Cleaning your face at the end of the day is a natural part of most people’s day: washing off the day’s grime is part of getting ready for bed. But what are you using to get rid of the day’s dirt?
Many facial cleaners, even if they claim to be gentle or fragrance-free, still contain a number of potentially harmful chemicals and using them to clean your skin may not be the healthiest, or most environmentally friendly, thing you can do. Why?
- Read your ingredients. In addition to containing artificial fragrances and parabens (petroleum-based preservatives that can cause skin irritation, disrupt hormones and may be carcinogenic), many cleansers also contain sodium laurel sulphate and/or propylene glycol. Both of these are petroleum-based surfactants which are used as foaming or wetting agents, with potential health impacts including skin irritation.
- Also look out for phthalates which may cause damage to liver, kidneys, lungs and reproductive systems.
- And all of these petrochemicals are not just entering your skin, but they are non-biodegradable so as they flush down the sink, they end up impacting our water systems.
And don’t just assume that because a product says its natural or organic, that it may not contain some of the ingredients above. Check out the Skin Deep database to find the healthiest skin cleansers. Or consider making your own skin cleanser by mixing 28 grams of coconut oil and 7 grams of vegetable oil. You can add several drops of essential oils if you like (rosemary and lavender have natural antibacterial properties).
Green byte: The Environmental Working Group in the US calculates that almost 90% of 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products have never been evaluated for safety.
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