You are what you eat—and the toxic beauty products you lather on your skin. Your skin is your largest detoxification organ. Anything you put on it will be directly absorbed into your blood stream and your body. That could be a force for good for your health or have a detrimental long-term effect on your health. You get to choose, so choose wisely, my fellow breast cancer conqueror!
To put it bluntly: The federal law designed to ensure that personal care products are safe has remained largely unchanged since 1938. Read that again—1938! Woaaa—long before obvious safety measures like seat belts and car seats. Lead was a main ingredient in paint, and smoking cigarettes was marketed and prescribed by doctors as “helpful for pregnant women with anxiety.” Way back when heroin used to be in Bayer’s cough medicine. We have come a long way, but our current laws around safe beauty products have stayed the same. Horrifying.
The numbers—and perhaps why women deal with so many hormonal and reproductive challenges—women use (on average) 12 personal care products a day, exposing themselves to 168 chemical ingredients. Men use 6, exposing themselves to 85 unique chemicals. The 168 is just the “known” ingredients. If a label lists the word “fragrance,” it could contain hundreds of ingredients that can fall under the vague word fragrance.
It’s NOT just topical.
Anything you put on your skin gets a free ride into your bloodstream and fat cells. There are many, many reasons why you should be cautious about what you put on your skin. Here’s one example that rarely crosses people’s minds: Your body stores toxins in your fat cells. If you are having trouble losing weight, this may be one of the reasons why.
Keep on reading to learn about the harmful chemicals in many beauty and skin products and safe alternatives to start using today. Living a healthy breast life can still be glamorous!
The Big Switch.
I’m all about solutions. Instead of just saying, “stop using now,” below are reasons to make a safe switch. Feeling beautiful—or even just enjoying hydrated skin—is essential to life and well-being. You don’t have to go full granola to reduce the devastating effects of toxic beauty products. Just make smart swaps.
Products to switch out now
- Anti-aging beauty creams: While many may actually help on the outside to smooth your skin, on the inside, they may be doing irrefutable harm. Many popular creams contain polyacrylamide, which is associated with reproductive toxicity and is an endocrine disrupter (causing hormonal issues), and the same chemical is also found in cigarettes!
- Chemical sunscreens: They block UV rays, but the chemicals go straight to your bloodstream! Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) oxybenzone directly impacts your reproductive systems and hormones, and it can end up in your fat cells causing weight gain. Please do use sunscreen—just a chemical-free type.
- Shampoos and conditioners: Parabens found in many hair products can cause reproductive and hormonal harm, and are linked to breast cancer.
- Aluminum in deodorant: Aluminum is often found in breast cancer tissue and can also cause brain issues, ADHD, etc.
- Makeup foundations: Many contain extremely toxic ingredients such as ethanolamines and nanoparticles that are illegal in Europe. Ethanolamines are also used to remove carbon dioxide from submarines and clean natural gas off surfaces. No wonder it is obviously illegal to be used on European faces every day! Another glaring example of why we need updated laws.
- Female products such as pads and tampons: Make sure the products that you use for a full week a month, or even daily, are safe and not contributing to cancer. Please review this blog post filled with insights and nontoxic options!
EWG.org’s Skin Deep Guide
It can be completely overwhelming to know what you should buy, what these massively long names on the labels mean, and even questions you don’t know to ask. The Environment Working Group (EWG.org) created a platform called Skin Deep that has analyzed over 86,000 products, so you don’t have to stress or worry! You can even type in products and get a full report. When at the store, use their app to quickly scan and see their reviews.
They are transparent in how they rate each product and provide great solutions to all of your skin needs – from sunscreen to nail polish and even baby products! EWG.org goes far beyond just beauty products, you can learn exactly what’s in your zipcode’s tap water, which fruits to buy organic, and OH SO much more! Go with trusted data, not just pretty and elegant packaging, to make your decisions.
Nontoxic options that I LOVE!
When looking for products, always be a detective and search the labels, not just the flashing marketing words on the front. Look for ingredients that you can pronounce and understand. Words such as “Natural, mostly organic (organic isn’t always possible with a lot of good ingredients), GMO-free, pure, wild-crafted, essential oils instead of fragrances, etc.” are what you want to read.
Dr. V’s favorite beauty brands
Annemarie
Annemarie’s ingredients are completely transparent and often filled with herbs grown on the founder’s farm. They are wild-crafted and offer most of the products you want—anti-aging serums, hair products, makeup, sheer sunscreen, and so much more to help you blossom!
BeautyCounter 
Beautycounter products are good for you and our planet! They sell it all—and at decent prices. They are also very clear about each ingredient and even created their own The Never List.
ARAZA
95% organic, packed with superfoods, natural SPF, blue light, and pollution blocking…ARAZA products are truly amazing and feel even better on your skin!
Pure Haven
Toxin-free products for the family and home. Pure Haven can easily be your go-to, even for your pets!
I’m consistently in awe of how easy it is to find clean, safe product swaps that are good for you, your family, and our planet! Companies are really waking up to how important it is to provide wonderfully made and non-toxic products, as well as utilize the power of business to give back to important causes. The best just got better!
Do you have a pure and nontoxic brand you love? Please share it with us all in the comments!