http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
It can be so overwhelming when you are trying to be natural. And then you look at a label and it's full of things you've never heard of and can't pronounce (I'm talking toiletries & cleaning supplies here. For food, if you can't pronounce the ingredients, don't eat it.). It's hard to tell what is a harmful chemical and what is an awesome mineral that you want to use.
For example, I love argan oil. I told you about it in my skincare routine blog. On a label, it could be listed as argania spinosa. Personally, I think that is kinda scary sounding. But it's not scary, it's an awesome oil that I love.
At the top of the page, there is a search box. Type in either the product name, the brand name, or the ingredient you are curious about. For fun, I searched "Herbal Essence Shampoo".
The 1st product that came up is the Body Envy shampoo.
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/476330/Herbal_Essences_Body_Envy_2-in-1_Volumizing_Hair_Shampoo_%26_Conditioner/
It got a score of 4.
The site rates the product or ingredient on a scale of 0-10. Zero is good. 10 is toxic.
What I really love about the site is it breaks down why the product got the score it did. The Herbal Essence shampoo has a high risk of irritations and a low risk of cancer (no risk of cancer is ideal, obviously).
What I don't like about the site is that is not complete. There's a lot of products out there and they can't test everything. But above that, when a product is reformulated, sometimes the new formulation is not reflected in the score (good or bad).
Another, not downfall, just interesting thing about the site is that they will rate an ingredient with a higher score (more toxic) if results are unknown. If there haven't been enough tests to determine if it's toxic, they sometimes raise the toxic level. But they indicate that is what was done. So it's kind of an enter at your own risk score.
And fragrance. They are tough on that. If the label says fragrance, they rate it high on toxicity. Even if the source of the fragrance is a natural source. I avoid pretty much all fragrances because I am very sensitive to them (happened after my last surgery. A common side effect when you have lots of breathing tubes for a couple weeks, your lungs get very weak. And because I became very natural after the surgery, I never built my immunity back up to fragrances. Which is ok by me.). But natural fragrances from essential oils, etc. don't usually bother me (unless they are used in large amounts).
So go grab your shampoo. Type in the product name. See what your toxic score is. If your shampoo is not listed, then start typing in the ingredients one by one and see what the toxicity level is.
I typed in everything from my skincare post to share the results:
- Baking Soda: 0 (nontoxic)
- Apple Cider Vinegar: 1 ("can irritate the skin and damage the lungs when used in excess")
- Argan Oil: 0; Buy argan oil here.
- Dr. Bronner's: 0-3 depending on the flavor (Got hit for using fragrance, although they are from natural sources)
- Coconut Oil: 0 (for information on what kind of coconut oil to buy, click here)
- Vitamin E (which is Tocopherol - see what I mean about the names?!): 1 (because of data gaps)
I wash my hair with baking soda and condition it with apple cider vinegar. I promise to tell you about no poo soon! I make my deodorant out of the above ingredients (plus corn starch: 0 and arrowroot: 0). Compare the toxic levels of my natural routine to yours.
Many times before I purchase a product, I will check the ingredients in this website.
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