Are you worried about the effect of chemcials on your skin?

[Annalouise]

Hi everyone,:) I was wondering, how many people worry about putting chemicals on their heads? Does it worry you, or do you trust that its safe because the companies say it is safe for your skin and hair?

Anna

[jaine]

I definitely check every ingredient in hair and body products ... I google all ingredients that I don't recognize and I only use what looks safe. http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ is helpful.

There are lots of products out there with very safe ingredients, you just have to look a little for them.

[breezefaerie]

I have to say that I'm a lot more lax about what I put on my hair and body that what I put on my face. I should really start paying more attention.

[Trixie33]

About two years ago I switched to using all natural body products. It has really helped my eczema and I have found that my skin is not as dry. I never realized how difficult it was to find natural products. When going into a store and reading the ingredients in the products, I felt like I need a Phd in chemistry to decipher the list.
Like jaine, I also find that the cosmetic database is a very useful tool to help evaluate products.

[VanillaTresses]

Anna,

Yes, I would say that I am very concerned with (and worry about!) the effect of certain ingredients in personal care products on my skin. Skin is an organ, and it does absorb things transdermally-- think about nicotine or estrogen patches! I am especially aware of ingredients in things that are meant to stay on or soak into the skin-- like body lotions, face moisturizers, and sunscreens. But then again, even with things that we use in small amounts and rinse off there is the consideration of repeated consistent use over time.

One of the main ingredients that I watch out for currently is parabens, which is a type of preservative that as I understand it, can mimic the action of the hormone estrogen. I have met parents in health food stores looking for replacement shampoos that do not contain parabens because they are worried (have heard from other parents) about early onset of puberty. In fact, very young (2 to 8 year olds) girls have ended up with signs of puberty after using estrogen or placenta containing products. If there is enough estrogen in the products to cause the onset of extreme early puberty, then I am guessing that it is not just a trivial amount!

To be forthright, I think that I (personally) would be extremely aware of what personal care products and chemicals I exposed myself to if I was pregnant or breastfeeding. I am not sure that I would really be comfortable using anything other than olive oil, water, diluted baking soda and diluted apple cider vinegar in that case. :shrug: I would also be extremely concerned about what is used on tots and what children are using.

[Pixna]

I'm concerned not just about chemicals ON my skin but how my skin absorbs them and how they get into my body from there...and how they get into the waste stream that flows into our waterways, land, and air. I avoid commercial products for these reasons and am very particular about the products I use on my body, face, and hair (as well as the food I purchase and eat). I do not trust manufacturers, except for a handful.

[Fractalsofhair]

VanillaTresses-7-8 is not extraordinarily young for some signs of puberty to show up such as hair growth/breast growth. I got my period at 10, and ate a very natural organic diet, often homegrown/grown by people we trust, nearly all homemade food, drank only milk from small farmers who didn't use hormones and used it more as a hobby than anything else, only ate eggs by our neighbors(no antibiotics unless a hen was sick, not sure if eggs were eaten then, but it was pretty rare), only processed meat I ate was at school, couple of times a week(those chicken nuggets were good! xD I didn't eat much meat though, period), a little bit of soy protein a couple times a week, but not daily by any means, and was rather thin.(also used only natural body products, excluding once or twice a year. Doc Bronner's soap was all I used, and I didn't have an excessive number of plastic toys either.)

However, earlier menarche times have been a rising trend, probably due to the rising obesity crisis. A chubbier girl is likely to go through puberty earlier due to estrogen being produced by her fat cells. A lot of parents have a hard time telling an obese child from a non obese one due to the high obesity rate. I don't deny chemicals can cause problems, but there are a lot of other causes, including just signs of puberty start fairly young. 2 would be very young, and probably require going to a doctor, definitely, but things like parabens have been used for about a hundred years. I dislike them personally, worry a bit about them, but there are so many causes, it's hard to eliminate just one thing and say "If parabens weren't used, we wouldn't have rising rates of cancer/early puberty". However, I think we agree on that one about chemicals! I just think lifestyle changes are probably just as major.

OP-Personally, I go for natural products. I'd trust soap made from fat/lye over a new chemical, mainly because one has been used for thousands and thousands of years with no bad side effects, same deal with ACV, mineral makeup, not so much, but I like it, and I try to exercise and eat healthfully, which I think matters a lot as well! However, "natural" and greenwashed products are often a way for a company to make a lot of money, with the exact same chemicals, which annoys me. Take "Liquid mineral" makeup you can find at a drugstore. Might work wonderfully, but it's not quite the same as other mineral makeup, if you're looking for a natural solution.

[seraphine]

It does worry me, and that is why I prefer to use very natural skin and hair products, I have been using a chemical, parben, toxin free shampoo and conditioner for a while now and am very pleased with this specific one.. sometimes you just need to find the right one, but when you find it, it's so good! As for my face and body, I am all natural, even my deodorant is as natural as possible. I do use some not-very-natural make up products, like Christian Dior and Chanel, as I just still have the find the PERFECT natural make up...

[adiapalic]

I switched to non-commercial brand soap that doesn't use animal fat or synthetic fragrances, and shampoos and conditioners that don't use synthetic chemicals. Just a personal choice, and I've found it all to work better for my skin and hair than the commercial stuff I grew up using.

[Purdy Bear]

Im very concerned about it. I cant use a lot of soaps due to very sensitive skin, I cant wear some materials or even touch some plastics because of it.

I hate it when you use a product successfully and then the maker suddenly changes it, to a so called improved item when it obviously isnt 'cause you cant use it any more.

[FrannyG]

I am not as concerned as I perhaps ought to be. I do choose products for my face, hands and body with care, but I find it expensive and difficult to find hair products without any questionable ingredients.

However, it's pretty difficult just to breathe the air these days without taking in unsafe chemicals. If I were to worry about all of these things, I would go nuts. I worry enough about everything else too much to add another worry to my list. :o

[Lassie]

i dont 'worry' as such, but prefer non chemical options.
I primarily only use handmade natural products on my skin, and i use natural mineral makeup.
I dont subscribe to the anti-aging product phenomena and believe that the best thing for my skin is to use all natural products

[manderly]

Nope, and I guess I'm a rare breed on this site.

There are so many other things I could drop dead from, I don't wish to spend my time worrying about all the little ingredients that make up my daily routine. It's just not very important to me at all, honestly. :shrug:

If peacock poop and red no. 5 gave me the most perfect skin you've ever seen - well, sign me up! :lol:

[Hana]

I'm not concerned, but I am wary.
I've made quite a few changes since I've been on this site and I have noticed a difference in my skin as well as my hair. Changes for the better, so I see no reason to stop now!

[dropinthebucket]

It is really hard to keep track of everything that's on a warning list, everything that's not supposed to be good for you, and all the new ingredients that keep showing up, too. However, it's important to consider: after all, thalidomide was approved as "safe"; silicone breast implants were approved as "safe". You can't trust the FDA, they're partially funded by the companies selling these products - that's been proven in case after case, including class action suits. And you certainly can't trust the companies who want your money. I find it easier to just use kitchen ingredients, so I don't have to figure out what's safe and what's not and spend a lot of time keeping up to date on newer additivies. BUT, i do have a couple of commercial products I like and use ... i research these carefully, and then decide what I think. The other stuff I don't really need or want, i don't spend the time checking out. Life is busy, i don't wanna worry about everything I use. A good solution for me has just been to use less, simplify - better for the planet, too. :)

[moonlight]

Nope, and I guess I'm a rare breed on this site.

There are so many other things I could drop dead from, I don't wish to spend my time worrying about all the little ingredients that make up my daily routine. It's just not very important to me at all, honestly. :shrug:

If peacock poop and red no. 5 gave me the most perfect skin you've ever seen - well, sign me up! :lol:

yeah, me too. I use what my skin and hair like, and if they like a chemical or two, that's what I give them.

[dropinthebucket]

LOL Manderley! :)

[Carolyn]

Nope, and I guess I'm a rare breed on this site.

There are so many other things I could drop dead from, I don't wish to spend my time worrying about all the little ingredients that make up my daily routine. It's just not very important to me at all, honestly. :shrug:

If peacock poop and red no. 5 gave me the most perfect skin you've ever seen - well, sign me up! :lol:I'm the same way. I use what works for me, whatever that might be.

[naereid]

No. I'm aware of the danger, but I just can't be bothered to truly worry about it. :shrug: Maybe my stance will change as I grow older.

[JaclynBailey]

However, it's pretty difficult just to breathe the air these days without taking in unsafe chemicals. If I were to worry about all of these things, I would go nuts. I worry enough about everything else too much to add another worry to my list. :o

Yeah. That. I worry. Not one person in my blood line had died from old age. Not one. They all die from cancer or heart attacks or something else along those lines. So I worry... but as a mom of 4 kids 6 and under I just dont have the time to worry to much. I have enough to worry about with the kids!

[dropinthebucket]

Speak of the devil - just as we started talking about this:

Yahoo!ca News: 5 Things You Use Every Day That May Be Killing You
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/yahoocanada/100516/canada/five_things_you_use_every_day_that_may_be_killing_ you

[ItalianFlower]

I do not, actually. I probably should, but I have a "we live in the most advanced age and I'm already older than most of the world's historical population and have lived better than them too" mentality.

[Wicked Princess]

No, I don't. I use a fair amount of cosmetics and cleaning supplies that are "natural", biodegradable, or sulfate free because my skin and scalp are very sensitive, not because I'm afraid of synthetic material.

I'd use sulfates if it kept my hair and skin more healthy than my current products do.

Yes, baking soda, vinegar, and other natural products have been used for hundreds of years. And I'm in no way implying that they aren't useful! They just really don't work for me. My health comes before anything else.

[spidermom]

No, I don't worry about it too much. Americans had a live-span of about 50 years as the year 1900 rolled around.. Our life expectancy has gone up quite a bit since then for a lot of different reasons, but I would expect that if the synthetic products available to us now were so dangerous, we would be seeing a decrease in life expectancy rather than the opposite. Plus I note that one of the most dangerous substances in the world for my daughter is coconut, not anything synthetic made in a lab.