Why Choosing Safer Products Really Matters

You’ve heard me talk a lot about being intentional with choosing safer, healthier products in every area of your family’s lives. 

Today I’m going to dig deeper into why exactly safe skincare and personal care products matter, and how you can start making better choices today.

This is going to be a loooong one — so pour yourself some tea and let’s dig in!

WHAT’S WITH ALL THE BUZZWORDS?!

There are so many buzzwords out there. You know the ones I’m talking about…

• Organic
• Natural
• Green
• Cruelty-free

We’re taught that these words mean the product is safe and healthy (and we often pay more for this comfort), but the truth is that they rarely mean much at all. Why? Because there simply aren’t enough regulations to control this. 

For example, did you know that saying a product is 100% organic does not mean that it is free of contaminants, toxins, or heavy metals? To say a product is organic it needs to only be 1% organic. 

There is a lot of lead and mercury in our soil, so things that are sourced naturally are not necessarily clean.

That’s why I like to use the words “clean” and “safe”. 

And the fact is that “clean” often equals synthetic ingredients that are tested for safety. And yes, you will be using preservatives, because you really don’t want mold and bacteria growing within your personal care products.

We will go into all that in detail, but there’s one thing you need to realize: there are so many buzzwords out there, and you can’t always trust them. 

What you really DO need to trust, however, is the company itself. 

So do some investigating! How do they test their products? How do they communicate the results of these tests? What are they out there saying about clean and safe beauty and personal care products?

A COUPLE THINGS WORTH REPEATING

These are a couple things about beauty and personal care that you might’ve heard  talk about before, but they’re worth repeating:

1. As women, we use an average of 12 products a day. (And if you’re anything like me, you use considerably more than 12)
   
   Do you know how many chemicals are hidden inside those products? We need to know better and DO better — and I’m so happy to say that it is getting easier and easier to choose clean products these days.
   
   
2. The U.S. has only banned 30 ingredients from use in personal care products. And even more alarmingly, there hasn’t been a major law banning an ingredient in cosmetics since 1938. That’s pre-industrial revolution. (Beautycounter has been instrumental in working on changing these laws to being better for us, the comsumer).
   
   We need to do better, and there’s no better proof of that then looking at what others are doing. The European Union currently bans over 1400 ingredients used in cosmetics — that’s a huge difference. But Beautycounter has just increased their never list ingredients to 1800 ingredients. The strictest in the industry.
   
   

WE NEED MORE GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS

Firstly, you should know that I’m not someone who wants the government to regulate all the things we do. I believe that we need to have a choice about what we put in our bodies, and that laws saying exactly what we can and can’t do are not the answer.

That being said, when I say that the beauty industry needs more government regulations, I’m saying so because there is currently almost no regulation at all.

There is zero accountability — pretty much anything can be put into a product and sold on the shelves.

Scary, right? What we truly need is for our beauty standards to be as high as our food standards.

Think of it this way. When you’re looking at shampoo bottles at Target, do you have any access to the ingredients, the quality, or the testing (or lack thereof)? No. You simply have to trust that your shampoo is safe because it’s on the shelves.

Here are four important changes that Beautycounter is lobbying for in the beauty industry:

1. We want the FDA to have a system for reviewing ingredients safety
   
   
2. We want the ability to recall harmful products from the market
   
   
3. We want an increase in transparency with supply chain partners: right now, companies order ingredients from all over the world, plop those ingredients into their products, and call it a day. That is not enough — there needs to be a system for ensuring that the ingredients listed actually are of the quality that companies promise.
   
   
4. We want to close the fragrance loop: you know how “fragrance” is listed as an ingredient on your products? Well, that can truly mean anything. We need to know where our products are getting their scent from. And that they aren’t adding any extra chemicals under the word “fragrance”. 

A QUICK GUIDE TO READING PERSONAL CARE LABELS

Reading the labels on personal care products is very different from reading labels on food. The rules are different!

Here’s a few things to keep in mind:

• You need to see that the ingredients are listed in order of volume
• You don’t need to avoid the scary parts
• You do need to watch out for fragrance

LET’S TALK PRESERVATIVES

Now that we’ve cleared that up, I really want to talk about preservatives — specifically phenoxyethanol. 

Phenoxyethanol is a preservative used in clean beauty brands (including Beautycounter) and is currently the safest preservative on the market.

Now, I know that some of you may have the immediate reaction of, “No! Bad!” to hearing that any preservative is in your products, but hear me out. Preservatives are necessary for products that we open up and dip our finger in — otherwise, our products would be at risk for mold, yeast, and bacteria.

Additionally, without preservatives, our products would have a super short shell life. Would you be willing to spend $50 on a moisturizer that has to be used in one week? I know I wouldn’t!

To sum it up: preservatives are necessary in our personal care products, and that is a-okay.

Still with me? Good.

Let’s get back to phenoxyethanol.

Two studies have been done to dispute the safety of this particular preservative, and they both have a really thin argument. I’m telling you this so you can read those studies for yourself, instead of just trusting me.

The first study involved high doses of oral ingestion, which is obviously not how we will be using it. The second study used a derivative of it, and tested it at full strength, which is also not how we use it.

The Environmental Working Group, Made Safe, and Environmental Union are all in agreement that when used correctly, phenoxyethanol is safe if used below 1% — so that is how clean beauty brands use it!

Beautycounter actually does its own research in addition to the safety groups, ensuring that phenoxyethanol doesn’t throw off any hormones or cause damage within our bodies. 

WHAT ABOUT HEAVY METALS?

I have worked with a lot of heavy metal detoxes in my life, both when I was practicing and for myself, so you could say I’m more heavy metal aware than your average person. That’s why I was sold on Beautycounter the instant I heard they do their own heavy metal testing. 

And get this: they don’t test their ingredients just once, but three times! With every batch they test the raw ingredients, the formula, and the finished goods.

I hope you’re up for more myth busting, because now we’re going to move into the manufacturing practices for heavy metals. 

First things first: when it comes to makeup and skincare products, there is no such thing as being 100% lead free. Because lead is naturally occuring, remember? So the best we can do is make sure that there are no detectable levels in our products. 

But don’t stress, as long as you’re avoiding the really big causes of heavy metals, you will be just fine. 

Here’s another reason why we need better regulations in the U.S.: the standard for heavy metal is currently anything below 10 parts per million. If you ask me, that’s WAY too high! 

The other kicker is that this is voluntary. Companies are not legally required to test if their ingredients have a heavy metal content of less than 10 parts per million. 

(If you’re wondering how Beautycounter handles this, their standard is 2 parts per million or less, always aiming for undetectable.)

WHY DO SAFER PRODUCTS COST MORE?

This actually isn’t a question I get asked a lot, but I want to address it anyway. I truly believe in investing in our health, and that means purchasing clean and safe products. 

So yes, your food budget and personal care budget will go up.

And yes, it might take you awhile to replace your products — nobody expects you to buy everything at once!

But I promise you that it is worth it.

The reason these products cost more is that safer brands have to hire more people and have more overhead. They have to test more AND source more, and those costs add up. 

Safe brands like Beautycounter invest in resources that are innovative, and they use your dollars wisely.

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When it comes down to it, the big takeaway is that we NEED better beauty laws. And here’s the cool thing: Beautycounter is leading the movement! (Can you see why I love them so much?!)
Here’s my challenge to you: find companies who you can feel good about supporting, who are doing good things with their mission, and buy from them. If you ever have questions about products and want my recommendations I’m happy to share my favorites!