I recommend natural beauty, baby, and cleaning products that are just as effective as toxic ones.
All in Beauty
Flip over to the ingredient label on your skincare and you’re likely to find a long list of words you’ve never heard of. While some of these are harmless (think coco nucifera which is just coconut oil), many commonly used ingredients are linked to endocrine disruption, irritation, and even cancer.
“Clean at Sephora" might lead us to believe a product is safe, but in reality there are many potentially harmful ingredients allowed in products with this label. There is no legal definition for "clean," so it's important to vet the full ingredient list instead of simply shopping from the clean section.
Adverse health effects from 1,4-dioxane include eye, nose and throat irritation from short term exposure, and kidney and liver damage from long term exposure. [1] Unfortunately studies over the years (dating back to the 1970s) have continually detected 1,4-dioxane in a range of products, some far exceeding the supposed safe threshold of 10,000 ppb.
Nu Evolution liquid foundation has a matte finish that photographs beautifully and lasts. Plus, it is truly non-toxic. We now know our skin absorbs much of what we put on it. Most makeup contains harmful ingredients that you do not want left on your skin for hours at a time. Especially common is added fragrance, which should be avoided because there are many ingredients that make up fragrance that are not disclosed.
Coconut oil is gentler and more effective at removing makeup than traditional makeup removers. Coconut oil is not only effective, but it has additional benefits like hydration and antioxidants. It's antiviral, antibacterial, and anti fungal properties make coconut oil an excellent choice for acne prone skin.
A good detangler/leave-in conditioner is essential to prevent snags when combing through wet hair. Feed Your Ends is a non-toxic leave in conditioner that loosens tangles, adds shine AND protects hair from heat damage while styling. Feed Your Ends contains no synthetic fragrance and has a fresh, light scent that occurs naturally.
Studies show that harmful ingredients such as triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) enter the body through nail polish application. TPHP is associated with endocrine disruption. Exposure to VOCs like acetone, methyl methacrylate (MMA), and toluene is associated with headaches, lightheadedness, and irritation to the nose, eyes, throat, and skin. Benzephenone-1 is associated with endocrine disruption and skin toxicity, and may accelerate growth of breast cancer cells and promote cancer metastasis. Sienna Byron Bay nail polishes are the cleanest option, free of harmful ingredients including benzephenone-1.
Clean marketing labels seem to be popping up everywhere. The labels make us feel like the products we are buying are safe but what really matters lies in the fine print on the back of the box: the ingredients. The truth is, “clean” is not scientific or foolproof, and there is a lot of gray area. Avoid ingredients that are used even in clean beauty products like fragrance, PEGs, phenoxyethanol.
Most dark black pigment in eye makeup comes from carbon black, or a version of it. Carbon black is made from the incomplete combustion of petroleum products. It is toxic, possibly carcinogenic, and the FDA has even found carbon black unsafe for cosmetics used around the eyes. A source of concern for carbon black in cosmetics is the dermal absorption of these impurities, particularly PAHs, which have been classified as genotoxic carcinogens. Check the ingredient label for either carbon black, D&C black #2, or black 2.
