Ultimate Guide to Avoiding Toxic Ingredients in Your Products
We are so excited to have teamed up with Natalie of Precious Time Blog; a health and lifestyle blog. Natalie lives in Texas with her husband and her two adorable boys. We asked Natalie to write about what she avoids when looking for products for her family and she gave us lots of great information about how to choose products. Be sure to follow the links to some of Natalie’s posts on her own blog, she is a great resource for tips on how to green up your home and personal care products and clean up your cooking with healthy and delicious recipes!
Did you know...
11 ingredients known to the state of California cause cancer or developmental problems – The State of California has identified 11 commonly used ingredients that can cause cancer or developmental problems
29 ingredients are banned in Canadian cosmetics
The term "fragrance" can mean any combination of over 3,100 stock chemical ingredients
There are 1,328 harmful chemicals that are banned in Europe, while the US FDA has only banned or restricted 11.
13,000 chemicals are used in cosmetics, and only about 10% have been evaluated for safety
More isn’t always better. In today’s day and age, there are a plethora of ingredients being put into all our skincare, beauty, and cleaning products. I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want that entering my body nor, my children’s. Here, I rounded up my top 8 ingredients that I personally think everyone should steer away from. There are also a few non-toxic ingredients I look out for simply because a few of us in the family have sensitivities to the ingredients.
My youngest son who’s almost 3 years old, had food sensitivities as a newborn. He would breakout in eczema-like rashes all over his entire body to the point where I had to completely eliminate dairy from my diet so he wouldn’t consume it while he nursed. His body cleared immediately after doing so which was reassuring, however, almost a year later, the eczema rashes broke out again leaving him itching and scratching all over, including his diaper area. Long story short, we finally saw a naturopathic doctor who ran blood work to determine he was allergic to seaweed/kelp and eggs. With the help of our naturopath, as well as using cleaner ingredients and eliminating ingredients he was simply just sensitive to, we are almost in the clear with only minor flareups.
We need to become our own advocates and do our own research to ensure we are putting only the cleanest of products into our bodies. Unfortunately, no one will do it for you. Heck, I even went to multiple doctors and dermatologists, and all of them just came back with creams and steroids that only mask the pain. They told me his eczema was “normal” and he should be fine after some antibiotics. Follow your gut and remember that what we put into our body (skincare products or food) can have a dramatic effect on our overall health.
Let’s start with clean ingredients we avoid due to sensitivities and eczema prone skin. The two listed below are in fact clean and safe to use, but due to sensitivities to those ingredients, we have to avoid it for now.
1. Alcohol: Alcohol is a great preservative, but when someone is dealing with eczema, it should be avoided as it only aggravates the issue and dries out the skin even more.
2. Seaweed/Kelp: love this ingredient but unfortunately, very sensitive to it.
8 Toxic Ingredients Everyone Should Definitely Avoid
1. Fragrance: My number one ingredient to avoid at all cost. If you see this on any labels, get rid of it. You will see this labeled as many different things such as perfume, parfum, aroma, and synthetic musk. Unfortunately, “fragrance” has no FDA regulation and can be a combination of over 3,000 different stock chemicals that imitate a smell or contain phthalates. Fragrance is associated with allergies, headaches, and endocrine disruption.
2. Phthalates: This is a large group of chemicals that have been shown to disrupt the endocrine system and cause birth defects. They are commonly used in fragrances to make the smell linger as well as plastic. Think twice before buying those bottled waters.
3. Phenoxyethanol: A synthetic preservative used in cosmetics, skincare, and personal care and has been linked to cause skin, eye, and lung irritation. When used within the limits of concentrations in their formulas, it’s not so bad. But since the FDA has no guidelines, I personally choose to not use anything containing this ingredient. I will say this, it is a very controversial ingredient as some people think it’s fine to use. But since the FDA has no guidelines, how do we know it’s ok? Something to think about which is why I included this one for you.
4. 1,4 Dioxane: A human carcinogen. You will not see this ingredient on a label, but important to note that it’s present in other ingredients. Some of the common ingredients you’ll see it in are: PEG, polyethylene, glycol, polyoxyethylene, petroleum, and mineral oil.
5. Formaldehyde: A carcinogenic allergen that is released by multiple ingredients such as diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin, and quaternium-15. You will find this usually in non-organic towels and bed sheets as well or anything that basically states “wrinkle free” as this term/ingredient is used to reduce wrinkles and static in products.
6. Aluminum: most common in conventional deodorants and antiperspirants. Heavy metal buildup in the body can contribute to acute or chronic toxicity. Long-term exposure can cause physical, muscular, and neurological degenerative processes, or even worse, cancer. Those toxins you place under your arms can lead right into the breast tissue. Yikes! Other terms you’ll see this as are: Lead, Mercury, and Heavy Metals. Have you checked out my blog post “Let’s Talk Pits?” go more in depth about aluminum, deodorants, and how to detox your armpits naturally.
7. Parabens: Parabens are basically a group of preservatives also known as methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, etc. They are made to act like estrogen in the body and can disrupt hormone function. They have even been found toaccumulate in breast tissue. You can find this in a ton of commercial beauty and skincare products.
8. Oxybenzone: You will see this ingredient pop up mainly in sunscreens and is a HUGE no-no in my book. Oxybenzone has been found present in 96.8% of human urine samples surveyed. It’s also linked with allergic dermatitis and hormone disruption. See my Sunscreen post talking all about ingredients you don’t want in your sunscreen. Click HERE
Why I choose and trust Kosmatology?
The answer is simple…You can read and pronounce all of their ingredients. I know exactly what I’m putting into my body and trust that what I’m using or putting on my kids is safe and clean. They are also Certified Made-Safe. What that means is, they went the extra mile to have all of their ingredients tested and verified that they are made with safe non-toxic ingredients. Made Safe Certified products are made without any behavioral and developmental toxins, GMO’s, heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, and much more. It’s refreshing to see companies taking the extra step to prove there is no greenwashing happening with their products.
My Favorite Kosmatology Products:
I hope you find this helpful and something you will keep in your back pocket whenever you're on the hunt for a new product. Just note, this is not the full list of toxic ingredients. Something useful to download are two apps...1) Think DirtyApp and 2) EWG App. This will be helpful for you to look up any product you have or want to purchase and will rate if it's clean or not. Super helpful.
XO,
Natalie