Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Personal Care Products - Health Tips from EWG | Environmental Working Group

I haven't finished reading "The Body Toxic" yet...but to continue discussions on my intention to be a more informed consumer, here are some great tips for reading personal product labels.

Know The Ingredients in your Personal Care Products - Health Tips from EWG | Environmental Working Group

I'm in the process right now of finishing all of the personal care products that I currently have in the home and my intention is to purchase organic/natural replacements when I finish the products I still have. As of today, I've only had to replace my face-lotion. It was slightly traumatic shopping around for a new lotion as I've been using Aveeno Face Lotion for over 10 years.

I've replaced my
Aveeno Positively Radiant Lotion - Active Ingredients: Avobenzone (3%), Octinoxate (7.5% Octyl Methoxycinnamate), Octisalate (2% Octyl Salicylate)
Inactive Ingredients: Arachidyl Alcohol, Arachidyl Glucoside, Behenyl Alcohol, Benzalkonium Chloride Solution, Benzyl Alcohol, BHT, Bis Phenylpropyl Dimethicone, Butylparaben, C12 15 Alkyl Benzoate, C13 14 Isoparaffin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Dimethicone, Disodium EDTA, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Ethylparaben, Fragrance, Glycerin, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Isobutylparaben, Laureth 7, Methylparaben, Mica, Panthenol, Phenoxyethanol, Polyacrylamide, Polymethylmethacrylate, Propylparaben, Silica, Steareth 2, Steareth 21, Titanium Dioxide, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Citric Acid

With

Aubrey Organics Sea Buckthorn & Cucumber with Ester-C Moisturizing Cream INGREDIENTS: Coconut Fatty Acid Cream Base, Organic Aloe Vera, Topical Ester-C®, Organic Rosa Mosqueta® Rose Hip Seed Oil, Organic Evening Primrose Oil, Canadian Willowherb Extract, Cucumber Extract, Aubrey's Preservative (Citrus Seed Extract, Vitamins A, C and E), Organic Shea Butter, Sea Buckthorn Oil, Cucumber Distillate, Lavender Water.

I've highlighted some of the potentially harmful ingredients in these two products....well actually only in the Aveeno product because the Aubrey product doesn't contain one that I'm aware of. There are 4 different paraben products in the Aveeno lotion.

What is a paraben and is it potentially harmful?  Here's a good over-view From Wikipedia: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraben   
The verdict is still out, however, I think there's enough evidence for me to decide that I would like to avoid putting parabens on my body. 

Specifically I found this to be interesting: 

Sun exposure

Studies indicate that methylparaben applied on the skin may react with UVB leading to increased skin aging and DNA damage.
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! 
There's methylparaben in the Aveeno Positively Radiant lotion. Lotion that I've been putting on my face for 10 years in hopes that it would help me become and then remain positively radiant.  It contains methylparaben...an ingredient that may increase skin aging and DNA damage when reacting with UVB rays?

So Aveeno-  is that the beauty of science + nature?

A 4oz bottle of the Aubrey Organics lotion costs about $2.00 more than the 4oz bottle of Aveeno. 

That's an extra $2.00 I don't mind spending. 












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