Organic Shampoo And Makeup:
Health Benefits of Organic Shampoo, Makeup and other Personal Care Products
Have you ever thought about how many chemicals and toxins you’re exposed to every day from your personal care products in your bathroom?
Such as your shampoo, shower gel, body lotion, deo and makeup?
I think that many people are aware of the likelihood of harmful ingredients in household products such as pesticides, herbicides, cleaning products, washing detergent, air fresheners, processed foods etc.
But I don’t think the majority of them know that there may be health damaging ingredients in their shampoo and other personal care products.
At least I didn’t know or took notice of it until I was in my thirties and expecting my first child. Then my interest for healthier and toxin free options was born since I realized that…
Potentially harmful ingredients in personal care products may damage our health since our skin ABSORBS what’s applied to it.
This means that, if your shampoo, shower gel, skin care cream, makeup etc, contain potentially health damaging ingredients, they may enter your blood stream and start building up in your organs.
Some research suggest that ingredients absorbed through your skin can result in body concentrations 10x higher than oral doses.
Maybe you think that the amount of any potentially harmful ingredients in your personal care products and makeup is so small so it can’t really cause any serious harm to your health?
Well, the thing is that small quantities are likely to be MORE harmful than large quantities.
The reason for this is that the small quantities don’t activate your body’s natural defense system to get rid of the toxins… just because the doses are so SMALL!
And over a longer period of time…
…the potentially harmful ingredients can gradually buildup in your organs and cause serious damage to your health.
Unfortunately, many brands and manufacturers still use ingredients in products we – and also our children – use everyday, that are to be concerned about.
Some of these ingredients are:
- 1,4 Dioxane: some products containing SLES have traces of 1,4-dioxane, which is formed as a by-product during the ethoxylation step of its production. 1,4 Dioxande is a known carcinogen.
- DEA (diethanolamine), MEA (monoethanolamine), TEA (triethanolamine): DEA works as a wetting agent in shampoos, lotions, creams and cosmetics. Alone DEA is harmless, but when it comes into contact with other common personal care product ingredients it can become a carcinogen called NDEA or nitrosodiethanolamine.
- Parabens: often used as preservatives in shampoo and other personal care items. Parabens are suspected to disrupt the endocrine system and some research indicate it may cause some forms of cancer (not all parabens are on the “Black list”, for more informaton about different parabens, visit: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/search.php?query=paraben.
- Formaldehyde: formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives (FRPs) are used in many personal care products, particularly in shampoos and liquid baby soaps. These chemicals, which help prevent microbes from growing in water-based products, can be absorbed through the skin and have been linked to cancer and allergic skin reactions.
- Phtalates: phthalates are a group of chemicals used in hundreds of products i.a. PVC plastic, hair sprays, aftershave lotions, soaps, shampoos, air fresheners, candles, perfumes and other fragrance preparations.
Phthalates are endocrine-disrupting “plasticizer” chemicals, linked to early puberty in girls and other reproductive harms. Children and teens are likely to be particularly sensitive to hormone-disrupting chemicals.
Please note: You should be EXTRA careful with what’s in the products your young children and teens are using.
They are likely to be even more sensitive to hormone disrupting chemicals than adults.
If e.g. your shampoo has ingredients that mimic estrogen, meaning that they work like the hormone estrogen, then this may effect our kids and teens in a negative way. On boys it may suppress the masculine development, whereas on girls the effect may be that they go into puberty at an earlier age.
For adults the negative effect of e.g. estrogen mimics can be hormonal imbalance, skin issues, acne, weight gain and PMS symptoms.
So considering this, using organic shampoo, makeup and other personal care products WITHOUT known, potentially harmful ingredients, seems to me a safer AND healthier choice.
Another thing worth mentioning is that…
…natural and toxin-free personal care products usually offer other benefits too.
E.g. there are studies showing that sls free shampoo gives you stronger, thicker hair and it will also grow faster than if you use a shampoo loaded with with sls and other “bad” ingredients.
Today, it’s no problem to find products with natural and organic ingredients.
However, you should also be aware of the risk of hidden harmful ingredients, also in products promoted as containing only “natural” ingredients.
E.g. phtalates, may not be listed on the ingredient label, but be a “hidden” ingredient in fragrances, perfumes and aroma boosters.
“…It’s often difficult to know if phthalates are in a product because manufacturers aren’t required to list the specific chemicals that make up fragrances — and those fragrances can often contain phthalates, which are used to make smells last longer. To be sure, look for labels that say “no phthalates” or “phthalate-free.”
– See more at: http://www.webmd.com/children/environmental-exposure-head2toe/personal-care-products
Another thing many people don’t think about is the plastic containers the shampoo, body lotion, makeup etc is packaged in.
Many of these plastic containers contain chemicals like BPA or phthalates. These chemicals can get into your system from the container via the products you use….
The level of risk you want to assume and how cautious you want to be is a personal choice.
My personal choice is to stay on the “safe” side, and that’s why I prefer to I buy natural and organic shampoo, shower gel etc. for me and my family.
And I’m very happy to have found a company, that manufactures high quality personal care products and makeup without potentially harmful ingredients, AND use SAFE containers for packaging.
If you’d like to know how you can AVOID potentially health damaging shampoo, shower gel, makeup and other personal care products…
…then click the link below for more information!
=>> Personal Care Products Made of High Quality and SAFE Ingredients Only
Share this post with friends and family you care about and let me know if you have any questions!
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References:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704911704575327141935381092
https://naturalwellness.sisel.net/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/303970-sodium-lauryl-sulfate-hair-loss/
http://www.ewg.org/research/dirty-dozen-list-endocrine-disruptors
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/11/13/worst-endocrine-disruptors.aspx
saferchemicals.org/2015/05/26/is-that-a-toxic-chemical-in-my-deodorant/
saferchemicals.org/chemicals/parabens/