The first personal care product I looked up on the Safe Cosmetics Database was Love hair conditioner by the brand Davines. I purchased it
at my salon a couple months ago after they used it on my hair before I had it
cut. It smelled so good and made my hair look great. It was pretty pricey but I
decided to splurge on just the conditioner to treat myself. I was shocked to
find that it had a high hazard toxicity rating of 7. The high concerns listed
on the website included endocrine disruption, possible irritation to skin,
eyes, or lungs and a moderate concern of biochemical or cellular level changes.
Wow. I was shocked. Unfortunately that great smell I love is due to the high
levels of fragrance added which is probably to blame for most of the possible
adverse health effects from using the product.
The second product I looked up was a raspberry lip balm I use
from the brand Softlips. I have been using this lip balm for years because I
love that it has SPF 20 and also how hydrating it is. This product had a
moderate hazard rating of 6. This product was also associated with high
concerns of Endocrine disruption as well as organ system toxicity and many
other concerns. This was also surprising to me especially because with lip balm
I am sure that I sometimes ingest the product because it is so close to my
mouth.
I will definitely be changing my consumer behaviors based on
these finding and will no longer use these 2 products. I also looked up a few
of the other products I use and was relieved to see that they had a much lower hazard
rating. This made me think that nearly every product has some sort of hazard
associated with using it. How can we
change this? Everyone should be aware of the risks associated with the products
they use, especially for those products that have such a high hazard rating.
The problem is that most consumers are simply unaware that there are possible
negative health effects of using the products they have been using for so many
years. It is important that we educate all consumers so that we can pressure
these companies to reformulate their products and remove the most hazardous
chemicals.
Hi Marisa,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post! I just cut my hair today and your post got me thinking...these products that these salons push have so many chemicals, but you think that because a professional uses them that they are safe-when in all actuality they might not be!
Great post!
Kera
Hello Marisa,
ReplyDeleteUpon reading your post I was thinking about your hair product. I think people assume that the more expensive an item is, the better it is. In some ways it is, in that the results of having great hair make consumers overlook the price and chemical hazards. Overall, I support your statement in that all consumers need to be educated. To add to that measure, I would say that companies have the responsibility, not only the consumers, to create products that don't have negative impacting chemicals. Thanks for your insights!
Hi Marisa,
ReplyDeleteI constantly change my hair products, sometimes based off a new product I encounter, or price. Before this assignment, I never thought about the ingredients that I may be exposing myself to, so I think I'll definitely do some research prior to purchasing any new product. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Carmen