If you are just starting your clean, non-toxic health journey, one of the most important skills you will need is to learn is how to read a label. Regulations in the US are sadly behind places like Europe, so companies can get away with putting toxic ingredients on the shelf without punishment. Companies are counting on how uneducated American consumers generally are, and taking advantage of it. It is imperative in this modern landscape to know exactly what you are putting on the largest organ in your body: your skin.
When it comes to beauty products, there are a few things you can look out for prior to
purchasing, especially if you have severe allergies.
Firstly, look at the front of the product for some titles such as "clean", "non-toxic", "free of parabens, phlalates, silicones, fragrance, parfume, sulfates". Things like "organic" and "natural" are also good, but it's important to remember that they can simply add 1 organic or natural ingredient to use this claim. However, it does not necessarily mean the entire product is organic, as it can be mixed right along with a chemical fragrance, formaldehyde preservatives, etc.
Greenwashing has become a big money grab in recent years, which is why step 2 is the most important.
Second, find the ingredients on the back of the label. Read through them and look up anything you don't recognize. Note: some companies may put the INCI name or the Latin name of a plant ingredient for legal purposes, but also to distinguish it from different forms of the same ingredient. For example, there are many lavenders used for making essential oils. We use Lavender essential oil in some of our products, so we put "lavendula officionalis" to indicate the exact kind of lavender oil we used.
It is crucially important to research the ingredients if you have severe allergies. For example, a lot of ingredients in natural beauty products don't appear to be coconut on the surface. However, sometimes they can be sourced from coconut or palm, and it's hard to tell which one is used without contacting the company directly. You can ask them to certify what the plant source of their ingredients are. If you are struggling with a coconut allergy, we have a list of coconut derivatives to watch out for in a previous blog, linked here. The more you read labels, the more familiar you will become with what common ingredients are and how to recognize them. For example, anything with "coco" in the name of an ingredient is most likely coconut derived or based.
Some other ingredients to look out for are parabens, sulfates, and phlalates. Avoid anything with "fragrance" or "parfum", as these are not regulated by the FDA and can be hormone disrupting chemicals or carcinogens. If you're curious about more toxic ingredients to avoid, here's an article from GoodRx on dangerous additives to avoid in skincare that goes into more depth about things like preservatives.
We hope that label reading will become another tool in your tool belt on the road to healthy living! Furthermore, if you ever have a question about any of the ingredients we use in our products, feel free to send us an email at contact@naturalsoapshoppe.com, and we will be happy to help!
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