NOTE: This post contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this blog. There is no cost to you and this blog may earn a small sum when you use the links. You are in no way obligated to use these links and they’re provided for your convenience. Thanks for supporting this blog!
Summer is here and being outside is one of our family’s favorite activities, but skin damage and sun burns are a risk. Most sunscreens on the market contain questionable ingredients like potential endocrine-disruptors (PMID: 28959646) and neurotoxicants (PMID: 34351731). That’s why I’m sharing my best low tox sunscreens on Amazon for 2022, so you can enjoy time outdoors without the fear of toxic chemicals harming your family’s health.
✅ Mineral-based up to SPF 40 (uncoated zinc oxide)
✅ Organic, plant-based ingredients
✅ Available in stores
This one has a stronger earthy scent that my kids don’t love, but it’s an incredible option especially if you prefer to shop in stores or if you run out in a pinch!
✅ Mineral-based up to SPF 30 (non-nano zinc oxide)
✅ Extremely easy to apply especially on little faces
✅Affordable price (non-organic ingredients)
These sunscreens are safer than conventional options.
Sunscreen is meant to protect you and should not present risks to your health or the environment.
If there is a lower risk option available to you and you’re able to get it, then that would be a safer choice.
Choosing low tox products in zero waste packaging is the ideal way to minimize your toxic exposure and environmental impact.
Conclusion
I hope these sunscreen options fit your needs and budget! Always check the ingredients in your cosmetic & personal care products to ensure that you’re not inadvertently exposing yourself to toxicants.
If you need help detoxifying your other beauty & personal care products, the Safe Ingredient Academy 2.0 is the solution! It’s a unique digital course & coaching program that helps busy & aspiring moms eliminate the fear of toxic ingredients in cosmetics & personal care products, so they can create a healthy home and protect their family without hours of overwhelming research. Click here to learn more!
NOTE: This post contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this blog. There is no cost to you and this blog may earn a small sum when you use the links. You are in no way obligated to use these links and they’re provided for your convenience. Thanks for supporting this blog!
Are you someone who loves clean beauty, but doesn’t know if you’re actually getting what you’re paying for? Does it live up to the hype or is it all fake and greenwashed?
I get questions every day about which brands of cosmetics & personal care products I use because there’s so much noise on the internet. That’s why I’m writing this post – to help you avoid being duped and inadvertently exposing yourself to something you don’t prefer and weren’t aware about.
Check out my latest YouTube video to find out which greenwashing brands of cosmetics I’m anti-hauling so you can save yourself the headache and potential health effects of being duped into buying something that may be deceptively marketed.
An “anti-haul” is the exact opposite of a haul that you may see on YouTube. It’s basically a round-up of brands or products that I won’t buy and, in this case, it’s because of greenwashing and deceptive marketing. In this video, I walk you through the brands I won’t buy and the health & environmental concerns behind each one. So if you’re looking to avoid being misled and duped then PRESS PLAY NOW to watch the video or keep reading for all the news.
The only real way to know if a product or company is greenwashing is by looking at the ingredient label. Here is the definition of greenwashing, which by the way is subjective, but there is a general consensus.
“Greenwashing is considered an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that accompanies products are environmentally friendly.”
Examples of greenwashing beauty companies that you probably already know about are Origins and The Body Shop. A big problem we’re facing is the not so obvious brands that are greenwashing.
I’m sharing this, not to bash or invalidate because it’s completely each person’s choice, what they’re willing to expose themself to. The purpose of this post is to share my expert opinion on why these brands aren’t living up to the marketing claims, so you can make the most informed decision for yourself. Basically, you deserve to know what they’re not telling you.
Anti-Haul Brand #1: Arbonne
The first brand I’m anti hauling is Arbonne. They use marketing claims like “holistic” and “clean,” which give the impression that they prioritize your health and the environment. They are a certified B Corp, which is a marketing tool that is used by companies to gain credibility. I’m anti-hauling Arbonne for several reasons:
Poor quality ingredients, specifically in cosmetics that are marketed as non-toxic. Examples of those would be synthetic silicones, which can appear on the label as dimethicone or cyclopentasiloxane among many, many others. Just look for ingredients ending in “-icone” or “-siloxane.” There are concerns that synthetic silicones don’t actually biodegrade. How eco-friendly are these products?
Significant use of synthetic ingredients. So let me be clear by saying not all synthetics are bad. It’s unclear if their ingredients are synthesized from petroleum, which carries several risk factors in and of itself.
Petroleum is derived from crude oil, which contains naturally-occurring carcinogens known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs. Furthermore, drilling and mining of crude oil is an environmentally devastating practice.
This brand like many others also uses phenoxyethanol. This is a controversial ingredient and is one of the most widely used, which is why there is a concern in the first place. There was actually a study published in 2019 that found phenoxyethanol in 49% of consumer products in Italy (1). In fact, phenoxyethanol was a cheap swap for parabens when studies were published, linking parabens to endocrine disruption and possibly breast cancer. Consumers became aware of parabens and started avoiding products containing it. Therefore, companies swapped it out for phenoxyethanol. The problem really is when you have a commonly used ingredient, across many, many products, the exposure levels can be exceeded even though the individual product levels might still be safe.
“And in case you didn’t know, more frequent and regular use of an ingredient can lead to sensitization and allergic reactions.”
Dr. Yvonne Burkart
Not to mention phenoxyethanol along with several other commonly used preservatives, actually disrupt your skin’s microbiome as shown in a study published in 2019 (2). Disruptions in the skin’s microbiome is observed in skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis (3,4).
Anti-Haul Brand #2: Beautycounter
Another similar brand I’m anti -hauling is Beautycounter. This company is one of the biggest players in the clean beauty movement and also B Corp certified. They love to emphasize their lobbying efforts to change cosmetic regulations, but are their products actually clean?
The main problems that I have found with Beautycounter is number one, their lack of transparency when it comes to heavy metals testing. There are reports of health conscious consumers that have reached out to Beautycounter management for further clarification on testing levels and detection limits for heavy metals, particularly in their colorants and not being able to get a direct answer or being able to see the actual measurements.
I did see a page on their website where they explain how sensitive their measurements, which is good to know, however, based on their ingredients glossary, they’re using natural oxides to pigment their products, which carry the risk of containing heavy metals since they’re mined from the earth, which is where heavy metals reside.
Which brings up another concern – why bother mining for mineral pigments, testing them for heavy metals and destroying the environment while putting miners at risk when you can easily use lab created or synthetic oxides that don’t contain heavy metals? Food for thought.
Another reason I avoid an anti-haul this brand is the use of ingredients with questionable safety. Talc is something that they are apparently phasing out, but it is contaminated with asbestos. So that means that their products have not been completely devoid of talc and there is still the risk of inhalation. Even if a company tests all their talc for asbestos that still doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. It’s possible to develop granulomatosis, an inflammatory disease of the airways through cosmetic use of talc in the absence is asbestos (5).
Inhalation of asbestos causes mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer and talc has also been reported to cause an adult male who inhaled it to collapse (6). In case you didn’t know, talc actually dries up the airways and impairs our airway’s natural ability to clear particulate matter, which is a protective mechanism. So by impairing our protective mechanisms, it is causing toxicity. The problem is that the risk of using talc outweighs the benefits and it’s probably likely only used because it’s cheap.
They also use phenoxyethanol, which is a red flag. And like Arbonne, Beautycounter also uses a significant amount of synthetic ingredients. They claim to be transparent and list all the ingredients they use in their products. But it’s unclear if they’re synthesized from petroleum, not to mention, there were some ingredients in the product information pages on their website that weren’t actually listed in the ingredient glossary.
There’s also ethical considerations because they use a pigment called carmine, which is made from crushed red bugs.
They also like to use isolated fragrance chemicals, which can cause allergic reactions, even if they are derived from natural sources (7).
Anti-Haul Brand #3: Monat
Monat makes skin and hair products that are very widely marketed on social media. One of their main marketing claims is “naturally based”, which is completely ambiguous, subjective, and undefined. It implies that at one point maybe, perhaps it was a natural starting materials such as a plant involved, but it’s not clear how much processing has taken place and what you’re actually getting in the bottle. How natural is that? Look at the ingredients in their Advanced Hydrating Shampoo below and ask yourself if these seem “naturally based” to you? By the way, the ingredients at the beginning of the list are the most abundant in a product.
The problem is not that an ingredient is synthetic or man-made, but rather how it is processed and how close it is becoming an isolated chemical ingredient, as opposed to a complex mixture, which is what is found in a whole plant extract.
“The risk of isolated chemicals as opposed to a complex mixture is overexposure and therefore toxicity. “
Dr. Yvonne Burkart
Anti-Haul Brand #4: Tula Skincare
They claim to be “clean” and is extremely heavily marketed on social media by influencers. It’s mentioned on their website that this brand was developed by a gastroenterologist, and I’m wondering if that is supposed to make us somehow feel better or safer because a doctor developed it. FYI, most doctors have not studied toxicity or safety, so I take their recommendations with a huge grain of salt.
The biggest concern with this brand is their use of synthetic or chemical sunscreen. These are known endocrine disruptors acknowledged by the Endocrine Society, the foremost leading scientific and medical organization on endocrine health, who mentioned the potential for decreased sperm function and environmental toxicity (8).
I’m spefically referring to avobenzone, homosalate, and octisalate. Synthetic sunscreens also cause coral reef destruction and therefore environmental devastation and have actually been banned from over-the-counter sales in Hawaii. The National Ocean Service even shared this infographic on their website (9).
You gotta ask yourself how clean is this brand, if they’re willing to use toxic synthetic sunscreen chemicals?
The Problems With Greenwashing
It is deceptive and misleading, and therefore unethical. This is really the most detrimental for people with pre-existing conditions like asthma, eczema, or psoriasis and can’t seem to find relief from the products that they’re using, no matter how clean they are, or just by anyone who wants to avoid toxicants as much as possible.
It’s really misleading when companies greenwash, because a lot of the terms they use have nothing to do with safety. Another practice I’ve noticed is sustainable packaging, but the use of toxic ingredients, how does that help? You’re still creating toxic waste that needs to be dumped somewhere and definitely could end up causing a toxic spill.
How to Spot Greenwashing
Brands like to use unregulated buzzwords that have no government definition, and they like to use it to make you feel like a product is natural, safe non-toxic and even organic USDA organic, by the way, is the only government regulated term that has specific guidelines set by the USDA.
Greenwashing companies like to use specific colors, anything that would remind you of anything natural or being in nature like green or blue images like leaves, plants, and flowers, again, to make you feel like something is more plant-based and therefore healthy.
A common greenwashing tactic is actually highlighting organic or plant ingredients and extracts, regardless of how little that product may actually contain. They also love to point out the ingredients of concern that consumers are trying to avoid. So parabens and phthalates and sulfates, they talk about being cruelty-free and non-GMO, which by the way has nothing to do with safety.
The real issue is the deceptive marketing under the guise that a product is somehow healthier or safer than a conventional one. So as a toxicologist, in my professional opinion, a truly safe and healthy product does not contain ingredients or use practices that cause harm or toxicity to any one along the entire process of production, including the occupational workers, the environment, and also to you the end user, the consumer.
What do I recommend?
I choose & recommend products that contain as many organic ingredients as possible in glass or zero waste packaging to mitigate the impact on the environment and also our exposure to plasticizers. Going back to basics – it’s really that simple!
FREE GUIDE: THE SAFE INGREDIENT RULEBOOK
If you’ve been struggling to crack the safe ingredient code and are tired of feeling overwhelmed and confused by all the conflicting and often unreliable information on the web, you’ll love this guide! It gives you the step-by-step lowdown on everything that you need to know in order to become a toxin-free product boss. You’ll learn some of the exact steps I use to evaluate ingredient safety as a professional toxicologist so grab yours now!
Panico A, Serio F, Bagordo F, Grassi T, Idolo A, DE Giorgi M, Guido M, Congedo M, DE Donno A. Skin safety and health prevention: an overview of chemicals in cosmetic products. J Prev Med Hyg. 2019 Mar 29;60(1):E50-E57. doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2019.60.1.1080. PMID: 31041411; PMCID: PMC6477564.
Wang Q, Cui S, Zhou L, He K, Song L, Liang H, He C. Effect of cosmetic chemical preservatives on resident flora isolated from healthy facial skin. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2019 Apr;18(2):652-658. doi: 10.1111/jocd.12822. Epub 2018 Dec 12. PMID: 30548758.
Thomas CL, Fernández-Peñas P. The microbiome and atopic eczema: More than skin deep. Australas J Dermatol. 2017 Feb;58(1):18-24. doi: 10.1111/ajd.12435. Epub 2016 Jan 28. PMID: 26821151.
Wang WM, Jin HZ. Skin Microbiome: An Actor in the Pathogenesis of Psoriasis. Chin Med J (Engl). 2018 Jan 5;131(1):95-98. doi: 10.4103/0366-6999.221269. PMID: 29271387; PMCID: PMC5754965.
Jasuja S, Kuhn BT, Schivo M, Adams JY. Cosmetic Talc-Related Pulmonary Granulomatosis. J Investig Med High Impact Case Rep. 2017 Sep 8;5(3):2324709617728527. doi: 10.1177/2324709617728527. PMID: 28959693; PMCID: PMC5593219.
Naik SB, Guruprasad M. Accidental Acute Talcum Powder Inhalation in an Adult: A Rare Case with a Short Review of Literature. Indian J Crit Care Med. 2020 Jun;24(6):490-491. doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23451. PMID: 32863649; PMCID: PMC7435097.
Nath NS, Liu B, Green C, Atwater AR. Contact Allergy to Hydroperoxides of Linalool and D-Limonene in a US Population. Dermatitis. 2017 Sep/Oct;28(5):313-316. doi: 10.1097/DER.0000000000000318. PMID: 28885310.
NOTE: This post contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this blog. There is no cost to you and this blog may earn a small sum when you use the links. You are in no way obligated to use these links and they’re provided for your convenience. Thanks for supporting this blog!
If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I love organic makeup and it’s always my first choice. In fact, I made a whole blog post & video about the Best Organic Makeup Brands on Amazon!
Sometimes companies will discontinue products we love and then we’re stuck having to look for another brand and possibly wasting time & money on products that don’t measure up to the original. That exact thing happened to me when my favorite cream blush was phased out and didn’t have time to search and try new ones. Since I’ve been experimenting with DIY organic makeup and skincare projects I figured I’d try to replicate or dupe my favorite cream blush!
I did a quick search online and came across this amazingly & ridiculously simple recipe by Mommypotamus and couldn’t believe my eyes – only 3 ingredients?!? I already had everything except for 1 of the ingredients and it was available on Amazon Prime so I could whip up a batch in no time. WINNING!
Check out my latest YouTube video to see how incredibly fast & easy it is to create your own custom organic cream blush in just a few minutes with some food-safe ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen pantry. I walk you through the process along with some extremely important tips to consider when it comes to your makeup routine in general and why cream makeup is ideal from a toxic exposure perspective.
So if you’re looking for more ways to save money on healthy, organic makeup that you can DIY in a jiffy, press play now to watch the video or keep reading for the recipe!
Clean, glass or metal container (I love these slide top ones!)
Combine all ingredients in a bowl (preferrably glass)
Smash together with a fork being careful not to kick up the powders and create dust. DO NOT INHALE THE POWDERS!
Transfer to container
Keep in a cool, dry place.
Stays fresh for up to 2 years (general shelf life of shea butter)
Looks much darker in the container than on my skin.I love the sheer, blendable color!
WHY I RECOMMEND SWITCHING TO CREAM MAKEUP
You might be wondering why I recommend switching to cream makeup. Well, there are several reasons. Mainly, the big reason is to reduce the risk of inhalation exposure. Our lungs and our airways are the most sensitive route of exposure after the intravenous route. Anything that is injected into your veins, of course, is going to be directly delivered to your entire body systemically through your bloodstream essentially reaching all our organs. This is by far the most sensitive route of exposure.
But when it comes to exposure to everyday products, we’re not necessarily injecting ourselves. Therefore, the inhalation route is the most sensitive for several reasons. Particles that you inhale have the ability to deposit into your lung tissue depending on their size. Generally, the smaller particles, let’s say nanoparticles, the further and deeper they can penetrate into lung tissue. What happens is that your cells want to sequester them so that they can not cause harm to your body through an inflammatory process. Over time, your lungs will actually become fibrotic. It’s almost as if your lungs develop scar tissue, and over time, that’s going to affect your lung function and your ability to breathe.
An example of an inhalation exposure that causes fibrosis would be as asbestos. It is a particle that causes cancer, specifically mesothelioma. It’s a very rare form, but when asbestos os inhaled it causes this exact fibrosis & inflammation (1) and eventually cancer.
I’m not saying that powder makeup is going to cause you cancer necessarily. However, certain “clean beauty” companies are still using talc as an ingredient, which can be contaminated with asbestos. The point is, that if you can reduce the amount of particulate matter that you are inhaling, you’re just going to be that much better off. Better safe than sorry right?
Another reason that you want to protect your airways is if you’re using fragrances, which I know a lot of us love candles, scented plug in perfumes, aromas, etc. We all love that sensory experience of fragrances, but those can significantly contribute to the volatile organic compound (VOC) load in your home. All the VOCs are being inhaled by us 24/7, especially now, since we are in the home more than ever before because of the pandemic. Being aware of what is in our home and in our products right now is especially important.
I personally have switched out all of my powder makeup and opted for cream formulations simply because I no longer feel the need to use powder makeup. When I was younger, I didn’t understand that the products I was using were actually stripping the natural oils from my skin, causing my skin to produce excess oil to compensate. I used powders because my face was really greasy and my makeup would just slide right off. It was so greasy and I was using oil blotting papers – I mean it was excessively oily. But ever since I switched to more organic, plant-based, and wholesome skincare products, I don’t have that issue anymore because they contain nourishing oils that balance my skin, which is fantastic.
Another benefit of using cream makeup is that the base is oftentimes a rich butter. For example, shea, cocoa, or mango seed butter are rich and are occlusive. They will form a barrier over your skin. And in fact, there’s actually several studies showing the benefits of shea butter for different inflammatory skin conditions (2,3). So not only are they just generally healthier from an inhalation risk perspective, but they also have benefits for your skin.
It seems like a no-brainer to switch to cream blush and makeup and you can easily make it your own to save money on top of that! Be sure to source high quality, raw, and organic shea butter that is fair trade so that the workers who are harvesting the shea from the nuts are being compensated fairly and treated humanely. This is really the ultimate in conscious beauty!
MY THOUGHTS ON THIS RECIPE
One of the things that I love the most about how this recipe turned out is that the color is definitely visible. You can see it, but it is very blendable and not opaque. It’s a soft shade of pink and I absolutely love the sheer, natural color it gives my cheeks.
I also love that you don’t really need any type of makeup application tools like a brush to apply. You can just use your fingers so there’s no need to wash any brushes, which also saves time.
I’m definitely going to experiment and see if I can make my own bronzer in a similar way to how Mommypotamus came up with this recipe. I have experimented in the past with other types of fruit, vegetable, and food based powders, especially beet powder, but sadly they did not work out for me at all. Cocoa butter has given me the best results because of how finely ground it is, and I’ve heard of people using dragon fruit and cherry powders for pigmentation.
THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN TRYING THIS DIY RECIPE
Shea butter, for some people, has a really strong smell and they either love it hate it.
Personally, I don’t mind the smell of it at all, and it just smells nutty to me. So if you’re someone who is sensitive to smells, then you might want to consider using another type of butter, maybe like a mango seed butter, perhaps, or another butter that doesn’t really have a strong smell.
You can also consider adding some essential oils to your cream blush. If you want to mask the smell of the shea butter. I would probably try lavender, geranium, or cedarwood essential oil
FREE GUIDE: THE SAFE INGREDIENT RULEBOOK
If you’ve been struggling to crack the safe ingredient code and are tired of feeling overwhelmed and confused by all the conflicting and often unreliable information on the web, you’ll love this guide! It gives you the step-by-step lowdown on everything that you need to know in order to become a toxin-free product boss. You’ll learn some of the exact steps I use to evaluate ingredient safety as a professional toxicologist so grab yours now!
Robledo R, Mossman B. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of asbestos-induced fibrosis. J Cell Physiol. 1999 Aug;180(2):158-66. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4652(199908)180:2<158::AID-JCP3>3.0.CO;2-R. PMID: 10395285.
Akihisa T, Kojima N, Kikuchi T, Yasukawa K, Tokuda H, T Masters E, Manosroi A, Manosroi J. Anti-inflammatory and chemopreventive effects of triterpene cinnamates and acetates from shea fat. J Oleo Sci. 2010;59(6):273-80. doi: 10.5650/jos.59.273. PMID: 20484832.
Lin TK, Zhong L, Santiago JL. Anti-Inflammatory and Skin Barrier Repair Effects of Topical Application of Some Plant Oils. Int J Mol Sci. 2017 Dec 27;19(1):70. doi: 10.3390/ijms19010070. PMID: 29280987; PMCID: PMC5796020.
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