"On average, women use 12 personal care products a day, exposing themselves to 168 chemical ingredients. Men use six, exposing themselves to 85 unique chemicals." - Environmental Working Group
Our health pillars are our values, the things you would most likely notice if you came over and spent some time at our house. If you want to catch up on the other two pillars, check out these two posts on CLEAN FOOD and CLEAN HOME.
The third pillar for our family is: CLEAN PERSONAL CARE
It takes as little as 26 seconds for products on our skin to reach our blood stream.
One of the major purposes of blood is communication. For example, our hormones send messages through the blood stream. So, what do you think happens when we introduce hormone-disrupting, toxic, cancer-causing chemicals into our bloodstream?
Well, we get what we have today: rates of YOUNG people diagnosed with cancer skyrocketing, fertility plummeting, autoimmune disorders going up, and just about every sickness marker increasing. People are suffering and they are being lied to about why that is.
Our food, home products, personal care products and more play into this. So, it's not just one thing. But we definitely can't ignore personal care.
How do you know what's safe to use?
Just like I mentioned with home products: do your research via websites like ewg.org. Or you can find brands you trust to do the research for you and make safe products. There are more and more companies making great products! I love Root Pretty for makeup and Norwex for skincare.
ALWAYS read the full ingredient label on the back of the bottle. As you learn, you'll start to recognize names you want to avoid like phthalates, parabens, dioxane, aluminum, titanium dioxide, sulfates and fragrance.
I repeat.. AVOID FRAGRANCE! Artificial fragrance is a big hormone disruptor. It can be found in shampoo, body wash, lotions, face wash, deodorant, face moisturizer, shaving cream, perfume.... it's not worth it! Get something unscented or scented with real essential oils.
As moms, we need to be teaching our kids that what they put on their bodies is really important. When they are little, we are the gate keepers of what comes into our homes and they are depending on us to keep them safe. As they get older, make sure to teach them WHY you avoid certain products so they can start making their own choices.
Everyone in my home uses safe personal care. We don't do cutesy kids' products with terrible ingredients. We don't do girl trips to Ulta. No one here has toxic deodorant. I promise your kids and teens can do great on "clean personal care"!
Clean personal care is a pillar of our family's health, how about you?
Where do you start? Start with one thing!!!
As you run out of a wash, deodorant or soap swap it for a non-toxic alternative.
Reach out to me about one thing you want to swap and I'll send you some recommendations.
Wishing you abundant health,
Melisha
Comments