If you spend a lot of time reading labels on food and asking questions about where your food comes from, you should consider doing a similar background check on the products you put ON your body.
According to the David Suzuki Foundation, “U.S. researchers report that one in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, and hormone disruptors. Many products include plasticizers (chemicals that keep concrete soft), degreasers (used to get grime off auto parts), and surfactants (they reduce surface tension in water, like in paint and inks). Imagine what that does to your skin, and to the environment.”
Think Dirty is our favourite app (created in Toronto!) that does most of this work for you – you simply scan the barcode on a product you use, or are considering using, and it shows you a quick grade on how clean the ingredients are. Each product gets a numbered score, as well as a green/yellow/red grade to let you know if there are any ingredients you should avoid, or if the product is clean. It also educates you about each ingredient in the products, their use and any potential risks.
Dirty Dozen in Cosmetics
Most people have heard about the “Dirty Dozen” when it comes to produce, but not as many have heard of the “Dirty Dozen” list of toxic ingredients in cosmetics and personal care. The David Suzuki Foundation created this list (if you haven’t heard of David Suzuki, he’s a Canadian environmentalist & educator whose foundation has many great projects on the go – find out more about the foundation here: https://davidsuzuki.org/our-work/).
The Suzuki foundation surveyed Canadians to see how many of the “Dirty Dozen” ingredients appeared in their cosmetics, and concluded that 80% of participants’ beauty products contained at least one of the toxic chemicals.
Want to avoid these nasty chemicals and find some products that you can trust? Come in to The Jar to check out the personal care and natural cosmetic products we have – all screened to ensure they contain only the cleanest ingredients! This past year we brought in the Pure Anada line of cosmetics – a Canadian company that makes high quality, AFFORDABLE, natural cosmetics (mascara, lipstick, foundation, eye shadow, nail polish, etc.) and our customers have gotten hooked.
A detailed description of the Dirty Dozen can be found in this infographic below:
