Ingredients To Avoid
This is a list of the worst ingredients found in cosmetic products. Take a few minutes to read what they are so you can avoid them all together. Your skin (and whole body) will thank you.
1,4 Dioxane - This is the worst thing that is in cosmetics. It is called the 'silent killer' and you will Never see it written on an ingredient list. Companies don't have to list it because they aren't physically adding this as an ingredient...it is created as a by product in the formulation process. It is proven to cause cancer and birth defects. The potency of 1,4 Dioxane is equal or greater than most commercial pesticides.
Ethylene Oxide - This is the petrochemical that generates 1,4 Dioxane as a by product when companies do a procedure called ethoxylation to their products. It is a cheap shortcut companies use to make some of their more harsh ingredients milder. This is found in most baby products. You probably won't find this on a label listed like this.. most times it is in abbreviated form and it's what the 'E' stands for (examples: SLES, TEA, DEA) or you'll find the word 'eth' at the end of a word. In almost all cases, the 'eth' means ethoxylated. The scary thing about this is you will never really know if it's there. The only way to be completely sure is to make your products yourself or at least be able to completely trust your manufacturer.. not only with your life, but with the life of your kids.
Mineral Oil / Petroleum / Petrolatum - These are by products of the oil mining industry. It's the black sludge at the bottom of the oil that they can't do anything with. But it's cheap so instead of throwing it away, cosmetic companies take this and bleach it with a mixture of different poisonous chemicals to make it look like something that should be in cosmetics. You would be better off rubbing used motor oil all over your skin. These also have a molecular structure that, for the most part, are way too large to penetrate your skin so what doesn't get pushed through with penetration enhancers just lays on top suffocating your skin. When a person can't breathe, what happens? You are killing your skin which will age you a lot faster.
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) / Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLES) - Found in almost all shampoos, facial cleansers, body washes, soaps, etc. Originally used as an industrial degreaser, cosmetic companies started using it because it's so cheap. These are very irritating to the skin and even with your eyes closed, can penetrate right through the eyelids causing damage to your eyes. This can prevent kids' eyes from developing properly and also cause cataracts to develop later on. They also corrode the top layer of skin, making you age faster and also giving environmental contaminants easier access to the deeper more sensitive layers of your skin....killing your natural defence mechanism. Although used in almost all shampoos, they attack the hair follicles and can actually weaken your hair enough to have it fall out. These both ingredients are terrible to have in bubble baths because you're just sitting there soaking it in and your open pores are allowing all of it to enter your body. They store up in your brain, liver, and heart, causing severe problems later on.
Fragrance - This can be a really scary thing to see in an ingredient list. Not necessarily because of the fragrance itself, but because of everything else hidden behind this word. Fragrance is considered a trademark secret that doesn't have to be disclosed to the public at all so companies are allowed to hide virtually any ingredient behind this word and just say it's included in their 'fragrance' recipe. Parabens and phthalates are very common cancer causing chemicals hidden behind the word fragrance. There's also a lot of ethylated alcohols usually hidden behind this word.