Skin Deep for Beauty Safety

You know, I always mention Skin Deep in beauty product reviews here at Blisstree Green or when I talk about ingredients in beauty and body care products, and it just occurred to me that not everyone knows what Skin Deep is. Here’s a primer…

BASICS:

Skin Deep is a project website database of the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Their mission is to use the power of information to protect human health and the environment. Skin Deep is also connected with the nationwide Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, “A coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, womens, environmental and consumer groups working to protect the health of consumers and workers by requiring the health and beauty industry to phase out the use of dangerous chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives.”

Companies who create beauty and body care products are allowed to use almost any ingredient they wish, and the government doesn’t require companies to test products for safety before they’re sold. Basically Skin Deep’s goal is to fill in the obvious gaps by helping consumers to learn how to choose smarter, safer, and less toxic beauty and body care products.

WHAT YOU’LL FIND AT SKIN DEEP:

Skin Deep offers reviews, assessments, and data info on 50,113 products, 8,729 ingredients, 2,352 brands, and 1,543 companies (and counting). They cover product info on all sorts of beauty and body car products from fragrances to shampoo to baby soap to lipstick and sunscreen along with all the other products you use on a daily basis. The Skin Deep database provides consumers with easy-to-navigate safety ratings for nearly a quarter of all beauty and body care products on the market. You can search by ingredient, company, product or look specifically for products that are organic or that don’t contain toxic ingredients.

Skin Deep rates all products on various eco and safety issues such as toxicity levels, organic content, animal testing, and more. Read more about Skin Deep’s Dual Rating Factors.

WHY USE SKIN DEEP?:

Products you see on store shelves are nowhere near always safe for you, your family, or kids. For example, many companies choose to use known human carcinogens or developmental toxins in the products you use – in products you put on your body. Chemicals in beauty and body care products can penetrate the skin and according to Skin Deep and other studies, more than one-third of all personal care products contain at least one ingredient linked to cancer. By using Skin Deep, you can look up products, assess their toxicity level, and make a decision about which products you’d like to use.

Skin Deep is not perfect. There are many products not included in the database and because of the nature of the products scored, scores can change. BUT overall, using Skin Deep will help you sort out some major baddies, make you more aware of what’s in your products, and allows you to take more eco and health responsibility.

OTHER LINKS:

• Sign the Skin Deep petition to Congress demanding product safety testing.
• Learn more about the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
• Quick facts on Skin Deep
• Skin Deep Product and Ingredient Databases
• Data sources – toxicity, regulatory, and study availability databases

[image owned by Jennifer Chait]