What we didn’t know about our skincare

What we didnt know about our skincare.

What you are going to read below is startling and was already made public 14 years ago.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) did a survey relating to the combined exposure levels of personal use products – that includes your toiletries, make up, sanitary ware and perfumes.

Take a look at some of the findings of this research.

• ‘One of every 13 women and one of every 23 men – are exposed to ingredients that are known or probable human carcinogens every day through their use of personal care products.’
• ‘One of every 24 women, 4.3 million women altogether, are exposed daily to personal care product ingredients that are known or probable reproductive and developmental toxins, linked to impaired fertility or developmental harm for a baby in the womb or a child. These statistics do not account for exposures to phthalates that testing shows appear in an estimated three quarters of all personal care products but that, as components of fragrance, are not listed on product ingredient labels.’
• ‘One of every five adults are potentially exposed every day to all of the top seven carcinogenic impurities common to personal care product ingredients — hydroquinone, ethylene dioxide, 1,4-dioxane, formaldehyde, nitrosamines, PAHs, and acrylamide.’
• ‘The top most common impurity ranked by number of people exposed is hydroquinone, which is a potential contaminant in products used daily by 94 percent of all women and 69 percent of all men.’
• ‘Women use more products than men, and are exposed to more unique ingredients daily, but men use a surprisingly high number of products as well. The average woman uses 12 products containing 168 unique ingredients every day. Men, on the other hand, use 6 products daily with 85 unique ingredients, on average.’
• ‘The personal care product industry’s self-policing safety panel, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review, approaches each safety assessment as if consumers are exposed to just one chemical at a time, and as if personal care products are the only source of exposure for each chemical considered. The results of this survey in combination with other studies show that people are exposed to hundreds of chemicals over the course of a day (CDC 2003, Thornton et al. 2002, EWG 2003), and that people face multiple sources of exposure from multiple consumer products for some of the common industrial chemicals used as cosmetic ingredients. Exposures can add up.’

Isn’t it time we re-looked our personal use products and evaluated them for ourselves?

Indeed, there are many more potential side-effects to ingredients found in non-natural brands.

We need to find brands that we can trust, who are transparent and have OUR best interests at heart as well as the earth’s.

If you’d like a helping hand to simplify these choices, consider my Clean up my toiletries and make up consultation. I’ve walked this road, studied ingredients, scrutinised many a brand and tried many myself and so can help you and your family make a personalised transition that suits your needs and budget.

You’ll be so glad you changed.