We take extra caution staying away from harmful additives in our food.  We avoid breathing in harmful chemicals.  We don't always take the time to look at what we put on our bodies and our skin though.  We think that they are for cleansing and shampooing and skin care and make up, they must be good for us right?

Almost everything we buy has fragrance in it.  Shampoos, conditioners, soaps, lotions, make up and so many other items, not just skin care, but hair and nails also.  When you look at the items in your bathroom, think about this.  The FDA requires that all products have an ingredient list, but the term fragrance has become a catchall phrase to mean the combination of ingredients used in the perfume making process.  This means that we don't know exactly what is in it.

Think you are safe because you use hypoallergenic make up and skin care products?  Think again.  Hypoallergenic on labels in not regulated, so anything can say hypoallergenic, but since there is no regulations for it, it doesn't have to mean anything.  Neither do the terms natural and organic.    Also, products that contain synthetic fragrance such as shampoos and skin care lotions, can contain a chemical family known as phthalates.  Some members of the phthalates family have been known to cause cancer of the liver and birth defects in lab animals.  Imagine what it could be doing to you.

Preservatives in products could contain formaldehyde.  Yes, it's the same thing used to preserve those frogs you were supposed to dissect in biology class.  Colors could contain lead acetate, which can be heavily toxic to the nervous system.  These are found heavily in make up and hair dyes.

Coal and tar ingredients can be found in FD&C or D&C colors.  This is in food as well as products for hygiene.  Coal and tar is what we put in our fire places and on the streets, why would we want to put it on our bodies?

Mercury which is a nervous system toxin can be found in eye make up.  This is the same ingredient that is thought to be the trigger for Autism.  Remember those old thermometers that mom warned us not to bite into because they were poisonous.  That was mercury.

Ammonia can be in dyes and bleaches.  This can be especially dangerous when inhaled.  Toluene is a toxin found in some nail polishes and affects the nervous system. There are so many chemicals and unsafe ingredients in the products we use on a daily basis.  

Knowing this can make you look much closer at the ingredients in your bottle of shampoo, or soap, or skin care lotion.  So do you know what is in your hygiene products?