Ingredients to Avoid

The skin is our largest organ, and it absorbs over 60 percent of what we put on it. For most Americans, that means between nine and 15 personal-care products, with a grand total of 126 distinct ingredients every day. Many of those chemicals end up coursing through our bloodstreams. When you think about it, it’s easy to understand why it makes so much sense to seek out natural and organic alternatives.

Granted, a few synthetic ingredients in your makeup or moisturizer are probably not going to hurt you. But when you consider that we are exposed to chemicals in our food, air, beauty products, and household cleansers, it makes you stop and think about how that exposure can build up in our bodies over time.

It’s all about making good choices. If you can’t do without your synthetic conditioner, swap a green product in to your beauty regimen somewhere else—go green with your lipstick, perhaps, or your moisturizer. Start to read ingredient labels. To learn more about ingredients you might want to avoid, check out the resources below. These are the websites I turn to, and I encourage you and your loved ones to do the same. Truth is, you don’t have to be a cosmetic chemist to learn how to make healthier choices.

The Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetic Database
The Green Guide
Teens Turning Green
The Organic Consumers Association

Read more from NATURAL BEAUTY 101:

Why Go Green
My Mission
How To Shop Green
Skin
Makeup
Hair
Nails
Sunscreen
Water
Food
Household
Green Baby
Pets