I’ve always been a label reader, skeptical of ingredients in food that require a chemistry degree. For years, I’ve diligently stuck to the outside aisles and avoided pre-made, pre-packaged foods. When a brush with cancer (in remission!) shook me up big time, I got serious about what I was putting into my body through other means. David Suzuki’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ list became my gospel as I did a full detox of my shower, medicine cabinet and makeup bag.
Ever read the ingredients of what your personal care products contain? Steel yourself. You’ll find BHA, BHT, coal tar dyes, DEA, cocamide DEA and lauramide DEA, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, parabens, petrolatum, siloxanes, sodium laureth sulfate, triclosan and a few other offenders—which seemed to be included in everything I was putting on my face, body and hair. Yikes. As your body’s largest organ, your skin drinks in whatever you put on top of it (that’s why nicotine and birth control skin patches work, right?). In my quest to clean up my products, I discovered some amazing new brands and I don’t miss scary chemicals one bit. Are natural products as effective? You betcha. Is the price point for naturals higher? Sometimes, though I found it akin to comparing junk food with organic produce.
Laura Townsend, Marketing Director of The Detox Market uses a great analogy: “If you don’t invest now, you might end up paying more later for expensive treatments or with your health”. She advises people to educate themselves, then switch up one product for a non-toxic replacement, or experiment with travel sizes. Natural, chemical-free products feel a bit different, so Townnsend encourages people to stick it out for 21 days before forming any conclusions.
Browse the gallery below to see which products have become mainstays on my vanity.
Opinions are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of FASHION Magazine.
1/12
toxic-beauty-ingredients-03
Mascara
I don’t know why I assumed mascara would be so innocuous. Spoiler alert: there are some bad things in many mascaras, like parabens added to prevent bacteria growth, serious fragrance added to mask its chemically smell, and aluminum powder, a neurotoxin that affects how your body gets rid of mercury. Alima Pure mascara has great coverage, doesn’t dare flake or smudge, and contains naturally occurring oils and waxes.
I’m lazy with my makeup and often default to a bright lip when I can’t be bothered with much else. For about ten years I’ve reached for the same iconic blue-red lipstick, which meant exposing my lips (lips!) to a decade of coal tars that can be cancerous and may be contaminated with heavy metals that are toxic to the brain. I found the same high pigment and coverage in Ilia’s lipstick crayon in 99 Red Balloons. Instead of scary chemicals, it contains sesame, rosehip, and papaya. Ahhhh.
A cleaned up makeup bag is all very fine and well, but body odour is serious business. But, so are the harmful ingredients are most deodorants and antiperspirant. PEG compounds, aluminum and synthetic fragrances all stink (pardon the pun) and many commercial deodorants that boast being aluminum-free have added in triclosan or triclocarban instead. The FDA proposed banning triclosan and triclocarban a few years ago because of the terrible toll they are taking on our water. Consonant Dealkalizing Deodorant is super effective (thanks to clay, arrow root powder and cocoa butter) and comes in a nice light citrusy scent, or unscented. The product size is very generous and available in travel sized, too.
I always thought that SPF is like exercise: however you get it, some is better than none. And when the sun is shining (snow or beach), I like to be outdoors. Most commercial sunscreens contain a host of chemical filters, the most concerning of which is oxybenzone. This ingredient can cause serious skin reaction and disrupt your hormones. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention detected oxybenzone in more than 96 percent of the American population, based on a representative sampling of children and adults a few years ago. Enter Canadian skincare line, Consonant’s Perfect Sunscreen, with SPF 30. It is 100% natural but it glides on smoothly, without feeling greasy or leaving a white residue. It uses micronized (non-nano particle) Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide minerals to block UVA and UVB rays. Plus, it hydrates with aloe vera, grape seed and rice bran oil. This sunscreen is my daily moisturizer now. If it is good enough for the girls at The Freeze Clinic, it is good enough for me.
I used body lotion like it’s going out of style. I used handfuls of it. And “good” quality stuff from a “natural” boutique. And one of the first ingredients in said fancy cream? PEG, a chemical that can be contaminated with cancer-causing 1,4-dioxane. Unreal. I was most concerned about this discovery because of the rate of which I go through body cream. I found two great options, one is a treat and the other I use with reckless abandon.
I use Tata Harper Fortifying Body Lotion when my skin needs some extra TLC. It completely natural and non-toxic and lists reassuring aloe, milk thistle and avocado as its top ingredients, among other anti-aging heros. A little goes a long way and the scent is as beautiful as it is effective.
Tata Harper Fortifying Body Lotion ($92, Gee Beauty)
6/12
toxic-beauty-ingredients-04
Body lotion
When I regress to body-lotion-by-the-handful, I go for Canadian line Carina Organics, that I found at my grocery store. Palm and coconut oil based, with nettle chamomile and dandelion, this lotion is light and absorbable. It is also super affordable.
Do you love that feeling when your shampoo suds up like a foam party? It’s not good. You have sodium laureth sulfate (SLS) to thank for those bubbles and SLS may be contaminated with
measurable amounts of 1,4-dioxane, a possible human carcinogen as indicated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. That stuff sticks around, long after you rinse. And check this out: There are no restrictions on the use of sodium laureth sulfate in cosmetics in Canada.I ditched my previous shampoo and conditioner and traded up for 100% natural Rahua. I really love the volumizing formula, which in place of chemicals, packs rahua (a nut from the Amazon), lemongrass, green tea, eucalyptus and lavender. I use a fraction of the product that I used to, so this lasts and lasts. I find it works so effectively, I wash my hair less frequently, so bonus points for sleep in days.
I invested big time in my previous Vitamin C-charged serum/primer, but discovered that it had some nasty stuff as its top ingredients (cyclomethicone and siloxane). These may cause liver damage and mess with hormone function, and are really bad for wildlife and fish. For a similar price, I found Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil. It is loaded with Omegas 3, 6, 7 and 9 and potent antioxidants and carotenoids that repair and protect the skin against environmental damage. The tiniest drop spreads on damp skin and is a perfect base for sunscreen. Because now I wear sunscreen every. single. day.
I love a good, hard-working night product that feels rich. My drug store-brand night serum packed eight concerning chemicals. It didn’t have a single naturally occurring ingredient (aside from water). The mother of all natural night serums is Odacité. The Night Time Repair Serum is kept in the refrigerator at The Detox Market, to help extend its lifetime (it doesn’t have any dodgy preservatives to make it last forever). This product is amazing. Silky smooth, it boosts your skin’s ability to produce collagen and health itself with all kinds of good things: aloe, jojoba, shea butter, lavender, olive oil, carrot oil, rosehip oil and white and rooibos tea extracts. A tiny amount is all I need and the product size is super generous.
I like my showers and baths piping hot. Which means all those pores are open, soaking up whatever you lather up with. My cheap-and-cheerful drugstore body wash foamed up like mad and left my skin smooth, but it packed no fewer than five scary offenders. My new love is K’pure, a Canadian line out of British Columbia that makes an amazing body wash that is rich and super-concentrated. The citrus formula smells divine and is pure castile soap-based with olive oil, castor oil and yummy organic citrus essential oils.
I still mourn my favourite multi-tasking stick, but I had to pitch it not only because of the potentially heavy metal toxins from dyes, but because I learned several of its ingredients are harvested through totally unsustainable means. That’s not pretty, no matter how nice the shade of pink. Kjaer Weis cream blush in Blossoming is the perfect shade of warm pink, that does double duty for lips, in a pinch. Not only are the ingredients natural and organic, refills are also available to reduce packaging waste.
Did you know your nail polish is legit hazardous waste? It needs to be disposed of in the same way as antifreeze and batteries. Cringe. Formaldehyde, toluene, DPB and parabens are common ingredients that can cause cancer and mess with your reproductive system. RMS makes a non-toxic polish with serious staying power. Curiosity is a perfect peachy-pale orange for a price comparable to non-natural competitors.
 on May 17, 2016 at 1:53pm PDT
[gallerylink slide="toxic-beauty-ingredients-03-2" title="See our fave non-toxic beauty products"]
I've always been a label reader, skeptical of ingredients in food that require a chemistry degree. For years, I've diligently stuck to the outside aisles and avoided pre-made, pre-packaged foods. When a brush with cancer (in remission!) shook me up big time, I got serious about what I was putting into my body through other means. David Suzuki's 'Dirty Dozen' list became my gospel as I did a full detox of my shower, medicine cabinet and makeup bag.
Ever read the ingredients of what your personal care products contain? Steel yourself. You'll find BHA, BHT, coal tar dyes, DEA, cocamide DEA and lauramide DEA, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, parabens, petrolatum, siloxanes, sodium laureth sulfate, triclosan and a few other offenders---which seemed to be included in everything I was putting on my face, body and hair. Yikes. As your body's largest organ, your skin drinks in whatever you put on top of it (that's why nicotine and birth control skin patches work, right?). In my quest to clean up my products, I discovered some amazing new brands and I don't miss scary chemicals one bit. Are natural products as effective? You betcha. Is the price point for naturals higher? Sometimes, though I found it akin to comparing junk food with organic produce.
Laura Townsend, Marketing Director of The Detox Market uses a great analogy: "If you don't invest now, you might end up paying more later for expensive treatments or with your health". She advises people to educate themselves, then switch up one product for a non-toxic replacement, or experiment with travel sizes. Natural, chemical-free products feel a bit different, so Townnsend encourages people to stick it out for 21 days before forming any conclusions.
Browse the gallery below to see which products have become mainstays on my vanity.
Opinions are the author's own and do not necessarily represent the views of FASHION Magazine.
[gallery columns="5" ids="269180,269182,269179,269178,269188,269181,269187,269186,269185,269184,269183,269192"]){kind=link}