If you're anything like me, you care about what you put in your body. You read ingredients on labels and stay away from chemicals and preservatives in food... but what are you putting ON your body? I've been fascinated by this topic for a while and recently spent a lot of time with Jama Russano, founder of the Peter Rabbit kids' skincare line and Thorne Organics. Her passion for this subject is contagious. Do you use lotion, sunscreen, makeup, shampoo, moisturizer, toothpaste, perfume, hand soap, shaving cream, hairspray? If you use any of these, chances are very high that you just put a sea of toxic chemicals on your body. The worst part is, everything gets absorbed through our skin into the body. How do we know this? Many ingredients in cosmetics - like phthalate plasticizers, paraben preservatives, and the preservative triclosan - have been found in bodily fluids of men, women, and children, and in umbilical cord blood! The FDA does very little to regulate the cosmetic industry, and hundreds of products contain ingredients that are banned in Europe, Canada, and Japan. In addition, marketing claims aren't regulated at all and many claims of "hypoallergenic" or "natural" really don't mean anything. Many chemicals in products don't even need to be listed on the label. Whenever you see "fragrance" listed, this could be any of over 3,000 different chemicals. Hormones are even found in skincare products, yet they are not listed on the label. Some good guidelines are that if you couldn't eat it, you probably shouldn't use it on your body, and if you can't pronounce the ingredients, you should probably stay away from it. Some of the less than desirable ingredients include: aluminum - found in most antiperspirants, mimics estrogen, and causes DNA damage parabens - used as preservatives, have been identified in biopsy samples of breast tumors phthalates - disrupt the endocrine system, exposure has been linked to early puberty in girls, and associated with poor sperm quality and infertility in adult males 1, 4-dioxane - possible carcinogen sodium lauryl sulfates - used as a foaming agent, linked to hormone changes, eye damage, liver toxicity lead - found in lipstick, sunscreen, etc; neurotoxin, has been linked to reduced fertility in men and women ethylene oxide - found in fragrances, known carcinogen oxybenzone- found in sunscreens, can be a powerful hormone disruptor I recently ordered a few products from a line that supposedly delivers pure and safe products without parabens or petroleum-based ingredients. However, I was shocked to still find so many ingredients I couldn't pronounce. Even with "natural" products, beware! While one individual chemical might not do damage, the combination of all these chemicals along with daily use poses a great danger. On the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep site, thousands of beauty products are rated on a scale of 1-10 (little to high hazard). Twenty-five of the chemicals commonly found in products scored a 10! I realize it's very hard to get rid of all the chemicals completely and this is definitely something I still struggle with. However, with this article, my goal is to give you information so you can be aware and start reading labels of products and look them up in the EWG's Skin Deep database. As I continue the process of switching over products to better options, I will keep you updated. I do want to share my favorite body lotion - coconut oil. Buy a jar for the kitchen and a jar for the bathroom! Sources: Enviroblog.com, Environmental Working Group, Breast Cancer Fund | 
My favorite green smoothie is one I found on Kimberly Snyder's website. It's her official Glowing Green Smoothie. I love to make this in the Vitamix and have it in the morning, as a side of veggies with lunch or dinner, or as an afternoon pick-me-up. 
