Saturday, December 22, 2018

This Could Save Your Life! Environmental Working Group www.ewg.org


I *love* the Dollar Store. I'm a sucker for their Easter decor and...deodorant. Dollar Store deodorant smells like the kind I started using in 7th grade. Ever since I was a 13 year old brace-face, I've slathered my underarms with copious amounts of aluminum-based antiperspirant every day, automatically. Who knows what effect all that aluminum has? Having worked in different types of research including clinical trials, I know how flawed, and flat out fake, studies can be. Like Puff Daddy said back in '97, It's All About the Benjamins, Baby.

 

Unless a study appears reliable and valid in my own research on their research, I don't jump to apply findings to my life. Also, I strongly believe all the fretting and controlling we do...the psychological stress over how toxic everything is...can cause more harm than the toxic stuff. So I figured I'd take my chances on aluminum-spiked dollar deodorant, but then I found a website that appears to be reputable from the folks at Environmental Working Group. www.ewg.org/skindeep

I love you, hippies, but EWG isn't just for you and granolas. ;) Everyone can benefit from EWG's evidence-based product ratings.
EWG rates skin care products according to each product's ingredient list. You can put the name of a product in their search box and pull up the overall toxicity rating as well as a list of individual toxicity ratings for each ingredient in the product. I searched for my beloved deodorant, and let's just say you’d better run if I raise my arms. My pits are pretty much shooting out radioactive lightsabres...but at least they don’t go “Pew Pew!” :)

I also searched EWG for a tinted lip balm I've used for years. The particular color I use is more toxic than other colors of the exact same brand and type of lip balm. I gotta say, seeing all the weird ingredients with ratings was eye-opening. I found a new lip balm on EWG with just three ingredients, checked the price on Amazon, and couldn't believe it's cheaper than the one that's emitting tiny lightsabers in my makeup bag right now. So go check out EWG. It could just save your life. <3

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