August 25, 2023

Toxins, Carcinogens, and Chemicals OH MY! – Detoxing One Product at a Time

Good morning!! This week has absolutely FLOWN by. I was meaning to post this on Monday and now it’s Friday but… ya know… sometimes it just goes that way.

I want to chat a little bit today about cosmetics and their potential dangers. I know I know, life is already stressful enough and the last thing anyone wants to think about is the ingredient list for your makeup. Honestly, I have had this exact approach for a while and I really wish I would have paid attention sooner. It is a lot easier than it seems to start the transition and not near as expensive as it is made out to be.

About six years ago, I started changing all of my household cleaning supplies, lotions, and haircare over to the nontoxic side. I was determined to start fresh, and clear all of the junk out of my products. The two things that I stubbornly held onto were my makeup and deodorant. For whatever reason, I thought that if everything else was clean then those items were fine. Honestly, I should have taken the exact OPPOSITE approach. Our skin is the largest organ we have and makeup is used on it almost every single day. Not to mention that the “toxic” ingredients are legitimate CARCINOGENS. I’m talking, hazardous materials that have been banned in so many other countries around the world. Unreal.

Let’s chat about a few of the “dangerous” ingredients I found to give context for why this is important…

BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene) Studies have shown that exposure to BHT may affect fertility and development. It has also demonstrated endocrine disruption… particularly on thyroid function.
Cyclomethicone: This silicone has exhibited endocrine disruption along with traces of cyclotetrasiloxane… a silicone that is toxic for reproduction.
Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate: Studies by the ECHA report potential endocrine disruption because of its ability to block female hormones and interfere with thyroid hormone activity.

Honestly, the list goes on and on but this gives you a good idea of the severity. Reproductive healthy, hormonal health, etc. It is so wild to me that this has been okay for so long.

A few days ago I shopped around at Ulta to see what nontoxic options they have. It was SLIM. I scanned just about every product that they had and was so bummed to find that all of my normal “go-tos” were filled with awful ingredients. However, I put together a list of items below that scored really well and actually work well. I have been using the app “Yuka” to scan products and I love it! It keeps an ongoing history of items that have been scanned too so you can look back. Something to keep in mind… Just because a certain product from a company is clean, that does not mean that everything else is ie. the pressed powders from Kylie Jenner’s line are safe but there wasn’t ONE other product from her line that was. Just a good mental note to make if you decide to start shifting your products! One other thing, just because something is deemed “safe” doesn’t mean that your skin will be compatible so keep an eye out for reactions or breakouts that might simply be from a lack of agreeance.

This goes without saying but I am in NO WAY an expert and HIGHLY encourage you to do research for yourself. 🙂