How Many Personal Care Products Do You Use?
In this post, I shared that the average woman uses 12-20 products before she even leaves her house.
So last week I issued a challenge, via Facebook Live. For one day, I challenged you to track how many personal care products you use in one day.
Then, look up the products in the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Skin Deep database, and see how they were rated.
If you're not familiar with the Skin Deep database, here's a description of it straight from their website:
"EWG's Skin Deep database gives you practical solutions to protect yourself and your family from everyday exposures to chemicals. We launched Skin Deep in 2004 to create online profiles for cosmetics and personal care products and their potential hazards and health concerns. Our aim is to fill in where industry and government leave off. Companies are allowed to use almost any ingredient they wish. The U.S. government doesn't review the safety of products before they're sold. Our staff scientists compare the ingredients on personal care product labels and websites to information in nearly 60 toxicity and regulatory databases. Now in its eighth year, EWG's Skin Deep database provides you with easy-to-navigate ratings for a wide range of products and ingredients on the market."
What I love about this database is that it not only gives me an overall product ranking, but it also tells me if the product has ingredients that may induce allergies or have toxins that have been linked cancer, infertility or birth defects, and provides a ranking for each individual ingredient.
Since I challenged all of you to see how your products ranked, naturally, I tracked my own products that I use and looked up their rankings too!
Now being that I work from home, I don't wear makeup every day. But last Wednesday, I took the day off to go to the San Francisco Giants ballgame with my friend. Yes, I don't wear makeup for work, but I do wear it for playtime. :)
Leaving the house for an entire day to be social constitutes the reason to put on a full face of makeup. So it was the perfect day for me to do this challenge!
Here's a screenshot of the list of personal care products that I used:
Remember, personal care products, aren't just makeup. They include lotions, sunscreens, deodorants, etc.
You can review the full list by clicking here.
I found that I used a total of 26 products! 27 if you count the ice cubes that I rub on my face as part of my bedtime routine. This stuff adds up! And it doesn't even include my shampoo and conditioner!
I ended up not washing my hair this day (a rarity for me), so my shampoo and conditioner aren't included on my list, but on any other given day, it would be.
In my list, I included a link to the EWG's rating (for the products found in their database. Products not found have "not applicable" or "N/A" listed. I also included a link to the product information page from the company's website so you can read more about the product. Some of the links are affiliate links.
My products that were listed in the Skindeep database were all rated 1 and 2 which are the best rankings possible.
So overall, I feel pretty good about the choices I'm making so far. Just a year ago (or even six months ago!) this list would have been radically different.
And the best part now is that I love the products that I use. They are high-performing and work for me. They make me feel good. As opposed to the products I used for a year that was thought to be safer but made my face look too powdery and ashy.
Ideally, I'd like to find high performing products that are listed in the Skindeep database to replace the products that aren't found there yet. But that will come with time. So how do your products rank?
Naomi Nakamura is a Functional Nutrition Health Coach. She helps passionate, ambitious high-achievers who are being dragged down by fatigue, burnout, sugar cravings, poor sleep, unexplained weight issues, and hormonal challenges optimize health, find balance, and upgrade their energy so they can do big things in this world.
Through her weekly show, The Live FAB Live Podcast, programs, coaching, and services, she teaches women how to optimize their diet, support their gut health, reduce their toxic load, and improve their productivity, bringing work + wellness together.
Naomi resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and can often be found exploring the area with her puppy girl, Coco Pop!
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