The truth is inside

Do you know what is in the products you put in and on your body? If you're like I was, or many of the people I talk to, you probably have no idea (and kudos to those of you that actually do know this!). It is estimated that there are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market today (most "invented" in the years after WWII). And we only have safety data on a small percentage of these chemicals. This is particularly true of those used in the skin care and beauty industry. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows companies to use chemicals known to be extremely harmful (lead, formaldehyde, and phthalates) in the products we put on our bodies and on our kids every single day, day after day. Currently the US has only banned 11 to date while the European Union has spent the past two decades banning or restricting more than 1,300 ingredients. 

With all of these chemicals around and allowed it can be overwhelming to know what is safe to use. To help me out, I use two sources:




1. Beautycounter's Never List. While the company has banned over 1,500 chemicals, these are the 20+ ingredients they recommend making sure are never in your products. The link tells you more about why they are so dangerous and what they are commonly found in.

2. The Environmental Working Group's (EWG)  Skin-deep data base.  They launched Skin Deep in 2004 to create online profiles for cosmetics and personal care products and their potential hazards and health concerns.You can download the Healthy Living App to scan your cosmetics and food products to see how they rank.