Skin Deep

I have all these reviews I want to post about different products but it occurs to me that I need to lay a foundation for it first.  So here it goes...

The beauty and skin care products you use are so important for two reasons. The first is that your skin is your largest organ.  Do you really know what you are feeding it?  Whatever you put on your skin goes directly into your body.  The second is that these are the products that often get washed down the drain and into our soil and water.  Oh wait, and there is a third...products with synthetic  and toxic materials rather than organic ones take more energy to produce.

Do you take a look at what is in your products you and your family use?  If you did would you really know what it all meant?  I have been working on this for a long time and I still can't figure it out sometimes.  Especially when there is so much "green washing" going on nowadays.  Everyone is rushing to put "all natural" (which really means nothing), "natural ingredients," etc... Even when you think you are making good choices, you may just be getting duped by the latest company to try to cash in on the craze.  

So here are some basic things to look for in your products.  Do you see any of the following on your product:

• fragrance (the very thing that makes you love the smell of your baby, may be bad for him)
  
• hydroquinone (check your moisturizers for this one)
  
• coal tar
  
• aluminum
  
• lead or mercury
  
• triclosan (take a close look at antibacterial creams)
  

Those are the big bad boys.  You should try to avoid these products with these ingredients all together.  It can be a little more complicated with other ingredients and items so check out this great skin deep cosmetic database that breaks it all down for you and literally helps to give you a red, yellow, or green light on over 40,000 different products.  Just type in the one you are interested in and see the rating.

I know what you are thinking now, but then what do you use?  I didn't believe it either but there are healthy alternatives to well, everything.  I haven't found one thing that didn't have a healthy alternative yet!  And those are the things I am going to share with you here.  In fact, check back in tomorrow for a review on an great hair product!  And if you have other things you want me to blog about or look into, feel free to leave a comment or post a question on the Facebook page (which you should "fan" if you haven't).