How beauty cosmetics and personal care did amazing things you did not care about?
What is considered a personal care product?
Personal Care Product use and Tips for prevention from misuse
How many personal care products do you use every day?
On average, women use twelve personal care products containing 168 ingredients daily and men use six personal care products containing 85 unique ingredients daily. Teenage girls use an average of 17 personal care products a day. (source)
Once I added up my deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap, face wash, moisturizer, mascara (check out my safer mascara guide), lipstick, etc.; I realized that twelve sounds like it might be on the low end.
Why am I asking about your personal care products and counting up what I use?
Because the personal care industry is almost completely unregulated, many of the ingredients used in products are either known to be harmful or have never been tested for safety. The FDA does not require that products be tested for safety before they hit the market.
Want to make sure you’re not unknowingly using harmful products on your body? Here are five simple steps you can take to transition to safer products and avoid many of the toxins found in products currently on the market.
1. UNDERSTAND WHY IT MATTERS
There’s a growing body of evidence that shows that the environment toxins we are exposed to play a role in many diseases and disorders in the U.S. That includes toxins in our personal care products!
You may think that there’s no way something known to be harmful can be found in a product that is readily available to buy off a store shelf. Unfortunately, that’s just not true! Here’s just one example that shows how our personal care products are impacting our health.
ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND PHTHALATES
Girls world over. are going in to puberty earlier than a generation ago and developing breasts one to two years earlier. (source)
Adolescent girls are particularly susceptible to environmental toxins especially those that have endocrine-disrupting hormones, which are chemicals that change the way hormones work in the body. They may mimic, block, or disrupt the way a hormone is intended to work.
Before puberty, the reproductive system is incredibly sensitivity to estrogen. The change we’re seeing in adolescent girls’ development may in part be due to using products that contain ingredients like phthalates. Phthalates are endocrine disruptors that cause havoc on the hormone system, including mimicking estrogen. This ‘estrogen’ signals to the body to begin developing earlier than it would without these toxins.
What’s the harm with earlier development? First, it just feels wrong that a chemical can alter the way our body develops. But the science supports this feeling and the younger a girl is when she enters puberty, the higher risk she is at of developing breast cancer later in life. (source)
Phthalates are used to make plastics soft and flexible. They are used in toys, electronics, adhesives, plastic containers, and etc. But they are also found in personal care products. They are used to help products penetrate the skin, to be more pliable, and for fragrance to stay on the skin.
Cosmetics, fragrances, nail polishes, deodorants, hair sprays, creams, and lotions are common products in which phthalates are used. Baby products are not immune. A study in 2008 found an association between the number of products with phthalates used on infants and the amount of phthalates found in the infants’ urine. Baby shampoo, lotion, and powder were the highest associations.
Phthalates are just one of hundreds of ingredients that are legally used in the U.S. in personal care products. (Read more about the dangers of phthalates outside of girls’ development here.)
2. KNOW WHAT’S IN YOUR PRODUCTS
Marketing for personal care products can be incredibly misleading given that the industry is so unregulated. Terms like ‘all natural’, ‘organic’, or ‘non toxic’ are essentially meaningless. Because it’s left up to us as consumers to self-regulate, we need reliable sources to understand the safety of our products.
I prefer to use the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database. This tool allows you to look up individual products, obtain a score for each between 1 (safe) and 10 (not safe), and to see each ingredient (at least those that the company has disclosed) so you can understand it’s potential health issues.
If a product is not available, you can look up the individual ingredients to make a determination on the safety based on what you find.
Note that all ingredients in a product do not have to be disclosed. As I shared in my post about safer laundry products, in the United States ‘fragrance’ is considered a trade secret and companies do not have to disclose which chemicals they use to create a fragrance.
3. DON’T STRESS
It can be overwhelming when you find out that the products you’ve been using are not as safe as you thought. Especially if you went out of your way to purchase products with labels that mislead you to think they were safer.
Rather than stressing (which can be just as bad for your health as the chemicals in your products!) decide on how you will clean up your personal care routine. You can throw all your products out and replace them all immediately. But that sounds stressful and expensive.
I advocate for the less intense (and more affordable) approach of replacing one or two items at a time. My favorite methods are to:
- replace the most ‘offending’ products first. List your products by EWG rating and as you can afford to replace products, start with those that have the highest scores.
- replace your products as they run out. When it’s time to replenish, replace the product with a safer alternative.
- replace products that stay on your skin first. Choose to replace the products that remain on your body (deodorant, lotion, nail polish, and cosmetics) first, then replace products that wash off like face wash, shampoos, and etc.
4. USE NATURAL INGREDIENTS TO MAKE SAFER PRODUCTS
If cost is a factor or you prefer to go truly 100% natural, consider using common household ingredients for some of your personal care needs. There is a plethora of information on the internet around this and here are a few of the most common.
COCONUT OIL
Coconut oil is easy to find, inexpensive, and can replace many personal care products. A common use for coconut oil is as a face wash and moisturizer by following the oil cleansing method. Other uses include as a deep conditioning hair mask, dandruff treatment, teeth whitener (via oil pulling), and body lotion.
Read more about how to use coconut oil for skin and how to choose a good coconut oil.
OLIVE OIL
For those who are sensitive to coconut oil, olive oil can be used for the oil cleansing method as well. You can also try it on diaper rashes or eczema, as a shaving cream, as a makeup remover, or as a nail treatment.
Make sure you’re buying quality olive oil, not a fake!
I love using apple cider vinegar in the kitchen, but only recently discovered that it can be a great addition to personal care routines as well.
Common uses include as a facial toner, hair rinse, acne spot treatment, and anti-fungal foot soak. I prefer to use raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar.
5. SWITCH TO SAFER BRANDS
If you’re like me, you may not be a big fan of making your own products. I have no shame in saying that I am ‘DIY-free‘. Rather than make my own, I take advantage of (and support) companies who do the heavy lifting of making safer products. It takes some research to find companies that are actually making safer products.
I’ve found safer skincare and other personal care companies through other health and wellness bloggers, by researching verified companies and companies whose products score low in the Skin Deep database, and by generally keeping on top of the industry news.
I look for companies that are transparent and disclose all ingredients, that use products know to be safe, and that create products that work well. I’m not terribly concerned about synthetic products if they’ve been screened for safety, but you can focus on 100% natural companies if that is important to you!
Supporting these companies not only ensures that you are using safer personal care products but it’s also a vote for safer products in general. The industry will change as consumer spending changes.
Have you transitioned any of your personal care products? What are your favorite household ingredients or brands?
Examples of personal care products that may be regulated as both cosmetics and other regulatory categories include:
- Fluoride-containing toothpaste
- Anti dandruff shampoo
- Antiperspirant deodorants
- Moisturizers and makeup that claim to protect from the sun
- Some hair removal devices
- Vitamins and minerals
- Manicure sets
The term “cosmetics,” according to the FDA/FSSAI, encompasses a wide variety of personal care products including:
- Makeup and nail polishes
- Perfumes and colognes
- Shaving products
- Skin moisturizers, lotions, and creams
- Face and body cleansers
- Shampoos
- Deodorants
- Toothpaste
- Baby oils and lotions
- Hair care products, dyes, conditioners, straighteners/relaxers, perms
- Hair removal creams
- Tattoos and permanent makeup
- Temporary tattoos and face paint
TOP 5 SAFE COSMETICS TIPS
No one wants to learn that their trusted personal care products are made with hazardous chemicals. Thankfully, safer alternatives are available and there are steps you can take to reduce toxic exposures in your home and protect the health of your family.
1. Simplify
Choose products with simpler ingredient lists and fewer synthetic chemicals. Avoid synthetic fragrance by skipping products with “fragrance” on the label, and use fewer products overall.
2. DIY
Some personal care products are easy to make yourself, and this can be a great project for a party. Make your own sugar or salt scrubs or body oils, using simple, organic ingredients.
3. Research Products Yourself
Since the beauty industry is largely unregulated, it’s up to you to do your own research to find the safest products. There are no legal standards for personal care products labeled as “pure,” “natural” or “organic,” so look beyond the marketing claims and read labels carefully.
4. Use apps like Think Dirty
To find out whether your go-to products are safe or not, try Think Dirty’s shop clean app. This easy-to-use resource ranks the safety of specific products on a scale of 1-10 and offers up cleaner solutions.
5. Get Involved
While it’s possible – and becoming easier – to reduce toxic exposures in your home by buying safer products, it’s not possible to shop our way out of this problem. Even if they’re not in your home, toxic chemicals from personal care products can still end up in our air and drinking water, and in the homes of people who don’t have access to safe products.
The solution: help us change the rules of the game! It shouldn’t be legal to sell cosmetics that contain dangerous ingredients. We’re working to pass new laws that protect our health and give consumers better information to make smart choices.
Stay informed, speak up and spread the word—all in our Take Action section.
How Safe Are Cosmetics and Personal Care Products?
You may be choosy about your moisturizer, hair color product, and makeup brand—but how much time do you spend checking out the safety of those products?
Cosmetics and personal care items include foundation and mascara, face and body lotion, soaps and shampoos, hair styling products, deodorant, toothpaste, hair dyes, and nail polish. They are considered safe, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t risks associated with their use, particularly if you don’t use them correctly.
Safety concerns
Some of the safety concerns that may be associated with cosmetics and personal care products include:
Eye infections
Spreading bacteria on the skin
Irritation and scratches on the eye
Fire hazards, in the case of aerosol products such as hairspray
Allergic reactions or sensitivity to ingredients
Contaminants in products not manufactured in the U.S.
Using your cosmetics and personal care products properly can help reduce many risks. These include washing off cosmetics before you go to sleep and not sharing any personal products to prevent the spread of bacteria.
Safety testing
The FSSAI/FDA works to ensure that cosmetic companies follow regulations to keep cosmetics and personal care products as safe as possible. But although the FDA recommends that cosmetic manufacturers test their products, they aren’t required to do so. You can tell what’s been tested by looking for a product label that says: “WARNING – The safety of this product has not been determined.” If a product hasn’t been tested for safety, it must display that labeling.
You may also see “external D&C,” “D&C,” or “FD&C” followed by the name of a color, for example “D&C Red No. 36.” These are color additives. External D&C is only approved for use in cosmetics and in drugs that are applied to the skin. D&C color is only approved for use in drugs and cosmetics, but FD&C color is approved for use in foods, drugs, and cosmetics.
Two commonly used chemicals that have been scrutinized for safety are parabens and phthalates. Parabens are preservatives that prevent the growth of bacteria in personal care products and cosmetics. Although one study suggested a possible link between parabens and breast cancer, further studies have not reached the same conclusion. The levels of parabens used in personal care products today are considered safe, although parabens (and other ingredients) may cause irritation or an allergic reaction in some people.
Phthalates are used to enhance the formulas of a range of cosmetics and personal care products, from shampoo to hair spray to nail polish. They may be used as solvents and perfume fixatives or to help avoid stiffness in hair spray and reduce cracking in nail polish. Although phthalates have been extensively studied and reviewed, a number of panels have agreed that phthalates in these products are safe.
The FSSAI/FDA’s role
The FSSAI/FDA regulates many of these products because items such as anti dandruff shampoo, antiperspirants, and medicated lip balm are considered drugs. Color additives and dyes found in hair dye and cosmetics must also be approved by the FDA. The FDA also regulates personal care products that are categorized as medical devices, such as hair remover gadgets, dietary supplements, and consumer products like nail care tools.
Although the FSSAI/FDA doesn’t regulate non drug cosmetics and personal care products, the agency can take legal action against companies that don’t follow safety regulations when making these types of products. Companies must make sure that their products are safe before they can be sold.
Because the FDA can’t actually approve most ingredients in cosmetics, personal care products can’t be labeled or marketed as “FDA-approved.”
What is considered a personal care product? Personal Care Product use and Tips for prevention from misuse
1. Read ingredient labels
It is perfectly legal for companies to use ingredients linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, and reproductive harm in the cosmetics and personal care products we use every day.
2. Don’t be fooled by natural and organic claims
These words have little meaning in the largely unregulated personal care products industry. Natural doesn’t always mean safe (for example, lead) and not all synthetic ingredients are harmful.
3. Avoid fragrance
The word fragrance is a cocktail of ingredients and may include dozens or more potentially harmful chemicals, and can be found in nearly half of all personal care products. Avoid purchasing and using products with the word fragrance or parfum on the label.
4. Revamp your beauty routine
Ditch your old daily routine and replace it with safer cosmetics and personal care products. If it’s too much to do all at once, switch over one product at a time.
5. Use Online Tools to Find Safer Products
Clearya, a free Chrome extension and mobile app, notifies you about unsafe ingredients in your personal care and cleaning products while you shop online at Amazon, Sephora, Walmart, iHerb and Love Letter. Know what’s inside your products with Clearya!
Also, apps like ThinkDirty and EWG’s Skin Deep database rate your personal care products for safety and toxicity.
6. Use products with the MADE SAFE® seal
MADE SAFE® is helping to make it easier to find safer products by labeling them with a special seal. Learn how they certify the safety of personal care and other consumer products, and where you can find them.
7. Choose safer hair and nail salons
Look for healthy nail and hair salons in your community that use safer products. If you can’t find a healthy nail salon in your community, bring your own nontoxic nail polish.
Find a Healthy Nail Salon
INGREDIENTS TO WATCH OUT FOR IN KIDS’ PRODUCTS
Here are six worrisome ingredients in body care products for kids:
PARABENS
These hormone-disrupting preservatives are in many types of products. Avoid products with
propyl-, butyl-, iso-propyl, and iso-butyl parabens.
ISOTHIAZOLINONES
These preservatives can cause serious skin rashes and are banned in other countries, yet they are still in products— even those advertised as “hypoallergenic.” Look for and avoid products with “methylisothiazolinone” or “methylisochlorothiazolinone” on the label.
FRAGRANCE
The term “fragrance” is shorthand for a complex mixture of scented ingredients and ingredients that make a scent last on skin. Some ingredients are irritating or allergenic, and others can disrupt the body’s hormone systems. Although some forward-looking companies are starting to disclose ingredients in their fragrances, for many products, shoppers
don’t know what’s hiding behind the label “fragrance.”
RETINYL PALMITATE AND OTHER TOPICAL RETINOIDS
This form of vitamin A can be used in sunscreens, lotions and lip products. Look out for retinyl palmitate and other retinyls, such as retinyl acetate. When exposed to the sun on skin and lips, retinyls can break down and damage skin.
TALC
Lab tests commissioned by EWG and other public interest groups detected trace amounts of the notorious carcinogen asbestos in talc-based makeup marketed toward children and teens. Geologically, asbestos can be commonly found in the same rock that is mined for talc.
There is no safe level of exposure to asbestos, which can lodge deep in the lungs and cause mesothelioma or other fatal diseases decades after exposure.
FORMALDEHYDE RELEASERS
The preservative ingredients can cause skin sensitization and allergies. Ingredients include DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea and sodium hydroxymethylglycinate,
among others.
KEEP IT SIMPLE FOR BABIES
Babies’ tiny bodies are especially vulnerable to harsh, toxic chemicals. Protect your baby by:
CHOOSING ZINC-BASED DIAPER CREAMS, and avoiding those with BHA and boric acid.
SKIPPING BABY POWDER.
Just like auto exhaust or secondhand smoke, tiny airborne particles can damage a baby’s delicate, developing lungs.
SOOTHING DRY SKIN
WITH A FOOD OR MASSAGE-GRADE OIL RATHER THAN LOTIONS. Try almond or coconut oil,
but avoid olive oil.
INFANTS UNDER 6 MONTHS SHOULD BE KEPT OUT OF DIRECT SUN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Their skin is not yet protected by melanin.When you take them outside cover them up with protective clothing and a sun hat, and find shade whenever possible.
IGNORE MARKET CLAIMS
Many products on the market carry labels such as “natural,” “safe,” “gentle,” “hypoallergenic”
and “green”—yet such claims may mean very little. The Food and Drug Administration does
not approve labels before products are sold, and manufacturers often use these terms just
for advertisement purposes.
Making smart, informed choices about the products you bring into your home is an essential step toward protecting your family from harmful or irritating personal care products.
Trade Secrets and Undisclosed Fragrances
Unfortunately, vague labels, lax regulations and a lack of transparency by manufacturers can make it hard to determine what ingredients are lurking in your toiletries bag.
Cosmetic manufacturers are not required to share the formulations of their products with the FDA — though some choose to do so voluntarily. Even when they do share, they don’t disclose the quantities of the ingredients they use.
While cosmetic companies are required by law to list ingredients on labels in descending order of predominance, there are several loopholes in this rule. Under a trade-secret exemption, manufacturers are not required to list ingredients that are considered “trade secrets” on product labels. Instead, they need merely to add the phrase “and other ingredients” to the end of the product’s ingredient list.
"Be good to your skin. You'll wear it every day for the rest of your life." - Renee Rouleau.
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If you’re dealing with hair loss, damaged hair, preventing skin disorders, hair growth, hair and scalp care normally, very similar principles come to mind.
In most cases, you will want to steer clear of hair products and treatments that include chemicals like parabens, DEA or sulfates.
What is beneficial for your hair is good for your skin also.
Clearly the content above is spot on for so many reasons. It stays away from the common errors and errors most fall into- buying defective alternatives. Keep it up!
Thank You for your kind words.