Getting Off Product-Junkie Road

Once upon a time, when I was a product junkie, I needed to try every new cream, lotion, or gel that was within my price range, and too often, some that were outside it. I have always held out the hope that something somewhere would cure my acne, soften my elbows, or fade scars. But since the I started learning about what some seemingly innocuous ingredients in “products” might be doing to my health, I have become wary.

Now, I am in recovery and I almost cringe to think what dangerous chemicals are in my skin care and hair care products. In some cases, I have been able to find suitable replacements. Often it’s a case of going with the lesser of the two (or many more) evils. Sometimes I feel like I just don’t have a choice. When you get down to it, figuring out what all those little chemicals do is a tough road to navigate. A helpful resource that everyone should know about is Skin Deep, Environmental Working Group’s cosmetics safety database. Skin Deep ranks cosmetics and personal care items from least to most health hazardous. Each entry in the database also contains a list of ingredients and information about possible safety concerns for each one.

I am far from having the perfect--natural, organic, vegan, environmentally conscientious-- skin care, hair care, and cosmetic regimen, but Skin Deep is definitely the most important tool that I have found to help me achieve that goal. Right now, I especially try to avoid products that contain preservatives in the form of parabens, which are endocrine disruptors and possibly carcinogenic, as well. Endocrine disruptors are substances that can interfere with normal hormone circulation and activity in the body.

Thankfully, I have never been on a full-on cosmetics user, although I do use eyeliner (or mascara) and lipstick pretty regularly. I would like to be more careful about the products that I choose, but finding alternatives to the readily available chemical-laden cosmetics is none too easy. I get really happy when I find a product that not only ranks low for safety concerns in the Skin Deep database, but is also vegan and not tested on animals. So, in future posts, I'll share some of the brands and products I have found that are worthwhile options.