Personal Care Products
The three products I reviewed were:
1. Tom's of Maine toothpaste - score: 1
2. Beautycounter moisture lotion - EWG verified top scoring product
3. Nivea body lotion - score: 3
In the last year or two I have been more conscious about the products I purchase and use and have been trying to switch to safer beauty products. I was pleased to see that two of the products I use everyday rank low for potential hazards and health concerns. I was not necessarily surprised that the Nivea lotion ranked higher because it is not a brand I associate with safer beauty. It also has a fairly long list of ingredients (16 total) and I have no idea what most of them are. In comparison, the Tom's toothpaste has 10 ingredients and I am familiar with 8 of them. The EWG website indicated the worst ingredient in the Nivea lotion is the fragrance (score of 8 on its own). This definitely makes me want to find a better/less toxic lotion to use. I also plan to see what the ratings are on other products I am currently using a switch out products that are rated as more toxic.
I do think that everyone should know about the risks of personal care products. I think most people assume that there is some sort of regulation on what is allowed to be in their products - especially in products for babies/children. It was disturbing to find out the toxic chemicals that are in products specifically designed for babies and children to use. If these ratings were required to be on all products, I think most people would make better choices when it comes to the products they are purchasing for their children and themselves.
1. Tom's of Maine toothpaste - score: 1
2. Beautycounter moisture lotion - EWG verified top scoring product
3. Nivea body lotion - score: 3
In the last year or two I have been more conscious about the products I purchase and use and have been trying to switch to safer beauty products. I was pleased to see that two of the products I use everyday rank low for potential hazards and health concerns. I was not necessarily surprised that the Nivea lotion ranked higher because it is not a brand I associate with safer beauty. It also has a fairly long list of ingredients (16 total) and I have no idea what most of them are. In comparison, the Tom's toothpaste has 10 ingredients and I am familiar with 8 of them. The EWG website indicated the worst ingredient in the Nivea lotion is the fragrance (score of 8 on its own). This definitely makes me want to find a better/less toxic lotion to use. I also plan to see what the ratings are on other products I am currently using a switch out products that are rated as more toxic.
I do think that everyone should know about the risks of personal care products. I think most people assume that there is some sort of regulation on what is allowed to be in their products - especially in products for babies/children. It was disturbing to find out the toxic chemicals that are in products specifically designed for babies and children to use. If these ratings were required to be on all products, I think most people would make better choices when it comes to the products they are purchasing for their children and themselves.
Hey Ayla! I'm so glad you chose to review the tooth paste . I personally wanted to make the switch to these cleaner and organic brands, but couldn't find a good reason to do it until this assignment! I think it's important to pay attention to chemicals we are using on our bodies (and swallowing). I'm also a huge beauty counter fan as well, so I'm happy to see you looked up their beautycounter lotion! I'm definitely going to try the toothpaste when I go to the grocery store!
ReplyDeleteThe Ken Cook video about the chemicals found in umbilical cord blood was shocking. These fetuses were exposed to chemicals directly from their mothers. As a women that one day hopes to have children, this made me want to swap out all of my personal and home products for ones that are safer and make sure to limit my exposure to chemicals as much as possible, especially when pregnant.
ReplyDeleteHi Ayla,
ReplyDeleteWe use the same toothpaste! I tried another natural brand, and it was so bitter. I noticed on the EWG website it had only the old formula for the toothpaste. I wonder how the toothpaste recipe has changed since 2014. After doing this assignment I counted all the products I use for my make-up, skin and hair care. It is a bit scary and ridiculous, and can only wonder how many hundreds of chemicals I am exposed to daily.