You eat healthy, exercise and do your best to enjoy good health, yet your skin care is filled harmful substances and you’re not even aware.
Did you know, the average woman uses 12 products containing 168 different ingredients daily?
Many of the ingredients in your skin care and cosmetic products are designed to penetrate into the skin.
It only takes 26 seconds for the chemicals in your beauty products to enter your bloodstream.
The bloodstream irrigates every organ in the body. If you’re applying toxins on your skin daily, your inner health will also be affected, in particular the liver – one of the most important detox organs.
The liver filters everything that goes into the body. It clears out alcohol, drugs, and chemicals from the blood. Then it processes the unwanted substances so they get flushed out through urine or bile.
Constant exposure to toxic substances can cause the liver to get inflamed and damaged, and prevents the liver from eliminating toxins from the body effectively.
Sadly, the Beauty industry is lightly regulated and lots of harmful chemicals are used in the creation of cosmetics, skin care and even baby products.
There’s about 85,000 chemicals being used in this industry, the FDA has only eliminated 30 and has only screens 10% of them for human safety. So really, how confident can we feel about the products that we use on our bodies every day?
I’m not trying to scare you or tell you to live in a bubble, I only want to create awareness about a matter that’s extremely important to our well-being.
To help you to make informed decisions about the skin care products you and your family use, here’s are 4 of the most toxic ingredients used int the beauty industry and suggestions on how to minimize your exposure to these harmful substances.
Fragrance:
Found in pretty much everything, from lotions to laundry detergent! It’s known as a major endocrine disruptor and one of the top 5 allergens in the world. Fragrance is considered a Trade Secret in the States and therefore companies aren’t forced to display all the ingredients. Fragrance can be composed of up to 200 potentially harmful ingredients in one product!
How to avoid it?
Buy fragrance-free whenever possible.
Parabens:
Used in cosmetics, lotions, fragrances, cleansers, deodorants, shampoos, and many other body care products. Parabens, like fragrance, are endocrine disruptors, can cause negative effects on reproductive hormones and developmental disorders.
How to avoid it?
Read your labels, if you see a product that has any of these with Propyl-, Isopropyl-, Butyl-, and Isobutyl- parabens , don’t buy it. Below are tools to keep you away from these harmful ingredients. Let’s move on to a couple more that you should know about.
Phthalates:
This is another one we should do our best to stay away from. The body has a mechanism that programs cells in the body to die. It’s completely normal for 50 billion cells to die every day. We’re constantly regenerating, every 7 years we basically become new people, because during that time, every cell in the body has been replaced by a new cell. – So we’re literally what we eat and what we put on our skin.
Chemicals like Phthalates can cause testicular cells to die earlier than they should – yes, a cell massacre in a man’s parts. Phthalates are also linked to hormonal imbalance, lower sperm count, birth defects, obesity, diabetes and thyroid irregularities.
How to avoid them?
Avoid every personal care product that has “fragrance” – phthalates help fragrance last longer. This is one of the many reasons I use BeautyCounter for all my skin care products, they don’t use any phthalates in any of their products!
Phthalates are also found in plastic food containers, water containers and plastic wraps. Use a glass water bottle and food containers.
Lead:
Lead is a heavy metal found in colored cosmetics, it has the potential to harm almost every organ in the body. Lead has been linked to many health problems such as miscarriage, premature birth, brain damage, high blood pressure, kidney damage and problems with the nervous system. According to the EWG (Environmental Working Group), “lead can disrupt the hormone signaling that regulates the body’s major stress system (called the HPA axis).” Additionally lead can cause anxiety, diabetes and depression.
How to avoid it?
Minimize your exposure as much as possible! If you use lipstick, blush or any other colored cosmetic, make sure you’re applying only safe ingredients. Another reason why I use BeautyCounter, all of their products are rigorously screened and they triple test every batch of colored cosmetic for heavy metals.
EWG’S Skin Deep Cosmetic Database
This is a powerful tool to help you find out whether your skin care and cometic products are safe. It rates products from 1-10, the lower the number the safer the product.
Ditch Fragrance
Avoid any product that has fragrance as an ingredient. Remember fragrance can be composed of up to 200 harmful ingredients.
The Never List
These are common ingredients used in the skin care industry and are recommended to avoid as much as possible. Save it in your phone to have it handy whenever you’re buying cosmetics, beauty or baby products and cleaning supplies. Download it HERE
Try Beautycounter
BeautyCounter triple tests every batch of their products for heavy metals and contaminants, they have eliminated over 1500 harmful ingredients from their products (FDA has only eliminated 30 since 1938). Although all of BeautyCounter products are made with safer ingredients, they are luxurious and high-performing – I’m in love with this company!
Another thing Beautycounter is doing differently is advocating for stricter regulations in DC and are super transparent, every single ingredient is displayed.
They have everything, from skin care products, sunscreens, cosmetics to baby products! If you have questions about any of the information I share here or want to know more about Beautycounter, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message.
I hope this information and tools will help you make safer choices for you and your loved ones.
Health and love,
Jen
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