#215: Eliminating Toxins from Your Personal Care Products
Today, I am thrilled to welcome Rachel Downey, a health and wellness advocate, to discuss how to avoid toxins in personal care products. Rachel, a mom of three, began her journey eight years ago, driven by her desire to make safer choices for her children.
Rachel shares that her journey started when her daughter experienced reactions to certain products, prompting her to explore and switch to safer alternatives.
What's a "Swap"?
Rachel emphasizes the importance of making "swaps," or replacing commonly used products with safer options. This is the simple act of swapping out one of your regular personal care items for another that contains less toxins. Overtime, using one product that is better for your health after another, you can notice significant changes to the way your skin and eyes feel.
For example, when shopping for baby shampoo, instead of grabbing a familiar brand, she advises turning the product over and examining the ingredients.
Toxins
Many of us are aware that toxic ingredients in beauty products can cause issues like dry eyes. Rachel highlights some common toxins to watch out for, such as fragrances, parabens, PEGs, talc, and dyes. Fragrance, in particular, can hide numerous chemicals, while parabens are known endocrine disruptors.
Misleading Labels
When shopping, Rachel encourages consumers to read ingredient labels carefully, even if a product claims to be paraben-free or organic, as harmful ingredients can still be present. To help with this, she recommends the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and their Healthy Living app, which allows users to scan products and get detailed information on their safety.
For example, the app rates products on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst. It also provides detailed breakdowns of each ingredient's potential health impacts. This can be particularly useful for identifying better alternatives.
Rachel also offers a guide to eliminating toxins from your lifestyle, available through her Facebook group. She advises not to get overwhelmed and to make one swap at a time, gradually reducing your body’s burden of harmful chemicals.
In summary, Rachel's approach to avoiding toxins in personal care products involves:
- Reading ingredient labels carefully.
- Using resources like the EWG Healthy Living app.
- Making gradual swaps for safer products.
- Staying informed and making choices based on detailed ingredient information.
For those interested, Rachel's guide to eliminating toxins is available, and she welcomes anyone to join her community for more tips and support.
