Switch to natural facial soaps
Why This is Green
Washing your face seems like a simple, safe enough thing to do. Soap has been around for millennia. But not all soaps are created equal. Like most conventional cosmetics, facial soaps can contain a number of synthetic chemicals that have been linked to everything from cancers to hormone disruption to birth defects to skin or eye irritation.
While soap formulations vary brand to brand, they tend contain multiple controversial petroleum-derived ingredients. They can also contain beef fat (tallow) from factory-farmed animals, dyes, and harsh chemical foaming agents. Perfumed soaps often contain synthetic fragrance, which the Environmental Working Group deems a high hazard due to its links to allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress, and potential effects on the reproductive system.
Some soaps have unnecessary and dangerous antibacterial chemicals, including triclosan, which, according to the American Medical Association, may encourage bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Triclosan is known to produce toxic chlorinated substances that aren’t biodegradable—when it washes down the drain it gets in our waterways and interferes with aquatic life.
Natural soaps made of vegetable oils and perfumed with essential oils are a far safer bet.
Learn More
How To
If your current facial soap doesn’t have natural or organic certification, look it up on the on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database or the GoodGuide. If it scores poorly, replace it with one that scores better and contains natural, organic, or biodynamic ingredients.
Be equally careful when shopping for eye makeup removers.
Not available in your local store? Check natural product stores and online.
Recommended Products
Weleda Gentle Cleansing Milk
This creamy cleansing milk maintains a healthy balance in your skin without compromising its natural protective functions. With nourishing organic jojoba seed oil and antioxidant-rich sesame seed oil it gently cleanses your skin without drying.
Follow Weleda on Facebook and Twitter.
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- Miessence Balancing Cleanser
- Weleda Gentle Cleansing Milk
- HollyBeth's Grits & Honey Scrub
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