tips for cleaner personal care products
Personal care products—cosmetics, skin care, body lotion, soap, shampoo, etc—are often the last thing we think about when it comes to cleaning up our personal environment. Many of us read food labels and even pay attention to our food storage containers; yet, we’re washing our hands ten or more times a day with soap with chemicals that have been shown to cause harm to human health, most commonly causing chronic disease.
There is no agreed upon standard of what “clean” or “safe” means, and natural means nothing.
I always say that horse shit is natural, but that doesn’t mean we want to ingest it.
The point is that natural doesn’t always mean safe, and because there is such little regulation, a product could have both natural and safe ingredients AND ingredients that are not natural or safe. Basically, naturally does not equal safe, and synthetic doesn’t necessarily mean harmful. Also, ingredients one person is comfortable with may be very different from the ingredients that you or I am comfortable with, which is why learning to read labels is so important. I often see products that advertise on the front label that it is scented with essential oils, but if you read the back label, you will also see the word “fragrance”. Fragrance can refer to a combination of over 3000 chemicals used to create a certain smell, and to protect trade secrets, none of them have to be disclosed, so there’s no way to know whether or not it’s safe for our health.
As a general rule, I try to avoid anything that has “fragrance” on the label.
The Environmental Working Group is a valuable resource for learning about ingredients; they are a non-profit organization whose aim is to educate the public about ingredient safety, and they also have an app by the same name that is helpful when shopping. They rank products on a scale of “EWG approved” and then 1 - 10 with 1 being low and 10 being highly concerning.
Below are products that I personally like and use, and I’ve included links from Amazon, so if you choose to buy them, I might make a small commission. Otherwise, I am not affiliated with any of these companies. Without further ado, here are my recommendations for safer products you use everyday.
Toothpaste
Fluoride is classified as a neurotoxin, so I generally try to avoid it, though I can see how there’s a difference (dose response) between drinking fluorinated water and brushing with fluorinated toothpaste. Regardless, I typically use fluoride-free toothpaste.
hand soap
Bronner’s Castille Soap: I bought these refillable foaming hand soap dispensers and filled a third with the soap and the rest water. It’s super easy, convenient, and affordable!
Bodywash
Hair Care
Innersense Hair Products: My whole family has been using these products for several years now. I’ve used the shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner, scalp scrub, and the hair balm.
Hairstory: This is a product I tried based on the recommendation of a hair stylist I follow on Instagram. She recommends it because it doesn’t strip your hair of oils and because she, like I am, is very sensitive to chemicals and other smells.
Body Lotion
Soothing Touch Before I get out of the shower, I apply a homemade body oil; I mix up the oils I use—sometimes avocado oil, sometimes almond or jojoba, and add essential oils to get the scent I want. Then I pat myself dry with a towel and then apply lotion. Life in the desert can be really hard on your skin—or if you’re not in the desert, during the winter— and this combination—along with dry brushing before the shower—has made a really significant difference for me.
I hope this helps you where ever you are in your process of cleaning up your toiletries.
What clean products are you loving lately? Share with us in the comments.
