Have you considered the possibility that your personal care products might be slowly poisoning you? Awareness has been growing on the need for organic farming, organic foods and natural skincare. All this stems from one reason – avoiding unhealthy chemicals from slowly poisoning our bodies. Just because you can find a skincare product neatly labelled on your drugstore shelf does not mean the regulatory boards have verified that it is completely safe for you. More importantly, the effect of harsh chemicals is cumulative – for example if you are using 6-7 products on your body (shampoo, lotion, shaving cream, conditioner etc.), each of which have "acceptable" levels of a harsh preservative, then the total quantity of this harsh preservative your body is exposed to is no longer acceptable. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has stated that the average consumer uses about 12 products a day.

In this age of profit driven marketing, companies are constantly seeking ways to reduce their production costs and increase their profit margins on personal care products. Unfortunately that leads to the use of cheap but potentially unhealthy chemicals. So it’s important for us as consumers to become aware of ingredients that are considered “legally” acceptable, and yet cause harm because the regulatory boards have not caught up. We are responsible for what we choose to eat and put on our bodies. Your skin absorbs approximately 60% of what you put on it. So, in this guide we explore some controversial, yet commonly used ingredients that you should be aware of when reading through the ingredients list of skin and hair care products.

Ultimately, it's not realistic to avoid every single chemical whose safety is debated. However, you can be informed, stay current and evaluate the risk for yourself by knowing what’s in your product. If you’re not sure, then look it up before buying. A little research goes a long way and can set your mind at ease about the quality of the product you're buying.