Have you ever wondered about the safety of your shampoo or soap? How about toothpaste, hair dye, deodorant?
Before you head to the store to pick up new products, try using Skin Deep [1]. Skin Deep is a website where you will find an enormous database that can be used to research the safety of most personal care products already in your home or help you find safer products in the store.
[2]Photo used under Creative Commons from Hannah Rosen
Skin Deep [1] is a safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products put together by researchers at the Environmental Working Group [3]. It is an invaluable resource for those of us who are concerned about what we place in and on our bodies.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, it is one of my fav resources. I use it for all my makeup and personal care products. I can’t tell you the number of times I bought something in a health food store, came home and checked it out on Skin Deep and found it was extremely toxic.
The site is easy to use. You can check on the safety of specific brands of makeup, shampoo, sunscreen, baby products and many other personal care products. If you have a product in mind, but not a specific brand, the site allows you to search within a category for safe brands. Products in the Skin Deep database are scored from 0-10, 0 being the safest and ten being the most hazardous. The ingredients are listed and any links to illness, allergies, or other concerns are flagged.
Skin Deep is the first place I turn when I am in looking for new products or concerned with the safety of products I already own. When I am in the market for new shampoo or new lipstick I check Skin Deep before sealing the deal.
Understandably, it is a bit overwhelming to check out all of your products. Try using the site when something runs out and you are in the market for a refill. Before heading to the store, check in with Skin Deep [1]for a few safe brands to buy.
Let me know what you find!
Another Skin Deep article: