Why I Switched to Clean Products (and how you can too!)
1. Personal Care Products are NOT regulated by the FDA.
At least not the way I thought they would be. Yes, they 'regulate' products, but there's no pre-market testing process. That means the FDA does not approve products. Rather, they follow a risk-based regulatory approach.
“Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), cosmetic products and ingredients, other than color additives, do not need FDA approval before they go on the market.”
In comparison, the European Union (EU) follows the precautionary principle, which means that if an ingredient has the potential to cause harm, they don't allow it to be used. The EU has prohibited or restricted 1,715 ingredients, Canada has prohibited 573 ingredients, and the USA has prohibited 11.
That means US consumers have to wait until there are enough reports (made directly to the FDA) of an issue with product BEFORE the FDA will investigate.
It also means most reports will include acute reactions to products rather than long-term effects, because there's no governing body that regulates the combination of products you use long-term. Most likely, you're not thinking the cumulative effects either. So, that's not great.
(Cue all Erin Brockovich wannabe's.)
2. I had no idea how bad the ingredients actually were.
The second reason I made the switch to clean personal care products is because I can. We all can. It is possible to find safe, effective personal care products (that don't cost a fortune) and don't trigger allergies, cause skin and eye irritation, cancer, neurological disorders, ruin coral reefs, cause birth defects, are toxic to our organs or are known endocrine disruptors. We do have a choice.
Yes, I drink occasionally. Yes, I'm still known as the cookie monster and over indulge in sugary treats (mostly cookies) from time to time. And yes, I know that these things are bad for me.
Before digging into the research on clean beauty products, I didn't know that my fancy face cream was full of chemicals linked to neurological damage, that the aluminum in my deodorant stopped sweat and also caused cancer, or that my new, pretty lip-tint also included insanely high levels of arsenic and lead.
We should all be able to wash our hair, brush our teeth, and put products on our skin that are good for us and the environment. We just have advocate for our personal wellbeing (and our families) by learning what's in our products and making a conscious effort to buy items that are actually good for us.
Lucky for you, Seek United is here to make that process easy.
Over the next few weeks, we'll share a series of blog posts related to the why's and how's of switching to clean beauty products, give tips on what ingredients to avoid, and which products we've tried and liked, and how you can make the transition yourself. (If you want to!)
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