxic ingredients are found in most kids toothpastes on the shelves.
Unlike many highlighters, Living Luminizer is sheer without glitter, making it wearable for day or night. Living Luminizer is perfect for achieving a dewy complexion. Apply to cheekbones, brow bone, eyelids, cupid’s bow, and center of the lips or anywhere you want the light to reflect.
