Ask not only what you put in your body, but also what you put on your body…

For years I have put thought into what I put in my body, but have never given much thought to all of the products I use daily to cleanse, moisturize and beautify. Then, recently I did some reading and research to find that all of the cosmetics I have used most of my life are toxic. Ahhhh! Yes, I am mad, but why have I not thought of this before? The truth is that it takes time and money to figure these things out. I spent a whole afternoon just researching the products I currently use. Then I started to research the safer products that I want to start using, and from looking at the product reviews there is a good reason women continue to use the popular toxic cosmetics. They work better and are cheaper! I was looking for a new mineral powder foundation and in every review there was a comment about the lack of coverage. That is the purpose of a foundation! I am frustrated by this new knowledge, but I think we all need to be aware of what we are putting on our skin. Your skin absorbs these chemicals and in many of these products there are ingredients that can modify your hormones. This is especially important with baby products because they are very sensitive to slight changes in hormones. In my research I read an article on the suspected effects of tea tree oil and lavender causing gynecomastia (development of breast tissue) in young boys. Just think about how many baby products have these ingredients and how harmless they sound. Now think about all the ingredients you don’t recognize and can’t even pronounce.


Here are some sites that have great information on skin care products. I will blog about any products I try.

http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/9_better_baby_lotions_and_potions_you_can_make_in_minutes/ (good blog on homemade baby products)

http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/(for info. on safer sunscreens)

www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ (info. on cosmetics, gives safety ratings and details of toxicity of ingredients)