MY TOP HARMFUL CHEMICALS TO AVOID
Navigating ingredient labels can be very annoying and confusing. I had a lot more patience for it before kids, but thankfully since then I’ve found companies I trust and love. You can find all of my top recommendations here and here.
When reading labels, I always look for these easy offenders first:
Fragrance – includes more than 3,000 chemicals that do not have to be disclosed to consumers because they are considered a company’s “trade secret.” It’s a huge loophole for companies to hide chemicals within formulations.
Anything with –eth at the end of it
Parabens
Phthalates
PEG
SLS or SLES
The tricky part is these chemicals can also be disguised under other names.
Save this list from the Campaign for Safer Cosmetics to your phone for quick reference when you're out shopping!
Let’s Talk GREENWASHING
Marketing and cosmetic regulations in America are close to nothing, so a product only needs to contain one natural ingredient for a company to put that on their label. Greenwashing is when a product’s marketing conveys a false or misleading impression. Terms like: natural, pure, free and gentle, hypo-allergenic, clean, and plant based do not hold any legal regulation in the cosmetic world. They are simply marketing terms.
Here are some brands who have tricked me in the past. All toxicity scores are from the EWG skin deep app as of Nov 2020. Individual products vary, so I shared the scores of specific products I previously owned and used.
Aveeno (6/10)
Babyganics (6/10)
Cetaphil (sensitive) (4/10)
Method (5/10)
Clinique (6/10)
Mrs. Meyers (4/10)
Neutrogena (6/10, their sunscreen is 10/10)
Simple (6/10)
Tarte Cosmetics (6/10)
Yes To (4/10)
Tide Free & Gentle (9/10 TD)
Bare Minerals (doesn’t third-party test for heavy metals or asbestos)
The Body Shop (7/10)
Burt’s Bees (5/10 and FDA found lead in their lipstick)
Jason (5/10)
LET’S TALK APPS
There are two apps you can download on your phone: EWG Skin Deep and Think Dirty, but they both have their shortcomings, so I still highly recommend reading individual product labels. This is important and another reason why I truly love Beautycounter. They do the work for you!
EWG is far superior to Think Dirty, but neither are the be-all-end-all. Consider them a jumping off point until you become more confident reading ingredient labels. I always cross reference and dive deep into PubMed.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THESE APPS
Companies can change their formulation and the apps are not always up to date.
Brands who fully disclose ingredients are compared with some companies who are NOT disclosing all of their ingredients.
They do not consider how much of an ingredient is in the product. This is important because safety data points have safe limits and unsafe limits.
Ingredients are analyzed in isolation and the apps do not consider harmful reactions that can occur between several ingredients.
The sourcing of ingredients is not taken into account. Many ingredients score high because they may contain impurities, however companies can obtain certificates of purity from suppliers to ensure that ingredients are not contaminated. This isn't taken into account in the Think Dirty score but companies can share this with EWG. EWG has a stricter level of testing that takes into account these kinds of intricacies through their EWG verified program. I always aim to purchase products that are EWG verified.
Think Dirty doesn't take into account the percentage and functional need for preservatives in products that contain water. Not using preservatives poses a health risk of bacterial contamination. The apps do not consider how much is used. Less than 1% is considered safe.
MY FINAL OPINION:
At Beautycounter, we take far more info into account in our ingredient selection process when formulating each product. EWG is one source of information for us--not the end all, be all.
In fact, we give preference to ingredients with data over those than have no data - just because there isn't data on an ingredient, doesn't make it safe.
Beautycounter takes into account various information when formulating our products -
data points
percentage concentrations
exposure (intentional or accidental)
use restrictions
Those aren't the only things that separate Beautycounter from other companies I've researched.
Beautycounter also:
discloses every single ingredient
have self-banned over 1800 ingredients (compare that to the 30 to date that the US have banned and the 1500 that the EU has banned)
is continually looking at safety data to make sure our list is accurate...adding to it when necessary
is a Certified B Corp (I love this part! People, Planet and Profit last - read more here!)
is the only company that I know of that screens every batch of cosmetics for heavy metals
is transparent, honest...leading the entire industry to change our outdated beauty laws
formulates products that are as high performing as any product on the market...Safety + Performance...with NO compromises.
Try My Favorite Clean Beauty Products
Are you ready to try Beautycounter products? I love these products and believe in them so much I want to send you samples for free! All you have to do is fill out this form to let me know what your biggest skin concerns are and I'll help you find the perfect products for YOU.
Have additional questions? Feel free to contact me at angie@angiebloom.com
REMEMBER, WHEN TRANSITIONING TO SAFER PRODUCTS IT DOES TAKE TIME. BE PATIENT AND SERIOUSLY CELEBRATE THE SMALL CHANGES AND WINS! THEY REALLY DO ADD UP OVER TIME.
Sending you love,
