Do your skin care products contain hormone-disrupting chemicals? Today, we’re exposed to more of these chemicals than ever before.
Unfortunately, there’s a lack of regulation around personal care products. This means there are many toxic ingredients that don’t have to be disclosed on the label. Even the word “natural” may not mean anything in skin care products today.
For me, creating hormone-safe skin care products has been essential since I want this for my patients and loved ones (that includes you!)
In the United States, only eleven ingredients have been banned in personal care products. In Europe, more than 1,000 ingredients have been banned. The problem with this is that many of these chemicals have hormone-disrupting effects and aren’t safe.
For example, one of the compounds that have gotten much attention lately is PFAS chemicals, known as “forever chemicals.” They’re known as forever chemicals because they break down very slowly in the environment and they actually bioaccumulate in body tissues. Unfortunately, they’re not just in cosmetics. They are everywhere. They’re actually in our water now too.
These hormone-disrupting chemicals are a problem because they interfere with how hormones function. For example, although you may think that something you apply to your skin stays only on your skin, the chemicals in our skin care products can actually be absorbed into our bloodstream. These chemicals can then wreak havoc on our endocrine system, leading to problems with thyroid, adrenal, and sex hormone function.
Using hormone-safe skin care is a simple lifestyle change you can make to avoid these types of toxic chemicals.
Read the Label
Even if you like your current skin care routine, be mindful that what you put on your skin is absorbed into your body. This may elevate the level of toxins you’re already exposed to each day. Statistics suggest women use an average of twelve personal care products daily, while men use an average of six.
Based on the average number of ingredients in a personal care product, we’re exposed to an average of 126 different ingredients daily.
Our skin is highly sensitive to the inflammatory effects of these chemicals, and that can have a huge effect on our appearance. Ingredients found in popular skin care products have been shown to disrupt hormones and some are even carcinogenic.
One of the biggest culprits is fragrance. We like to smell good, and product manufacturers know it.
What’s scary is that fragrance is not a single ingredient, even though it is listed that way. It may contain multiple hormone-disrupting chemicals.
Fragrances are among the top five allergens in the world and contain hormone-disrupting chemicals that research has associated with certain conditions, such as thyroid problems, infertility, early menopause, early puberty, obesity, diabetes, and many more health issues.
One chemical of particular concern commonly used in fragrance is diethyl phthalate (DEP), which is used to make plastics and then used in automobile parts, toys, tools, and to make food packaging more flexible. Diethyl phthalate is not part of the chain of chemicals that compose the plastic, so it doesn’t bind tightly.
This means it can be released easily into its surroundings. Surprisingly, diethyl phthalate is also used in a number of personal care products, including skin care, hairspray, nail polish, deodorant, and perfume. It is used to make smells and colors last longer, but it’s a known hormone-disrupting chemical.
The Spa Dr. skin care products are either fragrance-free or naturally scented with organic essential oils, so you don’t have to worry about harmful toxins – and you can see this when you read the label.
Reading skin care labels can be overwhelming if you’ve never looked at one before. But when you start, you’ll become more familiar with chemicals to avoid and the botanical names of plant-based ingredients.
There are also apps available that you can use to check ingredient names to learn what they are and whether or not they should be used on your skin.
Avoiding all hormone-disrupting chemical exposure is unfortunately impossible. But knowing the potential risks can help you choose personal-care products that are safer. In Clean Skin From Within, you can find the top 20 harmful skin care ingredients you should avoid. This will help you know what you’re looking at on the label. You can also look up products in the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database.
Swap Out Toxins for Hormone-Safe Skin Care
If your routine currently contains hormone-disrupting skin care products, start swapping out toxic ingredients for natural ones. This doesn’t mean you have to do it all at the same time. start with one product and go from there.
Look for products with organic essential oils; aloe vera; green, black, and white teas; rosemary extract; sunflower seed oil; apricot kernel oil; almond oil; jojoba oil; resveratrol; vitamin E; CoQ10; and turmeric. You can find all of these in our 4-Step Age-Defying Clean Skincare System.
In addition to skincare and makeup, replace your deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, and other personal-care products that have toxic ingredients with non-toxic alternatives.
Once we begin to realize how many toxins are in beauty products, it can be scary and overwhelming to try and make a change. Just remember it doesn’t have to be all at once and do the best you can. Every simple action you take is a step toward cleaning up your routine and creating better health and vitality – and supporting radiant skin.
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