M2.2- Personal Care Products

I was very excited to find out more about my personal care products after this week's material. I looked up my shampoo (OGX Coconut Milk Shampoo) and my makeup wipes (Neutrogena Makeup Remover Wipes). I don’t wear very much face makeup so I decided to look up the products I use the most.

• Were you surprised to find out the toxicity rating of your personal care products?
• OGX Shampoo- I have to use sulfate-free shampoo because I had a keratin treatment done on my hair, and I found this to be the safest without having to spend $30 per bottle. This shampoo had an overall safety rating of 5. The fragrance had the highest concern, rated at an 8 due to allergies, and irritation of the skin, eyes, or lungs. I don’t have any particular sensitivity to fragrances, so this rating didn’t upset me much. There are however, traces of formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane, which we learned are two of the most dangerous, and I would be interested to find out the amount of these ingredients. Moderate concerns listed include non-reproductive organ toxicity, with low concerns being enhanced skin absorption and cancer.
• Neutrogena Makeup Wipes- I have very sensitive skin and need to be diligent about taking my makeup off. This product has an overall rating of 4, which was a pleasant surprise because Neutrogena is such a large company. Once again, fragrance had the highest concern with a rating of 8, citing allergies/immunotoxicity and irritation of the skin, eyes, and lungs. I use the unscented wipes so the fragrance doesn’t bother me, but I did notice my eyes would burn when I was using the grapefruit scented wipes. Moderate concerns include non-reproductive organ toxicity and low concerns include cancer and endocrine disruption, which I was very pleased to find out, as this product is so close to my eyes and mouth when used.
• Did you decide to change any of your consumer behaviors based on your findings?
• I think I need to, at the bare minimum, do some more research on sulfate-free shampoo. Maybe it’s time to splurge on expensive hair care products, as I have very thick and course curly hair that needs to be given a lot of attention if I want it to look presentable. I still can’t believe formaldehyde is included in some of these products, and I truly wouldn’t have thought about it if I hadn’t seen the presentations from this week.
• Should everyone know about these risks and why don’t they?
• I absolutely believe everyone should know about the risks in their personal care products- especially considering how much time and effort we put into our appearance. Of course big cosmetics companies aren’t going to talk about the harmful chemicals in their products; they’re trying to run a business and make a profit at the expense of millions of people, and ignorance seems to be bliss when you smell and look good. Unfortunately, it seems like products free of harmful chemicals are extremely expensive, and come in the smallest bottles. I can imagine how hard it is for low-income women to find healthy products that stand up to the quality and convenience of what they are used to using and can afford.