Are You Giving the Gift of TOXICITY this Holiday Season?

What if you found out the gifts you were giving to your loved ones were toxic?

It is that time of year where everyone is searching for that perfect gift. Stores shelves are lined with loads of suggestions, gift sets and holiday packages to bring some ease for those hard to shop for people on your list.

Stress levels have been high these last couple of years, and many are beginning to focus more on self-care. What better gift to give than those personal care products! Lotions, scrubs, after shaves, cosmetics, facial masks, hair products, bath oils, all the luxurious self-love sets! But what if you found out the gifts you were giving (not to mention spending your hard-earned money on) were… TOXIC!

According to research performed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the average person uses 9 personal care products each day, exposing themselves to over 126 different chemical ingredients. The average women… 515 chemicals! Our skin is our body’s largest organ. A very absorbent organ. What we lather onto our skin can be absorbed directly into our blood streams and bioaccumulate, which means these ingredients build up in our tissues. You have probably heard the term “you are what you eat”. Well you also “are what you wear” because your skin is sucking it in and storing it!

The scary truth is there is no other consumer product that goes through less government oversight than cosmetics and personal care products, even though most of these chemicals have been banned in countries everywhere, including the European Union. Research performed by the California Safe Cosmetics Programs beginning June of 2009 has tested over 85,000 products. In these products they have found over 114,000 different ingredients and 95 which are known carcinogens, hormone disrupters and allergens, linked to cancer, reproductive harm and birth defects including:

Formaldehyde – a known carcinogen linked to cancer, found as a preservative in many soaps, shampoos, and cosmetics, lurking under many different names
Mercury – which can cause damage to the kidneys and nervous system
Phthalates – a known hormone disrupter, damaging male reproductive health, and linked to birth defects, often hidden as “fragrances”
Parabens – a common personal care product preservative, linked to breast cancer and reproductive and developmental problems
Triclosan – banned by the US from hand soaps, however, still remains in many toothpastes, hand sanitizers (hello 2020!) and body washes, known for causing damage to the thyroid and reproductive hormones

The good news is there are many people out there challenging our government to ban the use of these products and mandate more testing before these products can hit the shelves. Plus with the spreading of this knowledge and awareness, more big name companies are slowly voluntarily removing these ingredients from their products! Until more regulations have been made it is up to you to do your part to make sure you are only subjecting yourself and your loved ones with the cleanest, quality products available.

How to Take Back Control Now:

Read those labels – ingredient lists are there for you to decode! Look up ingredients you are unfamiliar with, remember harmful ingredients like to hide under different names!
Not Proven, Not Safe – if there is no proof that an ingredient has been proved safe… consider it harmful!
Avoid Scents – I know, I know. Everyone loves those candles that fill the room with scent, the lotions that linger fragrance all day; however, scent usually represents toxins. Alternatively, look for products scented with essential oils!
Watch out for “Natural” & “Hypoallergenic” - these terms are not regulated and unfortunately are often used to trick you. Ingredients are your only truth!
Stick with Brands You Trust - there are brands out like Beautycounter (the company I personally teamed with), advocating for stricter laws, cleaner products, responsibly sourcing, and personally banning ingredients (Beautycounter has banned over 1,800!) from their products. Finding companies what align with your morals and standards is important.
Investigate – be your own detective! It’s your body, do your research. There are great resources available at your fingertips like the EWG website, their fantastic app, Healthy Living, and also another great app for investigating all the products in your home Think Dirty.